In a world where more industries encounter higher rates of change and innovation than ever before, automated management processes are essential to help them cope. Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), as the names imply, are both used to manage the development lifecycle of a project but stop short of providing an automated interface to software verification & validation activities. The integration of ALM & PLM tools with the LDRA tool suite provides that “missing link”.
PLM refers to the processes required to bring a physical product to market, whereas ALM is used in the development of applications. Of course, a physical project can (and often does) involve the development of an embedded software application, and so the distinction between the two for software developers can be a little muddy.
PLM is used in manufacturing across many sectors. It offers a centralized system for ensuring quality and compliance throughout the entire lifespan of a physical device, from inception to engineering design, development, and manufacturing.
ALM refers to the people, tools and processes that manage the lifecycle of a software application. Providing a framework for software development, ALM primarily deals with the management of intangible assets and properties, such as requirements, quality assurance, change management, integration, test cases, issues, and bugs.
This distinction between the physical world of products and the ethereal world of software development is increasingly arbitrary, especially with the proliferation of IoT and smart devices. ALM and PLM integration is therefore increasingly commonplace.
ALM tools essentially function as project management tools used to co-ordinate people and processes together. They will likely include version control, requirements management features, estimation and project planning, source code management, and test management.
Generally, however, they do not provide a facility for performing validation and verification tasks on the code itself, nor do they keep track of its progress by providing a real-time Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM). Ensuring that an ALM system is updated with such information is potentially a labour-intensive task unless it is automated.
The LDRA tool suite supports development teams who are working in a formal development process to improve code quality and maintainability, including static and dynamic analysis, coding standards compliance, and unit, integration, and system testing. It is completely adaptable to support the chosen Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) model, including V-Model, DevOps, and DevSecOps.
TBmanager is a component of the LDRA tool suite. It is a role-based requirements management tool that supports team members in their work on allocated activities and links the resulting code and verification artefacts back to higher level objectives.
Integrated ALM and PLM tools are an important factor in the unique whole-project breadth of the LDRA tool suite. Each TBmanager Integration Package (TIP) provides an interface between TBmanager and requirements documentation solutions. Supported formats include, but are not limited to, Microsoft Office, DOORS, DOORS Next Generation, SILKROAD, Jama, Siemens Polarion, PTC CodeBeamer, and Atlassian Jira.
ALM & PLM tool integration is just one aspect of the test management capabilities of the LDRA tool suite.
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