--- title: Application Lifecycle Management --- ## Application Lifecycle Management Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), while commonly associated with Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) is a broader perspective that aligns better with the concept of Product Lifecycle. The development (SDLC) is only a portion of the Application's Lifecycle and therefore is represented as part of the ALM. ALM can be divided into three distinct areas: Governance, Development, and Operations: Governance: Encompasses all of the decision making and project management for this application, extends over the entire existance of the application. Development: Process (SDLC) of actually creating the application. For most applications, the development process reappears again several more times in the application’s lifetime, including bug fixes, improvements and new versions. Operations: Work required to run and manage the application,typically begins shortly before deployment, then runs continuously until application retirement. Overlaps at times with Development. Tools can be used to manage ALM; some of the more popular options include: * Atlassian [JIRA](http://atlassian.com/software/jira) * CA Technologies [Rally](http://ca.com/us.html) * [Thoughtworks](http://thoughtworks.com/products) #### More Information: InfoQ - Gartner and Software Advice examine [Agile Lifecycle Management Tools](http://www.infoq.com/news/2015/02/agile-management-tools/)