Software ALM

Effective Applica­tion Lifecycle Management (ALM) is a key ingredient for maximizing value of your IT investments.

Today management of software development lifecycle and your IT initia­tives rests on end-to-end process automation and integration of information from every stage of software project.

ALM confronts common application development challenges. If you have a lack of visibility into project status, ALM will provide a single, unified view of the project that helps enforce responsibility, accountability, sign-offs, and checkpoints.

Suffering from ineffective team communication? ALM helps align everyone with the overall business goals and gives people access to the information they need in a timely manner by coordinating efforts across functional, geographic, and organizational boundaries.

Balancing business demands and project risk with better project management from the outset helps properly define objectives and make estimates more ac­curate, while minimizing the impact of changing requirements, scope creep, and complex and rapidly evolving technology.

With effective ALM, the team is better equipped to complete projects on time and on budget, while deliver­ing critical business value that helps support business goals.

ALG Systems offers ALM Automation with the following ALM tools:

  • IMB Rational Jazz
  • Microsoft TFS (both CMMi and Agile MSF)
  • JIRA
  • Mingle
  • Rally Software

Process improvements result from using ALM Automation tools will help to eliminate time and effort wasted during the use of disparate tools and maintenance of duplicate project data.

ALG team members frequently present to various user groups and community events in the Heartland district on topics related to ALG tools, Development Pro­cesses, and Application Lifecycle Management at large.

ALG offers a full range of ALM services that may help you with your ALM needs, starting with ALM Assessment and finishing with specific ongoing Advisory Services:

ALM Assessment

Business and technology decision makers are being asked to do more with less all the time. Managing com­plexity, improving security, and enabling agility are top priorities, but maintaining legacy systems and supporting current technology consume vast amounts of the typical IT budget. This leaves limited budgetary resources and manpower to stay on top of new technology and develop applications to meet the core needs of your business. Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is an effective solution. To get started, assess the current state of the application lifestyle.

SDLC-in-a-Box Training

Software Development Lifecycle-in-a-Box is a guided tour of the benefits and features of ALM Automation tool of choice, as well as selected 3rd party add-ons. These products, when used together, offer unprecedented value and power for managing your team’s Software Development Lifecycle.

Installation and Customization

Team Foundation Server installation can be achieved using a single or dual-server deployment. Making the deci­sion on what type of installation is dependent, not only on the size of the team, but also on the purpose of the installation. Server configurations are dependent on hardware infrastructure, network infrastructure and team distribution.

Coaching on the Live Project and Advisory Services

The surest path to a successful ALM adoption is to embed a known and experienced resource from QSI within the team. The mentor will work hands-on to actively deliver software on the project, while showing client staff members the best practices with adopting ALM. Having the resource embedded within the client team will accommodate the frequent communication necessary to help team members tackle the learning curve of this process and tool set. Our ALM consultants are able to get most teams up to speed and successful with ALM within a few weeks, but longer engagements can be used to ensure the success of larger projects. Upon completion of the training engagement, ALG will continue to serve as a remote mentor should any unex­pected challenges arise.

Regardless if your company is only planning on adopting the TFS and Team System or already has an existing implementation, ALG can help you with any problem concerning ALM through a set of specific en­gagements. Some of the most common services offered include:

  • Source Code migration from legacy Source Control Systems
  • Customization and extension of ALG Tools
  • Process Management
  • Source Control Management
  • Software Release Management
  • Continuous Integration and Build Automation
  • Mentoring of the team on the use of ALM automation tool of choice
  • Test Management
  • Performing Proof of Concepts around ALM tool of choice

Contact us for further information!