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Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)

An Application Life Cycle (ALC) is the complete journey of a software application, from its initial idea and planning through development, deployment, maintenance, and eventual retirement, managed through Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) to ensure alignment with business goals and quality standards.

eg:

  • Jira is an enterprise-grade ALM tool with features to manage complex application lifecycles.
  • Azure DevOps Server (formerly Team Foundation Server - TFS) is a Microsoft tool that we should use to implement ALM, while as mention before it's a part of Visual Studio Team System.

Key Stages

  • Development (Build): Writing and coding the software.
  • Testing: Verifying functionality, performance, and compliance with requirements (Alpha, Beta testing).
  • Deployment: Releasing the application to users (Release Candidate, Production).
  • Operation & Maintenance: Monitoring performance, fixing bugs, and providing support.
  • Retirement/Decommissioning: Eventually removing the application when it's no longer needed. 


SDLC vs ALM

SDLC is primarily focused on the development phase (design, code, test). ALM is concerned with the entire application life cycle. (governance, development, and maintenance)

  • Project governance is the management framework within which project decisions are made. The accountabilities and responsibilities associated with an organization's BAU activities are laid down in their organizational governance arrangements.
  • In software engineering, a software development process is the process of dividing software development work into smaller, parallel or sequential steps or subprocesses to improve design, product management. It is also known as a software development life cycle (SDLC).
  • A common perception of maintenance is that it merely involves fixing defects. However, one study indicated that over 80% of maintenance effort is used for non-corrective actions. This perception is perpetuated by users submitting problem reports that in reality are functionality enhancements to the system.


ALM vs PLM 

ALM is focused solely on software development and the lifecycle of an application, while PLM encompasses the entire product lifecycle, including design, development, manufacturing, distribution, and service. Complexity – Because PLM covers a broader range of activities, it is typically more complex than ALM.

ALM (Application Lifecycle Management)

  • Focus: Software-centric lifecycle (requirements, development, testing, release, maintenance).
  • Manages: Software files, source code, test cases, user stories, requirements.
  • Industries: Software, IT, any digital product.
  • Key Goal: Deliver functional, reliable software efficiently. 

PLM (Product Lifecycle Management)

  • Focus: Physical product lifecycle (design, engineering, manufacturing, service, disposal).
  • Manages: Physical parts, CAD files, Bills of Materials (BOMs), manufacturing specs.
  • Industries: Automotive, aerospace, consumer electronics, manufacturing.
  • Key Goal: Manage physical product data, quality, and time-to-market. 

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