Let’s talk about Engineering lifecycle management for a minute.
I’ve been involved with Application Lifecycle Management for a long time - and over the years, it’s been my experience that project managers think of ALM as something that is specific to their particular project at the time. A new application for the web, a new system for a device or product, something that has a finite lifecycle. Projects tend to be “fail fast” endeavors, so that a finished product can be tested and marketed quickly… thing made, thing tested, thing in production, project successful - next project.
But larger, more complex projects, where lives are dependent on a finished product that is perfect right out of the gate are a lot different. For example, if a software application for a website, like a game, or a marketing tool, or even a financial tool isn’t perfect, the worst that can happen is someone loses some money. If, however, there’s a bug in an application or system that controls the brakes in a car, or the traffic collision avoidance system in a plane, or the reactivity control in a reactor, well, that’s a different story. Engineering highly complex, interdependent components depends on rigorous requirements management to ensure performance, safety and reliability of the system as a whole. Government regulatory frameworks provide detailed standards for design, construction and operation of critical systems that the public depends on.
So when thinking of Engineering Lifecycle Management, a much broader meaning must be considered than just implementation. Lifecycle carries the idea of managing the requirements, workflow, and testing during not only design and implementation, but also the continued maintenance, repair and upgrade of more complex projects. Systems are often in place for decades, meaning that the original guidelines around which they were created and implemented must be easily accessible, even if only to understand what was put in place to begin with when a replacement is required.
There are several good tools available to help with project and workflow management, and many “a la carte” solutions that can be tied together to provide a holistic approach to implementing an application. But when you need a true lifecycle approach to managing a complex project, there is no better solution than the IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management tools. (Engineering Lifecycle management | IBM). Features that include systems modeling, requirements, test and workflow management, traceability, reuse, impact analysis, and many others ensure that your projects are designed, implemented and accessible for decades.
If you have a critical project that you’re about to start, or even that is in flight - consider the complexity that you are going to be (or are currently) working with. IBM has been around for a long time, and will continue to be there to assist with your projects for a long time to come. Let us work with you to help manage that critical complexity.