2015-02-23T07:40:00Z

When evaluating Application Lifecycle Management suites, what aspects do you think are the most important to look for?

Let the community know what you think. Share your opinions now!

Ariel Lindenfeld - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Community at PeerSpot
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PeerSpot user
73 Answers
Technanosoft  - PeerSpot reviewer
Developer at Technanosoft Technologies
Vendor
Top 20
2023-05-02T09:20:45Z
May 2, 2023

The most important aspects to consider when evaluating Application Lifecycle Management suites include their project management capabilities, version control, automated testing and deployment, collaboration features, and integration with other tools and systems.

Search for a product comparison in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
AniketKumar686 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Developer at Kellton Tech Solutions Limited
Real User
Top 20
2023-02-16T08:27:05Z
Feb 16, 2023

When evaluating Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) suites, look for:



  1. Integration and Compatibility

  2. Collaboration

  3. Customization

  4. Traceability and Reporting

  5. Security

  6. Support and Training.


Ensure that the suite can integrate with your existing tools, offers collaboration features, can be customized to meet your needs, provides traceability and reporting, has robust security features, and offers training and support to help your team get up to speed quickly.

AS
Director at Inflectra Corporation
Vendor
2022-10-25T09:03:16Z
Oct 25, 2022

There are many considerations when choosing an ALM tool.  Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is more than just requirements, development and testing, it encompasses the entire lifecycle from the idea conception, through to the
development, testing, deployment, support and ultimately retirement of
systems.


Here's some resources:




https://www.inflectra.com/Spir...


https://www.inflectra.com/Idea...

reviewer1996671 - PeerSpot reviewer
User at Bosch Rexroth in Deutschland
User
2022-10-20T09:55:33Z
Oct 20, 2022

A fundamental aspect is the traceability of both functional and safety-related requirements. What is needed in these ALM-Suites is an overview that makes it possible to trace and see (with the possibility of an export function, e.g. in HTML format) the technical specifications related to the requirement in the question and the software or firmware modules that have been implemented to realize the requirement in question.

NK
Quality Assurance at Varroc Lighting System
Real User
Top 10Leaderboard
2018-08-14T08:39:24Z
Aug 14, 2018

Adaptability, scalability, seamless collaboration with external tools along with near native interface for requirement, design, test and ccm activities within the collaborative suite. Process governed along with level of simplicity covers ALM as suite.

DC
Chief Innovation Officer at SAGGA
Real User
Leaderboard
2018-06-28T16:50:46Z
Jun 28, 2018

1. Easy of automation
2. Integration with functional and no functional solutions
3. Dashboards for governance

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it_user358428 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Developer/Business Intelligence Lead Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
2015-12-17T16:26:29Z
Dec 17, 2015

The ability to version control all database artifacts, and the ability to perform CI-triggered, automated database artifact deployment.

JN
User at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2019-12-13T16:58:27Z
Dec 13, 2019

- Traceability
- Reliability
- Visibility
- Easy to trace the life cycle of defects
- Test Coverage
- Project Reports
- Plugins

RR
Director, Delivery Excellence at Epsilon
Consultant
2018-08-15T16:32:59Z
Aug 15, 2018

The most important thing is to understand the life cycle model in which you operate your projects and look for ALM tools that support workflow in that model without too much custom configuration.
Secondly, the ability to report progress out of the tool enables project managers to ease out on manual efforts collating information from various team members.

MH
Principal Consultant at CA Technologies
Real User
2018-08-14T15:22:13Z
Aug 14, 2018

Key points to note:
1. Visibility/Traceability of all artifacts traversing the application lifecycle
2. Ability to report against these artifacts; OOTB canned reports provide an excellent starting point
3. Integration is key to support automation of manual processes; the rest API should be available as well as ootb integration with popular solutions such as Jenkins and JIra.
4. Ease of use and configuration will go a long way to support adoption across the enterprise.

it_user780195 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Quality Transformation & Assessment Lead/Consultant at IBM
Vendor
2018-08-14T14:50:05Z
Aug 14, 2018

When evaluating ALM suites the following aspects are very important to
evaluate - broken down into 3 categories, Technical/Integrations/General
Product & Vendor. Evaluate the degree to which the ALM candidate satisfies
these criteria:


Technical

 Test case creation, organization & management

 Traceability between test assets (test cases, defects, automation)  and
requirements/use cases/user stories

 Customizable test case template

 Import of test cases

 Customization of test execution and test status workflows

 Test execution status capture (e.g., screen shots, automation status)

 Bi-modal support

 Multiple summary dashboards (e.g., requirements coverage, test case status, test
execution status)

 Multi-format printable, exportable reports (e.g., csv, XML, MS-Excel, MS-Word, etc.)

 Report filtering and Customizable reports

 Metrics

 Role-based security and permissions management

 Notifications/Alerts upon status change

 Ease of Use – tool installation, configuration and administration

Integrations

Supported Client OSes – e.g., Windows, MacOS, Linux/Unix, Mobile OSes – and associated
browsers

Requirements tool integration

Defect Management tool integration

DevOps tool chain integrations (e.g., build & code versioning)

Support for Development IDE integration

Test Automation tool integration (for planning, triggered execution and status)

Enterprise network/SaaS hosting

Seamless integration points (requiring no plug-ins]

Product / Vendor

Licensed/Freeware/Open Source

Licensing structure

Support costs incl. 3rd Party maintenance requirements

Considered Best of Breed?

Technology lifecycle considerations: major/minor releases, security patches

Active user community?

Vendor reputation: Customer satisfaction and service level standards

Ease of Support including documentation

Vendor continuity

it_user713811 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Reseller
2018-08-14T10:34:14Z
Aug 14, 2018

I would recommend evaluating the following –

* User-friendliness and ease of use.
* What is the solution’s added-value over SAP pre-existing tools.
* The solution’s footprint on your systems.
* Ease of installation and configuration.
* Does the manufacturer also offers expertise in deciphering the results and how to best extract from them insights for SAP future use.

Zevi Grossman - PeerSpot reviewer
Gaming System department manager at a non-profit with 201-500 employees
Real User
2018-08-14T08:14:15Z
Aug 14, 2018

HI,

Simplicity. Visibility. Intuitive. Added value for the users, not only for the mangers.
Easy to modify and maintain. Good integration between all parts of the suite.

YK
User at Wipro Technologies
Consultant
2018-08-14T05:31:16Z
Aug 14, 2018

Experience on ALM:

v Have good experience in HP ALM Administrator for HP QC and HP PC
v Have good experience on HP ALM Octane installation
v Having created a number of the project using Site administrator.
v Having provided user access and reset the password using site administrator.
v Have good experience on implemented functional testing in ALM
v Have added the new fields, deleted the fields for system fields in the test plan, defect, requirement and test lab modules.
v Have set up the workflow script in all modules depends on the end user requirement.
v Have configured the new environment.
v Have migrated the projects on DB to another DB.
v Have good experience third-party software installation like Chrome, SAP.
v Have reset the -s password setup on all servers.
v Excellent problem solving, Analytical, communication and interpersonal skills.
v Good understanding of all phases of software test life cycle (STLC). Played Single point of contact for all end user for the test activities and issues.
v Ability to communicate clearly and work independently to understand the application.
v Having basic knowledge of SQL

it_user835779 - PeerSpot reviewer
Test Lead at a pharma/biotech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
2018-03-12T13:14:13Z
Mar 12, 2018

SIMPLICITY. So many ALMs are bloated and horrible. Just make sure it has the features you NEED and make do without other "flashy" stuff.

LC
CEO and co-founder with 11-50 employees
User
2017-05-04T14:20:02Z
May 4, 2017

#1. Polyvalence: Management of requirements, bug tracking, tasks, tests, code & code review, ci, delivery, integration, collaboration, etc.
#2. Traceability and synergy between components. Connection between all dev items (e.g. requirements linked to tasks, linked to code, linked to tests, linked to delivery, etc.)
#3. Independence from vendor. Long-term availability if vendor discontinues the product, Ability to refuse an indecent price augmentation. The solution is probably open-source products.

it_user337077 - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Consultant at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Consultant
2015-11-05T14:01:55Z
Nov 5, 2015

- Simplicity since the thing is to be used and run by people and they should easily learn how to use it.
- Configuration flexibility as each company may have special requirements or rules they have to adhere to.
- Interfaceability and still keeping the integrity complete since we are integrating more than one system.
- Quict setup reporting to give us the possibility to extract theright information for the stakeholders in different aspects of application life cycle.
- Process enforcement potential, since it is not just supposed to give overview as an application drawing - it will need to automate parts of the Application Lifecycle Management.

DC
Chief Innovation Officer at SAGGA
Real User
Leaderboard
2020-01-13T17:03:48Z
Jan 13, 2020

Governance about the life-cycle:
1. Continuous Integration
2. Continuous Testing
3. Continuous Security
4. Continuous Release
5. Continuous Deployment
6. Continuous Operations
7. Continuous Monitoring
Continuous means Automation

You should consider the suite supports both methodologies:
1. Waterfall
2. Agile

Don´t forget the #BizDevSecOps philosophy
Shift to the left means less costs (3x) than the right (30x)

DR
Manager with 10,001+ employees
User
2018-08-14T07:55:28Z
Aug 14, 2018

We use MS TFS in BAU and qTest in my current project for our test management.

SS
Pre-Sales Consultant at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2018-08-14T06:48:09Z
Aug 14, 2018

My key checks/parameters to select an ALM tool

How easy it is to configure and maintain, dont want a team of guys just to maintain the application.
How easy it is to Integrate with other tools in eco system. i have seen people extracting reports and doing manual reporting due to lack of integration in req, test and release tools.
How easy it is to learn and scale for enterprise customer.

TS
User at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Vendor
2018-08-14T05:40:26Z
Aug 14, 2018

One of the things I see when entering this discussion with many potential customers of mine is the focus on the tool itself, and the cost of it. The customer often states that a tool is often so expensive,, why can't I use open source tools instead. Those are for free... Well, to put it short, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Other things my customers ask is; what can this tool do in terms of all the "traditional approach to test management"? Defect tracking? Check, test management? Check, etc. But what about other requirements, that necessarily don't come up in a requirements gathering, like integration with build systems, trigger automation, complete E2E visibility? Dependent on your organisation, I believe that your requirements for the traditional questions are answered by most vendors. The differentiator is how easy can you implement this into your organisation, and what will the cost be running the solution over time (including training, opeations, usage etc).

With these things in mind, I would state the follwing:
1) What is the cost of running the solution? Licenses, hardware, services, support, training etc.
2) What can you save by implementing the solution (do a proper ROI analysis...)
- Reduced number of testers by implementing more test automation
- Reduce hours for reporting
- Improve organisational visibility for project and product risk
- Increase speed and velocity for deliveries (DevOps)
3) Calculate the delta between 1 and 2.

If you come out negative, don't invest. If you come out positive, invest.

it_user853494 - PeerSpot reviewer
Litigation Support Manager at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
User
2018-08-13T20:05:51Z
Aug 13, 2018

End to End Traceability :

* Communication to stay current with on-going changes
* Establish traceability through the use of integrated functionality
* Focus on the development, management and reuse of granular details, that can be shared in a collaborative environment
* The ability to manage and report on release activities, through the use of dashboard widgets and automated reports
* Transparency and communication across delivery teams, demonstrating how clients requirements were met and implemented.

DP
Digital Sales Account Manager for Application Development Management (ADM) at Micro Focus
Vendor
2018-08-13T18:47:25Z
Aug 13, 2018

· Understand the metrics the customer “lives and dies by”

· Identify the pain or “compelling event” to best understand the potential solution(s)

· How will the decision be made (ID “economic buyer”) and what are the processes to reach a “buy” decision

· Who has final say on the budget (is it Capex or Opex) and who is the “champion” we need to sell

· What is the procurement process

AS
Director at Inflectra Corporation
Vendor
2018-08-13T16:24:47Z
Aug 13, 2018

I would check the following:
1) It is appropriate for the methodologies you are using now, and plan to use in the future (agile, scrum, kanban, waterfall, etc.)
2) It integrates with the other tools you are using or plan on using (unit tests, SCM, IDEs, CD/CI, etc.)
3) It is usable with your current organization size, and will scale to meet your projected needs.

BE
Director Emerging Technologies at a consultancy with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
2018-08-13T15:54:15Z
Aug 13, 2018

1) Fully integrated, easy to use with common touch and feel
2) Promotes real-time collaboration (not checking in / out documents)
3) Full traceability

agileninja - PeerSpot reviewer
Agile Coach at a tech consulting company with 11-50 employees
Consultant
2018-06-25T11:03:04Z
Jun 25, 2018

Yes, agreed with most of the comments here. Ideally, I'd reach out to folks at OpsHub (https://www.opshub.com/integrations/) and see if they already support a particular system. They support most of the common systems but they can also add a new connector in less than 2 months and that's really amazing.

it_user731634 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior IT Specialist at IBM
Vendor
2017-09-05T17:18:40Z
Sep 5, 2017

built in integration with other tools, as seamless as possible.

it_user714252 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software QA Engineer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
2017-08-03T19:56:42Z
Aug 3, 2017

As a Test Engineer i would consider customer Friendly,Defect Analysis,collaboration and Integration

it_user712698 - PeerSpot reviewer
Program Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Vendor
2017-08-01T11:10:42Z
Aug 1, 2017

an ALM system needs to facilitate 2 aspects:
1.team efficiency and collaboration
2.project data accessibility, reporting and communication within the organization (at all level)

the first point can be ensured via a tool that simplifies the SW dev lifecycle processes, ensures a proper communication within the team, represents a focal point (as a repository) along the entire project

the second point can be ensured via a customizable dashboard, a proper query system and with a good data analyzer tool.

it_user712581 - PeerSpot reviewer
IBM RDNG (IBM Rational DOORS Next Generation) Administrator at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
2017-08-01T07:13:23Z
Aug 1, 2017

How quickly a user can adopt to the tool, user friendly, integration with other tools for additional functionalities

it_user562332 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Lead at Cognizant
Real User
2016-11-30T02:41:06Z
Nov 30, 2016

Ease of use, user friendly, integration with other tools for additional functionalities

it_user518133 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at Infor
Real User
2016-10-03T13:46:31Z
Oct 3, 2016

Integration with other tools

it_user524055 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr.Engineer-High Touch Technical Services at Cisco
Real User
2016-10-01T17:55:10Z
Oct 1, 2016

Scalability and Integration with other tools

it_user516414 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at Deloitte
Real User
2016-09-20T20:42:19Z
Sep 20, 2016

Integration with client systems

it_user386700 - PeerSpot reviewer
User at XebiaLabs
Vendor
2016-02-11T13:48:39Z
Feb 11, 2016

Integration into Continuous Delivery / DevOps tool chain

it_user368484 - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre-Sales Technical Consultant at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Vendor
2016-01-12T22:38:16Z
Jan 12, 2016

collaboration and communication among team members, project management traceability, visibility and stability

it_user352248 - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Talent Acquisition Consultant EMEA at Informatica
MSP
2015-12-08T13:03:41Z
Dec 8, 2015

Cloud readiness

it_user343275 - PeerSpot reviewer
User with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2015-11-19T11:30:45Z
Nov 19, 2015

Ease of the entire process and feasibility to integrate tests with automation tools

it_user339894 - PeerSpot reviewer
.NET Software Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
2015-11-12T11:44:42Z
Nov 12, 2015

Your team should understand selected ALM process well, everyone should be on the same page.
Also for me the most important thing is predictability, you should know future for being successful.
I used customized Agile 2.0 process with TFS 2015 on my recent project, and explain to my team how it works. As a result we have done the work plans for 100%

it_user324432 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior designer at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
2015-10-10T06:23:34Z
Oct 10, 2015

I would say: scalability, integration to other tools like git/Gerrit, usability, easy collaboration, possible to customize

it_user325137 - PeerSpot reviewer
Performance Test Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
2015-10-08T17:08:07Z
Oct 8, 2015

Integration with other tools, traceability, customization and implementation process

it_user321258 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Test Engineer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Consultant
2015-09-30T18:31:38Z
Sep 30, 2015

Integration with other tools, flexibility and adaptability to various conditions, maintainability and few other -ility. The first thing is to be aware about your needs and expectations - then check if evaluated tool meets the criteria.

it_user310266 - PeerSpot reviewer
Development Project Manager at a tech services company
Consultant
2015-09-11T17:37:11Z
Sep 11, 2015

Beyond covering the full product life cycle, usability is the most important. If team members do not use it then there is no collaboration and the only one using it is the project manager. If this happens spread sheets work great.

CJ
Automation Consultant at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
User
2015-09-10T11:08:09Z
Sep 10, 2015

Integratable, lightweight, plaftform agnostic. The other usuals being ease of customized reporting, defect tracking, versionable, robust backup mechanism

it_user296013 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr QA at a tech services company
Consultant
2015-08-20T18:58:44Z
Aug 20, 2015

High usability and customization, easy integration with external tools, catering to projects of different natures (iterative/waterfall)

it_user295371 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior/Lead Test Analyst/Senior Test Specialist/Test Manager/Tools Administrator with 51-200 employees
Vendor
2015-08-20T05:07:40Z
Aug 20, 2015

Customization, Reporting, Traceability, Integration with other Tools, enforce Company Standards,.

it_user294915 - PeerSpot reviewer
User with 10,001+ employees
Vendor
2015-08-19T13:38:30Z
Aug 19, 2015

I understand Collaboration, Integration, Dash – board &Status Reporting, Defect Analysis, Traceability, KPIs and Scalability are import – One important element is “Portfolio Management” which I believe Rally is on top of the list in comparison with

Atlassian JIRA
Microsoft TFS
CollabNet CollabNet TeamForge
IBM IBM Rational Team Concert (RTC)
IBM Rational ALM
HP HP ALM
HP Agile Manager
Parasoft Parasoft Concerto

After that being acquired by CA it’s even more strategic to integrate CA PPM to track financials and grid tools for Test data management to implement Agile and achieve end to end ALM solution

it_user294423 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mobile QA Developer at a tech vendor
Vendor
2015-08-18T22:38:51Z
Aug 18, 2015

1) Integrity as we need to join multiple systems into one
2) Configuration flexibility as each project may have special requirements and system should meet those needs
3) Informativity as we need to get all necessary information on different aspects of application life cycle
4) Simplicity as entire solution is used by people and they should find it easy to use

it_user293628 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Build & Release Engineer at a non-tech company with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
2015-08-17T23:18:13Z
Aug 17, 2015

There's a myriad of tools out there to use. I guess that's a good thing because every Organization is different. But before I go into my criteria for choosing one, I'd like to preface with saying:
The agility, maturity, and efficiency of any SDLC must start with the people first, not the tools. No tool can ultimately fix cultural issues. We can implement any tool we want and make it hum like we want, but if the culture of the developers, quality engineers, product owners, operations engineers, or any other group that is involved in making software development happen isn't of the same mind when it comes to the goals of delivering quality software, then those tools will ultimately fail.

That being said, here are a few that come to mind...

1) How well does it integrate with the rest of the tools being used to make the release pipeline as seamless as possible? Nobody wants to sign in to different systems with different interfaces and different workflows just to figure out the status of a bug fix in the pipeline. Making the flow from ticket creation to production as easy as possible is of utmost importance.

2) How does it add value to the Organization? Does it solve a problem we're facing or will face? All too often, I see investments made in new tools that don't really add value or solve an actual problem. Typically, the situation is someone saw a shiny new object and really wanted to use it. 3 months into the investment and users are having new problems, complaining that the new tool just does the same thing differently and they "liked how the old system worked better". Making sure it's actually bringing true value to the organization is important.

3) Does it provide good visibility to all stakeholders? IT engineers tend to forget that not everyone involved in software development knows how to decipher console logs. The tool must provide an easy way to translate to the business where features, bug fixes, and enhancements stand in the pipeline. Because at the end of the day, pushing new software is a business decision.

4) Does it have the ability to scale? Basically, if we go from 3 developers building 5 apps to 50 developers building and deploying 300 apps within a year, is the tool going to be able to handle the load and that type of scaling? On top of that, does it provide an easy way to manage and maintain the system?

it_user289785 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Manager at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Consultant
2015-08-12T06:13:10Z
Aug 12, 2015

I think that when you look for an ALM you should consider almost everything because it all matters since your complete work will be controlled by this ALM tool, but based on my humble experience maybe the following is the most
1. Easy to install and configure
if your ALM tool is a rocket science then your life is a mess since you will have to dig real deep to change one configuration key.

2. Provided by a strong vendor who can supports you whenever needed.
One day or another you will need support by the vendor so you will need to have a great customer support you can depend on.

3. Easy to integrate with other tools.
your next ALM tool will be controlling everything around you, which is good if it can completely apply your Application Life Cycle, so having an ALM that to be easy integrated with other tools like Development IDE, Reporting Tools, and other things like your mailing system is a must.

4. Easy to use by having a simple yet strong GUI by which you can reach your goal with minimal efforts.
if your ALM makes it easy for you to do the needed job with minimum clicks and efforts then your time is saved, and time is something we all love to save.

5. Improve collaboration between team members
One of the most needed features by ALM is enhance team members collaboration because simply they are your company's future, the more they do things together the most you benefit.

6. Has a strong reporting capabilities, or at least can easily be integrated with a reporting tool.
Your ALM should always help you see if your on Track or not, then consider reporting always.

it_user288621 - PeerSpot reviewer
User with 5,001-10,000 employees
User
2015-08-10T07:08:31Z
Aug 10, 2015

According to me a complete dashboard which can provide comprehensive details about ROI, release managment, allow 3rd party tool integration, easy to undersnad and simple to use.

it_user286086 - PeerSpot reviewer
Regression Test Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Vendor
2015-08-05T11:02:04Z
Aug 5, 2015

Accessibility, Integration with other tools, speed, ease of use.

it_user285246 - PeerSpot reviewer
User at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Vendor
2015-08-04T12:28:18Z
Aug 4, 2015

Integration with different tools and end to end reporting

it_user279996 - PeerSpot reviewer
Test Manager/Senior Testing Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
2015-07-27T10:54:53Z
Jul 27, 2015

1. Accessibility: what browsers, Operating Systems this tool supports.
2. Integration with other tools.
3. Level of support to my application Life Cycle.
4. Level of Reporting and Reporting Customization.

it_user274794 - PeerSpot reviewer
User at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
2015-07-20T06:46:23Z
Jul 20, 2015

1.Traceability: bug-requirement-code-release-test-bug ...
2.Flexability: can utilize different testing tools, source control tools
3.Must be simple and fast

it_user273720 - PeerSpot reviewer
ALM/QC Admin, Test Automation Consultant at IBM
Vendor
2015-07-16T08:31:48Z
Jul 16, 2015

Reporting features, Integration with tools in the market, Covering entire test life cycle

it_user272475 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Quality Assurance Analyst with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
2015-07-14T17:02:31Z
Jul 14, 2015

The most important criteria is simplicity. Yes it needs to be many other things, but if the application is complex and painful to use then getting users to accept it and actually use it is going to be a problem. If no one will use the tool, it does not matter how good the other functions are.

it_user267045 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Developer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
2015-07-06T02:52:17Z
Jul 6, 2015

Collaboration, Analysis Reports, Requirement Elicitation tools, connections with 3rd party plugins.

it_user261018 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Performance Engineer at Infusionsoft
Vendor
2015-06-24T06:48:16Z
Jun 24, 2015

Short time to root cause analysis is my primary requirement. Everything else is secondary, but supports that primary focus.

it_user246111 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Analyst - Project Management ( IT - Quality & Compliance) at Dell
Vendor
2015-05-28T12:44:59Z
May 28, 2015

Right from the requirements gathering and source control to project management and monitoring

it_user245676 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Quality Assurance Software Lead at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
2015-05-27T18:01:54Z
May 27, 2015

I consider the following criteria for ALM tools: Robust Requirements Management as well as Test Planning and Execution components all bound by seamless traceability mechanisms with a big footnote on ability to triage tests for automation. Reporting is an absolute must especially features to create "civilian" looking reports. Finally, defect tracking and setting up releases within the ALM tool are key. Take all of this and ensure the tool has connectivity to external tools especially TFS and Visual Studio (or Jama, Jira, Project management tools, etc), all make for acceptability criteria for ALM i look for.

it_user243189 - PeerSpot reviewer
TeamLead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
2015-05-22T12:39:13Z
May 22, 2015

Compatible with external tools, easy to integrate, creating reports in understandable format

it_user242448 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior test automation specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Consultant
2015-05-21T06:43:05Z
May 21, 2015

I consider, reporting features and traceability. You can trace almost everything in a development process of an application (starting from requirement phase to production phase).

it_user227253 - PeerSpot reviewer
Agile Tester / Test Consultant at Valori
Vendor
2015-04-22T11:29:03Z
Apr 22, 2015

Entry criteria: full management support, organization maturity
Acceptance Criteria: THE Requirements validated

it_user226644 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Business Partner for SimCorp Services and Product Division
Vendor
2015-04-22T08:15:39Z
Apr 22, 2015

Collaboration, Integration, Synergies between components such as testing against requirements, ease of use, traceability and reporting.

DC
Chief Innovation Officer at SAGGA
Real User
Leaderboard
2015-04-21T16:29:47Z
Apr 21, 2015

KPIs, Integracion, Scalability

it_user209904 - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager (Change for Quality) / Enterprise Test Manager ad interim at a energy/utilities company
Vendor
2015-03-18T08:33:03Z
Mar 18, 2015

Traceability, Reporting, Complexity, Interfaceability, Process enforcement potential, Cost

it_user208245 - PeerSpot reviewer
Performance Engineer at Accenture
Real User
2015-03-14T23:27:41Z
Mar 14, 2015

Flexibility to interact with external tools, seamless integration within tools from the same vendor, comperhensive yet simple reporting and navigation.

it_user207675 - PeerSpot reviewer
Build and Release Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2015-03-14T04:42:31Z
Mar 14, 2015

Should have complete solutions in one pack and It should easily integrate with other tools. Should have good online support, tutorial and documentation.

it_user207828 - PeerSpot reviewer
Test Consultant at a tech services company
Consultant
2015-03-13T15:40:34Z
Mar 13, 2015

Integration with other tools and detail reporting Each and every stage of application lifecycle

it_user203490 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Vendor
2015-03-04T19:09:23Z
Mar 4, 2015

Collaboration , Status Reporting , Defect Analysis , Supported life cycle

it_user200979 - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner and Managing Director at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
2015-02-27T10:02:36Z
Feb 27, 2015

I consider integration (both within the suite and with external tooling) and complete application chain coverage essential for ALM suites.

Vendor
2015-02-23T13:44:27Z
Feb 23, 2015

Collaboration

Related Questions
TL
Business Development at acme
Nov 1, 2021
Hi, I work at Business Development at a Computer Software Company with 10000+ employees. I've been exploring ALM products (such as Attalssian ALM, JIra, etc.). Which one would you recommend to a large software company? Why? I appreciate the help.
2 out of 3 answers
Shibu Babuchandran - PeerSpot reviewer
Regional Manager/ Service Delivery Manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Oct 25, 2021
Hi @Tommy_Lee ​, The ALM tools decision will largely depend on the requirements and the capabilities one requires. Had some information's on some information on the tools which i would like to share.Hope this may be of some use to you. Tool Description Pros Cons IBM Rational IBM’s Rational offers an ALM suite of products called collaborative lifecycle management, or CLM, that focuses on collaboration. Many large organizations are already using products in this suite, e.g. ClearCase for configuration management. IBM products support both Agile and Waterfall methodologies and integrate with IBM Tivoli to support continuous integration. These features make IBM products a good choice for organizations needing to integrate diverse processes. The product is an older one with a lot of legacy support, but IBM has kept it up-to-date, aligning with ALM emerging trends • Tracking the assignments (Implementation Work Tickets) • Process • Legacy software support •Generally a more expensive solution •Doesn’t suit smaller companies HP Application Lifecycle Management HP developed one of the best ALM tools that emphasize traceability and visibility in its tools. HP’s ALM allows 360-degree links from requirements through defects, and its dashboard provides an easy way to produce effective metrics. HP also provides integrations with most third-party tools, including IBM and Microsoft. Also, HP is offering a software as a service option. Requirements management is known to be one of the stronger sides on HP’s solution. Also, this solution provides a version for mobile devices. •Release & cycle planning •Requirements management •Mobile version •Some of the administrative functions could be better Microsoft’s ALM Suite with Visual Studio Microsoft’s ALM suite uses Visual Studio, which is one of the most-used integrated development environments in the developer community; therefore, it is likely that large, merged organizations are already using parts of Visual Studio today. Microsoft’s Team Foundation Server (TFS) provides good version control and configuration functionality. Due to the fact that Visual Studio lacks in requirements management, TFS can be easily integrated with HP’s products in order to take advantage of HP’s capabilities in this regard. Microsoft’s ALM suite is a particularly good choice for organizations that use a .NET framework because many .NET developers use Visual Studio and also tend to enjoy using TFS. Our company is a certified Microsoft ALM software provider. •Reasonable starting costs •United database •Support for other development platforms •No licensing model for product owners •Lacks in requirements management CA Agile Central CA Agile Central (formerly Rally ALM) is the top ALM tool for businesses that use Agile methods. Its project management features, including resource planning, are specifically geared to Agile development. It is also a great ALM tool for testing. CA Agile Central provides collaboration functionality through Flowdock, which has chat and email features. Rally is one of the few ALM tools that support the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) and provides training and certification in SAFe. Rally Insights Analytics offers Agile-specific metrics, as well as metrics based on the Software Development Performance Index. It provides both on-premises and SaaS options. •Multiple teams support •Visualization capabilities •Very adaptable •Portfolio management •Not cohesive release management VersionOne VersionOne is a great solution if you are looking to establish a simple application lifecycle framework. VersionOne was created specifically to accommodate Agile methodology, and it also provides support and training for their clients. Its portfolio management feature was created specifically to accommodate Agile projects, including release and sprint planning, product planning and reporting analytics. VersionOne also offers more than 70 prebuilt integrations with other ALM products to provide a complete ALM solution. •Great reporting •Good UI •Issues with regression testing Atlassian Atlassian is a great choice for start-ups. It supports both Agile and Waterfall methodologies, and its processes are simple. Its defect tracking tool, JIRA, is open source and provides collaboration tools for requirements (Confluence) for code and repository management (Bitbucket and Stash). It also provides the chat tool, HipChat. Atlassian is a good choice for organizations doing continuous integration and DevOps, and it has strong integration with Git. •Open-source •Status management •Flexibility •UX issues that may delay the workflow CollabNet CollabNet is a great Agile application lifecycle management tool. Its distributed version control system is great for large projects and big enterprises. While not a full-package-solution in itself, CollabNet integrates easily with many widely used open-source tools such as Jenkins or Git. It is also easy-to-use and provides strong training and support. •Great version control for Agile teams •Open-source support •Good traceability •Not many products in the stack •Doesn’t cover every aspect of ALM
HV
Principal Solutions Architect at InfoStretch
Oct 26, 2021
Based on the needs and requirements the answer to this question can be varied.  Although Jira in conjunction with other tools like Zephyr, QMetry and others can suffice the needs of a large software company like yours.  Atlassian is the company that provides Jira so it is the same solution and an Agile-friendly solution for your company as it provides segway into newer generation tools and methodologies.  Hope this helps!
Sep 29, 2021
Hi community members, Azure DevOps generates a wiki report after executing pipelines for automation testing.  I need to simultaneously push and execute test cases in HP ALM. Each test case should have a unique ID and be dynamically updated as soon as the pipeline is executed. Has anyone tried to integrate Azure DevOps with HP ALM?  Your tips/guidance will be much appreciated!  
See 1 answer
YL
Product Marketing Manager at Micro Focus
Sep 29, 2021
Please refer to this documentation on how to integrate Micro Focus ALM/Quality Center with Microsoft Azure DevOps: Use-case: Syncing ALM and Azure DevOps (microfocus.com) You need Micro Focus Connect Core and the Connectors to make it work. They can be downloaded from Application Delivery Marketplace | Micro Focus.
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