Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is a comprehensive approach that oversees the entire lifecycle of an application, from initial planning and development to deployment and maintenance. By integrating processes, tools, and methodologies, ALM ensures that applications are delivered while meeting quality and performance standards throughout their operational life.

The Role of DevOps and Business Teams in Successful Application Lifecycle Management

In Application lifecycle management, DevOps and the business team will work together to deploy, deliver, and function applications that meet business needs. 

ALM encompasses related disciples like:

• Requirements management

• Computer programming

• Software development

• Software testing and maintenance

• Change management

• Continuous integration

• project management and more

As we discussed above, to create an application, we need a dedicated team processing the application with industry-best ALM tools to streamline the process effectively and outsource the quality product. 

ALM tools like Jama Software, MeisterTask, Codebeamer, Visure, Jira, Microsoft Azure DevOps, and Tuleap help automate IT operations, leading to quick deployment and better maintenance. 

Implementing a successful application lifecycle management strategy requires understanding the stages of ALM and creating a clear strategy and plan for development, deployment, and beyond. Teams must treat every step of the process equally important for a successful product launch. Because organizations increasingly rely on applications to achieve business objectives, it's essential to have tools and technologies to help deliver apps that meet users' needs.

Creating a successful application lifecycle management (ALM) strategy involves understanding the different stages of ALM and developing a clear plan for building, deploying, and maintaining applications. Every step in the process must be treated as necessary for a product to launch successfully. As businesses rely more on applications to meet their goals, having the right tools and technologies to deliver apps that satisfy user needs is crucial.

What is application lifecycle management?

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) refers to the comprehensive process of managing the life cycle of an application from initial conception through to deployment, maintenance, and eventual retirement. It integrates people, processes, and tools to ensure that an application meets business needs effectively and efficiently throughout its life.

Stages of application lifecycle management

ALM includes five stages, each requiring different tool deployment, expertise, and efficiency achievement. Project managers commonly refer to this process as an ALM workflow. The workflow consists of two stages:

The waterfall model 

The Waterfall model is a structured approach to software development that follows a linear sequence of stages. It begins with requirements gathering, where all project specifications are documented based on stakeholder input. Next is the system design phase, where the architecture and components of the software are planned. 

After design, the implementation stage involves coding the software according to the established specifications. Once coding is complete, the software undergoes testing to identify and fix any issues before it is finally deployed for users. This model emphasizes thorough documentation and clear progression through each stage, making it easier to manage but less flexible for changes.

Agile development

Agile development is a flexible and iterative approach to software development that emphasizes collaboration, customer feedback, and rapid delivery of functional software. 

Unlike traditional methods, Agile breaks projects into smaller, manageable units called iterations or sprints, allowing teams to adapt to changes quickly and efficiently. 

Each sprint typically lasts a few weeks and culminates in a working product increment that stakeholders can review. 

This continuous feedback loop helps ensure that the final product aligns closely with user needs and expectations. Agile methodologies, such as Scrum and Kanban, promote regular communication among team members and encourage a culture of improvement, making it easier to respond to evolving requirements throughout the development process.

The 5 stages of application lifecycle management

Requirements management

In this stage, stakeholders play a crucial role in defining the why and purpose of applications. Stakeholders will know their audience and plan their application design and legal compliance standards. So, having a detailed and holistic understanding of business applications will help them avoid unnecessary problems.  

In this stage, the project manager will set the timeline, clear objective, application requirements, team responsibility, and communication pathways.

Development

The development team can begin building applications after setting a clear objective for the application requirement. In this development phase, technical, product marketing, and sales teams will cooperate efficiently to ensure the product meets the objectives. The team will set a timeline and testing requirements during the development stage.

Testing and quality assurance

In the Testing and Quality Assurance (QA) stage of Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), the product undergoes rigorous validation to ensure it meets the specified requirements and is free from defects. During this phase, various types of testing, such as unit testing, integration testing, and system testing, are conducted to verify that the product functions correctly under different scenarios.

QA engineers create and execute test cases, report any issues found, and collaborate with the development team to resolve defects. The goal is to ensure that the application is reliable, secure, and performs as expected before it is released to end-users. This stage also involves validating the product against business objectives and user needs, ensuring it delivers quality and value. Quality assurance is essential to minimize risk, prevent costly post-launch fixes, and enhance user satisfaction.

Deployment

Once the application is tested, it is deployed to users. Moreover, deployment is the final stage of the application lifecycle. This involves moving the product from a development or staging environment to a live production environment. During deployment, the team ensures that the software runs smoothly, all configurations are correct, and any potential issues are addressed. It may also include post-deployment monitoring to ensure the system’s stability and performance in real-world usage.

Continuous maintenance and optimization

Now, in this stage, the application is related to the actual user. After release, they might face bugs or flaws not encountered before in the testing stage or development. 

Application performance management (APM) software monitors and optimizes applications' performance, ensuring they run efficiently and meet user expectations. Configuration management tools help manage and maintain the settings of software and hardware systems, ensuring consistency and compliance across various environments. This allows organizations to meet business objectives and enhance user experience.

Additionally, emerging technologies or business scenarios may necessitate updates to current applications. DevOps teams frequently utilize continuous delivery (CD) pipelines to automate the maintenance and management of applications. When a developer writes new code for an application, continuous delivery solutions automate the creation of a testing environment for that code. If the new code satisfies the testing criteria, it is automatically deployed. CD allows teams to implement updates and fix issues, minimizing application downtime rapidly.

When executed effectively, Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) simplifies the application and software development process while ensuring all stakeholders can contribute their input.

Conclusion:

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) ensures that applications are developed, deployed, and maintained effectively throughout their lifecycle. The collaboration between DevOps and business teams is crucial in aligning technical efforts with business objectives, ensuring that applications meet functional and operational requirements. Organizations can streamline workflows, enhance productivity, and deliver high-quality applications by utilizing ALM tools and processes.