ALM Categories at a Glance
Note: This article is updated at ALM Categories at a Glance.
I'm reviewing some ALM (Application Life-Cycle Management) work for a colleague, so I thought it would help to rehydrate a map of the ALM space. I’m a fan of having simple maps to find my way around. By map, I simply mean topics and categories, and ideally sub-categories to help see the lay of the land, at a glance.
This map is based on rationalizing work with the field, our patterns & practices work, and input from a lot of smart people that are intimately familiar with the ALM space. What I like about it is that it’s simple, intuitive, and it really does help map out the ALM domain into meaningful buckets and categories. If you can map out a space, you can always dive deeper, than if you don’t have a map.
ALM Categories
- Architecture and Design
- Configuration Management
- Data Management
- Deployment and Release Management
- Development
- Governance
- Maintenance and Operations
- Project Planning and Management
- Requirements and User Experience
- Testing and Quality Assurance
ALM Frame and Sample Activities
This is a sampling of some of the activities that would fall under each ALM category:
| Category | Items |
| Architecture and Design | Architecture FrameworkAnalysis and Design |
| Configuration Management | Build ManagementChange ManagementCollaborative DevelopmentRelease ManagementVersion Control and Repository |
| Data Management | Database Change ManagementDatabase DeploymentDatabase ModelingDatabase Testing |
| Deployment and Release Management | DeploymentEnvironment Management |
| Development | Code AnalysisCode ReuseCode ReviewsCode WritingQuality Metrics |
| Governance | Application Portfolio ManagementCompliance ManagementIT Governance Maturity |
| Maintenance and Operations | Customer SupportDesigned for OperationsOperations |
| Project Planning and Management | Project CloseProject InitiationProject Monitoring and ControlProject PlanningRisk ManagementStakeholder Management |
| Requirements and User Experience | End-User DocumentationRequirements AnalysisRequirements ElicitationRequirements ManagementTraceabilityUI Design and PrototypingUI ImplementationUser Experience Envisioning |
| Testing and Quality Assurance | Test ManagementTest PlanningTest Resource ManagementTest Types |
Overlay: Configuration Management Overlay
Configuration Management is a cross-cutting concern. Here is an overlay of Configuration Management activities across the ALM categories. It is just a sample set and it’s extensible.
| Category | Items |
| Architecture and Design | ExtensibilitySubsetability |
| Configuration Management | |
| Data Management | |
| Deployment and Release Management | Release Management |
| Development | Build ManagementConfiguration APIs |
| Governance | |
| Maintenance and Operations | Change Management |
| Project Planning and Management | Collaborative DevelopmentSource Control Management |
| Requirements Engineering and User Experience | Database (physical) ModelingDomain Modeling |
| Testing and Quality Assurance | Build Verification TestingCross-Configuration Testing |
Overlay: Data Management Overlay
Configuration Management is a cross-cutting concern. Here is an overlay of Data Management activities across the ALM categories. It is just a sample set and it’s extensible.
| Category | Items |
| Architecture and Design | |
| Configuration Management | |
| Data Management | |
| Deployment and Release Management | |
| Development | |
| Governance | Data Evolution StrategyEnterprise Data Governance |
| Maintenance and Operations | Database Change ManagementDatabase Tuning and Performance Optimizations |
| Project Planning and Management | Data Migration / Integration PlanningData Platform Selection |
| Requirements Engineering and User Experience | Data Requirements GatheringValidation, Rule Sets, Constraints |
| Testing and Quality Assurance | Database TestingDatabase Performance Testing |
Overlay: Security Engineering Overlay
Configuration Management is a cross-cutting concern. Here is an overlay of Security Engineering activities across the ALM categories. It is just a sample set and it’s extensible.
| Category | Items |
| Architecture and Design | Security Design GuidelinesThreat Modeling |
| Configuration Management | |
| Data Management | |
| Deployment and Release Management | Security Deployment Inspection |
| Development | Security Code InspectionStatic Code Analysis |
| Governance | Legal Compliance AlignmentPrivacy Policies |
| Maintenance and Operations | Control TuningSecurity Patching |
| Project Planning and Management | ComplianceRisk Management |
| Requirements Engineering and User Experience | EstimationSecurity Goals Identification |
| Testing and Quality Assurance | Fuzz TestingRisk-Based Testing |
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