Application lifecycle management tools: A buyer's guide to ALM software

Editor's note

Application lifecycle management (ALM) is a comprehensive development process that has, over the past few years, grown in complexity due to the robust and rapid nature of today's desktop and mobile applications. ALM takes an app from conception to decommissioning, regardless of whether the company prefers to develop in an Agile, Waterfall, Scrum, or hybrid project management method. ALM software helps organizations through the ALM process. Some ALM software suites are browser-based. Some are on premises. Some cloud. Some work better for Agile, others Waterfall. Some work better for regulatory compliant companies, and so on. If you're an IT buyer charged by your enterprise with choosing an application lifecycle management tool, the options are a seemingly endless, complex knot.

This buyer's guide untangles that knot.

There are many benefits to using ALM software. ALM software, no matter the methodology your enterprise may use, can help reduce your product's time to market. It improves collaboration and communication among team members. It helps organizations meet government or industry compliances and standards. It increases project management traceability, visibility and stability. This guide provides use cases that explain those benefits, and helps you determine which benefits are important to you and your organization.

All ALM software suites have similar core functions, but some suites function better in certain areas than others. And ALM vendors have different offerings for pricing and support. This guide highlights which software functions and features to concentrate on and analyzes those functions and features in light of the needs of today's organizations, mapping out which ALM software works best for your organization.

In the end, this guide gives you the information to make the right ALM software buying decision for your company. It discusses many issues that organizations face with ALM and showcases the top ALM software suites in the market today.