ALM - Vision
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is the coordination of all aspects of software engineering - including the formulation and communication of business and technical requirements, code design and architecture, project tracking, change management, coding, testing, debugging, and release management - by using tools that facilitate and track collaboration among and within work teams.
Application development is one of the most strategic activities in IT. Whether the business goal is improving customer satisfaction, streamlining operations, or extending into a new market, the applications that underpin business initiatives and provide differentiation are critical to success. Application development teams that predictably deliver business-critical applications can help a company maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace and drive top-line growth
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Does your team have the necessary skills and experience to operate and manage your development process?
- Are you confident in your ability to support your team needs?
Black Marble can help you address these issues. Adopting an ALM system is not that easy for any company. There are many components that that need to be considered; some are technical, but many are more people focused. We can address your end-to-end application lifecycle needs and enable you to prioritise and implement capabilities in the best order from first principles.
Black Marble can assist in all areas of ALM adoption to guide you through implementing development best practices within your organisation.
Some of the challenges we can help mitigate include:
- Limited re-use of components and services generating avoidable costs.
- Complexities of managing workflow across development groups, including in dispersed locations.
- Limited management and visibility into project status.
- Difficulty with managing software defects and the application lifecycle process.
- Implementing the right tools to aid your application lifecycle process.
Black Marble recommends the use of Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server (TFS), as the state of the art tool for your business.
However our services are not limited to the technical. We can also provide consultancy on project methodologies to assist in re-engineering for software engineering. To this end we have certified Scrum Masters and Prince2 practitioners on our staff. In addition, we provide mentoring of developers to facilitate process improvement.
Key Areas Addressed by our Vision Service
- Process and governance - Includes assessment, integration, reengineering, standards, policies, and compliance.
- Infrastructure and operations - Includes topology, capacity planning, system configuration, migration, disaster recovery, and security.
- Lifecycle elements - Includes project, requirements, development, source code, and testing management.
- Implementing Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server within your organisation.
- Architectural Overview
- Server Infrastructure Analysis & Recommendations
- User Load and Activity Estimation
- Review Development
How we carry out the Vision Service
Black Marble provides experienced consultants on site for a minimum of one day, depending on the size of your organisation, and current implementation, increasing the time on site proportionally.
Once on site, we speak with the staff members responsible for the design and implementation of the existing system, discussing what they want/need from the implementation as the business moves forward.
The Vision and Scope Report
The report will be a plan for successful delivery within your organisation:
- Recommendations.
- Next Steps
- Summary
Microsoft Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server
A rich set of integrated tools and server infrastructure coupled with flexible and agile process’s that represent a breakthrough for development tools, help you manage and optimise your entire software development process. Available products include: Professional, Premium, Ultimate and Test Professional.
Our Engineering Director, Richard Fennell, is an MVP for Visual Studio (ALM) – providing you with the confidence that your business is in safe, experienced hands.
For more information on our service you can call Lisa on +44 1274 300175.
You can find out more by coming along to one of our Technical Events
Or by attending one of the Microsoft UK ALM, Test and Developer Events.