Ease ALM With the Proper Tools
These tools will help you "do more with less."
by Nelson Ruest and Danielle Ruest

Posted October 15, 2003

The new trend in IT today is to "do more with less." This is one reason organizations are quickly learning that they have to gain better control of their networks if they want to reduce costs. One area where organizations can make significant cost reductions is Application Lifecycle Management (ALM). By managing the entire lifecycle instead of just the development portion, organizations can have more control of application development or software implementation projects.

The tools included in this roundup are designed to help you manage this process in a more complete manner. General lifecycle-management tools are followed by tools within each phase of lifecycle management.

General Lifecycle Management
AllFusion (Computer Associates International, Inc.)
AllFusion is a suite of three products whose purpose is the management of the complete application lifecycle. The first manages the application modeling process. It is designed to help organizations gain a better understanding of how features can best match business needs. This component is driven by CA's well-known ERwin Data Modeler (also see Design tools, below). The second product in the suite focuses on change and configuration management. It is designed to assist in the software change process, managing change requests while the development process is underway. The third manages processes and projects. But to truly manage a complete lifecycle, you will also need components of Computer Associates' UniCenter IT Resource Management suite.

Enterprise Studio for Java (Borland Software Corp.)
Borland's Enterprise Studio for Java includes seven tools. The first is the Together object modeling environment, letting you define and design your applications. The second is the JBuilder development environment, supporting the development process. JBuilder is also supported by the Borland Enterprise Server and JDataStore, an all-Java database. In addition, the suite includes Optimizeit, a performance analysis tool, as well as two additional tools: CaliberRM, which helps manage software requirements, and StarTeam, a software configuration management system. Integrated with native Java environments, this suite provides a fairly complete set of lifecycle management tools, especially if Java is your target platform.

Roundtable Total Software Management System (Tugboat Software)
If you are working with the Progress 4GL application development environment (ADE), Roundtable is the tool to support your application lifecycle. It provides complete development project management, letting you view the status of any development project at any time. Through its tight integration with both the Progress ADE and the Progress database, it can automate the application deployment process. It can also automate the application documentation process—it includes complete version control and can track any application modification. Roundtable can run in either a Windows or a Unix environment.

SourceCast (CollabNet)
SourceCast is an integrated environment that provides support for project management, the development process, information management throughout the project, and team communications. It can automate several of the testing phases, including the user-acceptance phase. SourceCast provides an easy-to-use Web interface that lets both business users and development teams interact during the application lifecycle. It also provides role-based management, simplifying the assignation of access rights and permissions during the development process. This is a good tool to help you create a more complete development environment.

IBM Rational Software (IBM Corp.)
Rational does not offer a single product for application life cycle management. Rather, all of their products are geared toward supporting different stages within the lifecycle. They are also designed to integrate with IDEs such as Microsoft Visual Studio .NET or IBM WebSphere Studio. Rational products support requirements definition and needs analysis through object modeling, and they can also automate testing and help improve performance. They support software configuration management, providing complete version control; they support the configuration of the software development process, making it easier for development teams to follow the development roadmap; and they can help support project management. Rational is well-known for the quality of its development support tools.

z/OS SCLM Suite (IBM Corp.)
For development in the System 390 world, IBM also provides the z/OS Software Configuration and Library Manager (SCLM) Suite, which consists of several tools. The first, Cloud 9, provides an integrated library for the management of diverse code components such as HTML, Java, and System 390 objects. The second, Breeze, is a review and approval tool that helps support the software quality assurance process. The third, Enhanced Access Control, lets you manage permissions and access rights for the software libraries. The fourth and final component, SCLM for z/OS, provides version control and software promotion from one environment to another, supporting each phase of the testing process. Together, the tools in the z/OS SCLM Suite provides solid help for the development and graduation components of the application lifecycle.

Requirements
Telelogic DOORS (Telelogic North America Inc.)
One of the most important aspects of the application lifecycle is requirements management. If this is the aspect you need to cover most, Telelogic DOORS might be the product for you. This tool is focused on the requirements phase only. DOORS uses an explorer-like interface to manage both requirements and any associated information. Through the Enterprise Change Proposal System, users can submit their own change requests—requests that can be shared among multiple projects and tracked throughout the project's lifecycle. DOORS also integrates with DocExpress, an add-on product that lets users merge DOORS data into their program documentation.

Goda AnalystPro 4.0 (Goda Software)
Requirements phases tracked by Analyst Pro are change management, analysis, and traceability. Requirements can be stored separately, in relationship, or linked to design objects. The Analyst Pro Traceability feature helps users document and identify lower-level requirements derived from parent requirements. It can also generate reports, graphs, and charts automatically.

Design
Rational XDE Modeler (IBM Rational)
Rational XDE Modeler lets designers produce platform-independent UML models of software architecture. It features multimodel support to separate concerns of analysis, architecture, design, and implementation. Developers can use the resulting architectural models and patterns for implementation, accelerating the development of applications to conform to their architecture. Rational XDE Modeler is part of the IBM Rational XDE family, which includes Rational XDE Developer Java Platform Edition, Rational XDE Developer .NET Edition, Rational XDE Developer Plus Edition, and Rational XDE Tester.

ER/Studio (Embarcadero Technologies Inc.)
If your in-house development projects focus on databases only, ER/Studio might be the product you need. This database modeling tool is designed to manage the entire development process from design to completion. Its graphical interface lets you draw the object model you require and its automated transformation features will create the database structure from the model you rendered. Any modifications you make to the design will automatically be translated to the database structure. ER/Studio also supports reverse engineering, letting you integrate your existing programs into the design environment. It will also automatically document the designs you render, and through its viewer program lets you share these diagrams with anyone in the organization. ER/Studio supports all the popular relational databases, including Microsoft Access.

AllFusion ERwin Data Modeler (Computer Associates)
AllFusion ERwin Data Modeler helps create and maintain databases, data warehouses, and enterprise data models. AllFusion ERwin data models help you visualize data structures to facilitate the organization, management, and moderation of data complexities, database technologies, and the deployment environment.

Development
IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer (IBM Corp.)
WebSphere Studio Application Developer is IBM's core application development environment for building and maintaining J2EE and Web services applications. Application Developer simplifies and optimizes J2EE application development with best practices, visual tools, templates, code generation, and a comprehensive development environment. Developers can build new applications or enable existing assets that are consistent with the WS-I Basic Profile 1.0, using open standards such as UDDI, SOAP, and WSDL.

Borland JBuilder (Borland Software Corp.)
JBuilder is a cross-platform environment for building enterprise Java applications. It can be used for EJB, Web client, XML, Web services, mobile, and database application development, offering two-way visual designers and rapid deployment to leading J2EE platform application servers. Productivity enhancements include UML code visualization, refactoring, code formatting, HotSwap debugging, enterprise unit testing, and support for multiple version control systems.

Visual Studio .NET (Microsoft Corp.)
Although Microsoft does not offer any single product for software lifecycle management, it does offer several products and technologies that together help organizations manage the development lifecycle. For example, Visual Studio .NET includes several new features geared toward software project management. In addition, Microsoft provides project management through Microsoft Project Central. SharePoint Services can provide communication and collaboration for the project team throughout the entire lifecycle. The Enterprise Architect edition of Visio can integrate with Visual Studio to provide object modeling capabilities. Visual SourceSafe can help manage code versions and code libraries, providing automated promotion capabilities. Visual Studio Analyzer can provide performance testing, and Application Center Test can test some types of Web-based applications. Together with the Windows Installer service, these technologies go a long way to help you master the complete application lifecycle. You can use them with some of the quality assurance and team support tools listed here to manage the entire lifecycle and reduce development and testing costs.

Testing
Compuware Application Reliability Solution (CARS) (Compuware Corp.)
CARS is a system based on three key elements: a methodology, a tool, and certified expertise. The first helps organizations manage risk through Compuware's QualityPoint methodology. This methodology is designed to integrate with existing quality assurance processes to help improve the quality of the development process. The second focuses on using the Application Quality Workbench to automate testing procedures for application development. The third relies on providing either training or expert help to improve your quality assurance processes. Compuware is well-known for the strength of its quality assurance support tools. However, CARS will still require the integration of additional tools for complete lifecycle management because it seems focused on the development phase only.

Optane Suite (Mercury Interactive)
Mercury Interactive offers Optane, a business technology optimization tool that supports the quality assurance process during software development. The suite includes tools for testing, performance tuning, and performance management. These tools help you identify the level of readiness of your applications, all from a business perspective. Though it doesn't support the entire lifecycle, Optane Suite can help you improve the quality of your development projects, reducing costs related to premature application releases. Optane operates with most development environments available today.

For more testing tools, also see our guide to automated testing tools in our recent Special Report on Testing and Performance.

Packaging
InstallShield DevStudio 9 (InstallShield)
InstallShield DevStudio is a complete Windows installation-authoring solution, enabling developers to create customized Windows Installer (MSI), InstallScript, and smart-device installations with the same easy-to-use development environment. DevStudio 9 brings together all the functionality of InstallShield Developer and InstallShield Professional. DevStudio offers many customization options, as well as wizards, task-based views, and a Direct Table Editor for full control over MSI installations.

Wise Package Studio (Wise Solutions Inc.)
Wise Package Studio is an application-deployment management solution that helps system administrators migrate applications to the Windows Installer (.MSI) standard. It supports every phase of the enterprise software packaging process, including repackaging, customization, validation, conflict resolution, and testing. Wise Package Studio helps create high-quality deployments in a shorter amount of time. It's available in three editions: Enterprise, Professional, and Standard. Wise also makes Wise for Visual Studio .NET, Wise for Windows Installer, and Wise Installation System.

Deployment
Borland Enterprise Server (Borland Software Corp.)
Borland Enterprise Server is a unified platform for deploying and managing e-business applications and Web services. It comes in four editions: AppServer Edition, VisiBroker Edition, Web Edition, and Team Edition.

Microsoft Systems Management Server (Microsoft Corp.)
Systems Management Server (SMS) delivers cost-effective, scalable change and configuration management for Windows-based systems. Built on industry-standard management protocols, SMS is compatible with complementary management tools from Microsoft and other companies. SMS fully integrates with Microsoft SQL Server and the Windows NT and Windows 2000 Server operating systems—making it easy to install, configure, and maintain in any network.

Deployment Solution (Altiris)
Deployment Solution (DS) is a component of both the Client Management Suite and the Server Provisioning Suite, two comprehensive suites produced by Altiris. Deployment Solution integrates with Active Directory to let you target distributions in the same way you structure the management of your objects. DS also supports several other collection methods, letting you precisely target the systems that require the software you are distributing. In addition, DS provides a simple-to-use interface that lets you manage multiple sites at once, and target any device including servers, desktops, notebooks, and handhelds. DS supports deployments to Linux as well as Windows. Altiris products are well-known for their low learning curve, letting users get up to speed quickly.

LANDesk Management Suite (LANDesk Software Inc.)
LANDesk Management Suite (LMS) is a comprehensive set of tools for the management of a machine's entire lifecycle. Its software distribution component includes a unique multicasting targeting feature that automatically designates a targeted client as the multicasting distribution point for a specific network segment. This provides comprehensive control over network bandwidth during distribution. In addition, LMS supports all versions of Windows, Macintosh systems 8 through 10, Linux, IBM AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, and Novell Netware, making it a good tool for managing heterogeneous networks.

PC-Duo Enterprise (Vector Networks Ltd.)
PC-Duo Enterprise is a modular desktop management suite that includes inventory management, software metering, software distribution, diagnostics, remote control and Web-based helpdesk issue tracking modules. What's interesting about PC-Duo is that it does not come in one monolithic edition. IT organizations can pick and choose from each of its major modules, purchasing and implementing only what they need, when they need it. In fact, there are 39 different combinations of modular architecture available. For example, if you need only to support software distribution, you can simply acquire the inventory and distribution modules. If you appreciate the way these tools work for you, you can then select additional components and implement them at a later date. This modular approach is interesting, especially in times when IT budgets are constantly shrinking.

Unicenter Software Delivery (Computer Associates)
Unicenter Software Delivery (USD) is one part of a comprehensive management suite, but its strength lies in the number of different platforms it supports. USD can target machines running Linux, Unix, all versions of Windows, DOS, OS/2, Open VMS, and VAX/Alpha, making it the ideal delivery solution for completely heterogeneous environments. Add Unicenter Software Delivery to the AllFusion suite to complete your lifecycle management toolkit.

About the Authors
Danielle Ruest and Nelson Ruest (MCSE, MCT) just released their third book, Windows Server 2003 Pocket Administrator (Osborne McGraw-Hill, 2003), an everyday administration reference. Their second book, Windows Server 2003, Best Practices for Enterprise Deployments (Osborne McGraw-Hill, 2003), is a step-by-step guide for designing enterprise networks with this new operating system. They are also authors of Preparing for .NET Enterprise Technologies (Addison-Wesley, 2001), a book on mastering change in the enterprise. Both work for Resolutions Enterprises, a small Canadian consulting firm that provides services in the information architecture and change management fields. Both can be reached at infos@reso-net.com.