What is ALM?

There are many books and articles about ALM and, having a look at the definitions, one thing is common in all of them: ALM is broader than the SDLC and covers the entire life cycle of an application from ideation through development to discontinuity.

Per definition, ALM refers to the management of a computer program’s entire life cycle, including governance, development, maintenance, and discontinuity. It involves a wide range of activities, such as requirements management, software architecture, and project management.

The SDLC is a component of ALM that provides a detailed description of the application development phase. ALM can involve multiple iterations of the SDLC during an application’s life cycle, that is, multiple methodologies such as Agile and V-model can be applied in different phases. ALM continues after development and first release until the application is no longer used.

ALM has brought several disciplines and roles together. It...