IDC's Application Life-Cycle Management service provides insight to improve business and IT alignment via end-to-end life-cycle strategies, including IT portfolio management systems, software quality metrics, testing and verification tools, software change and configuration, requirements visualization, definition and management tools, and agile processes. Application development groups also help ensure regulatory compliance and security, address licensing issues (e.g., cloud, SaaS, and open source), and help ALM and software asset deployment from development to operations and reuse in a world that encompasses cloud, mobile, social business, services, composite and embedded apps, virtualization, complex sourcing, and enterprise PPM solutions.

• Software life-cycle process, requirements, and configuration management and collaboration, agile development and projects
• Software quality, including mobile and cloud strategies
• Project and portfolio management software trends and strategies
• IT project and portfolio management software
• Developer, business, and operations trends
• Emergence of IT governance solutions to align IT with financial management, infrastructure assets, and business priorities
• Trends in software configuration management (SCM), including connecting business to IT via requirements management and Web services demands on life-cycle management solutions
• Automated software quality (ASQ) tools evolution: Hosted testing, Web services and SOA testing, testing virtualization, vulnerability and risk and value-based testing, and other emerging technologies (e.g., cloud testing, mobile, analysis, and metrics)
• Trends in collaborative software development with social media

• Application Life-Cycle Management Forecasts and Analyses
• Software Configuration Management Forecasts and Analyses
• Six IDC MarketScapes — IT PPM and PPM, enterprise ASQ, cloud testing, ERP testing, software quality analysis and measurement
• Automated Software Quality Forecasts and Analyses
• IT Project Portfolio Management, PPM and IT Governance/Devops
• Cloud Testing and ALM/IT PPM SaaS and Cloud Trends

In addition to the insight provided in this service, IDC may conduct research on specific topics or emerging market segments via research offerings that require additional IDC funding and client investment.

1. How should demands for quality and adaptability be addressed across platforms and business needs (mobile, embedded, etc.)?
2. What does the emergence of services and agile mean for ALM?
3. What is the impact of emerging trends on "devops," complex sourcing, open source, social media, software as a service, and cloud for ALM and full life-cycle management?
4. How should companies respond to dynamically changing business demand for IT reinvestment, integrated life-cycle management evolution, volatility, and economic pressures?
5. What are the key components and core strategies for successful IT governance for ALM with dramatically changing deployment and quality/security needs?

IDC's Application Life-Cycle Management service examines how vendors are positioning themselves to compete in the application life-cycle management and IT governance market. This service reviews the strategies and market positioning, and future direction of providers in this market, including:

AccordSQA, AccuRev, Acronis, Allen Systems Group, Atlassian, AtTask, Axure, Black Duck, Blueprint, BMC, Borland, CA Technologies, CAST Software, Cigital, Cisco/VMLogix, CollabNet, Compuware, Coverity, Daptiv, Deltek, Digite, Electric Cloud, Empirix, Epicor, eProject, Euclid, Expert Choice, GenSight, Gomez, HP Software, HP/Fortify, IBM, Infosys, Innotas, iRise, Jaczone, Keystone, Klocwork, Kovair, Lawson, McCabe & Associates, Meridien, Metier, Microfocus, Microsoft, OpenMake, OpenPages, Oracle, Osellus, Palamida, Parasoft, Patni, Perforce, Planisware, Planview, Polarion, PowerSteering, PTC/MKS, Quest/Surgient, Radview, Rally, Ravenflow, Reasoning, Robbins-Gioia, Rocket/Aldon, rPath, SAP, Sciforma, Seapine, Security Innovation, SEI, SERENA, Skytap, Smart Bear, SOASTA, Softlab, Tasktop, TCS, Tenrox, Thoughtworks, Trilogy/Artemis, Troux, UMT Consulting, Veracode, VersionOne, Visible Systems, VMware, Wipro, and Worksoft.

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