Overcome inherent bottlenecks in app lifecycle management

In this podcast, SearchSoftwareQuality editor Valerie Silverthorne interviews QA pro, expert tester and TechTarget columnist Gerie Owen about the phases of ALM and how to eliminate bottlenecks and increase productivity. Here's a quick overview of their discussion.

When app lifecycle management works, it's a happy day. But what happens when it stops helping and starts getting in the way? According to Owen, we might only have ourselves to blame.

"I think most of the bottlenecks come from the ways in which ALM is implemented and executed, rather than from within the framework itself," Owen explains. "In general, bottlenecks occur because of a lack of communication or questions that don't get resolved quickly. Bottlenecks can be highlighted in the ALM software, but they are caused by purely human action, or inaction."

Owen's approach is to take a deep breath and then look at your app lifecycle management software to make sure all of the tool sets are actually integrated. Are you doing a lot of extra testing because of a mobile application? It's important to make sure your ALM choice is up to that task. Is it easy for everyone to communicate and collaborate? Again, that's another area ripe for soul searching. And finally, if you're moving in an Agile or DevOps world, it will be important to finely examine your ALM options.

"Often, ALM is seen as a real bottleneck when you're trying to do Agile," Owen says. Agile, with its emphasis on flexibility, can be seen as almost the exact opposite of what ALM is trying to do. The secret to making them work together? You'll have to listen to the podcast to find out.

When ALM goes wrong in your organization, what do you think is to blame? Let us know.

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