1) The document discusses Application Life-Cycle Management (ALM), which is a solution that governs the planning, building, and managing of applications over their life cycle. ALM enables more effective project management, requirements management, collaboration, development, quality assurance, release management, and software maintenance. 2) The Microsoft ALM solution increases business value by enabling cross-functional collaboration and faster response to change through integrated tools and processes. ALM brings together IT assets, business processes, customers, partners, and employees. 3) The ALM Assessment provides insights into software development capabilities and recommends improvements to increase predictability and success. The assessment includes interviews, a maturity model, and a prioritized roadmap. It

1. ALM Assessment Program Overview Steve Lange | Developer Technology Specialist | Microsoft US West Region

2. What is Application Life-Cycle Management? Project management Planning, organizing, and managing resources Application Life-Cycle Management (ALM) is a solution for governing the process of planning, building, and managing applications over their life cycle. An ALM enables you to more effectively manage projects, track project progress, manage requirements, streamline team collaboration, design and develop systems, ensure quality, manage releases, and maintain software. The results are enhanced productivity, development speed, alignment with global business goals and business agility. Software maintenance Supporting iterative development practices and evolution of software solutions Project progress tracking and reporting Insights into project health and visibility for all stakeholders Requirements management Managing project scope and enforce requirements traceability Development team collaboration Support collaborative activities of various project roles System design and development Architecting the solution, planning deployment, and constructing software solutions Quality assurance Locating and resolving software defects Release management Formalizing software release and deployment practices to reduce deployment and support costs

3. Introducing Application Life-Cycle Management Do your software development projects have the visibility and predictability to meet the needs of your customers? The Microsoft Application Life-Cycle Management (ALM) solution increases business value by enabling cross-functional team collaboration and responds faster to change with integrated process and methodology tools ALM brings IT assets and business processes into a cohesive whole, enabling deeper customer connections, more integrated partners, empowered employees, and faster time to market Effectively executed Application Life-Cycle Management will help IT Leaders establish and retain a role of “strategic enabler” within their organizations

4. Introducing Application Life-Cycle Management Definition Design Development Testing Deployment Operations Application Life-Cycle Increase business value Enable cross-functional team collaboration Provide faster response to change Integrate process and methodology tools Foster continuous improvement across the entire life cycle

5. Changing the Paradigm Traditionally, we decompose tasks and measure completion This is the cost accounting tradition Alternatively, we account for customer value incrementally delivered This is the Lean Manufacturing and Theory of Constraints model Work Down Remaining Work Plan Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4 Value Value Up

6. ALM Assessment Program Assess your organization and its IT functions Identify the main problem areas Prioritize areas for improvement Adopt an incremental approach to phase in new practices on a project-by-project basis

7. It Starts with the ALM Assessment The Application Lifecycle Management Assessment provides customers with deep insights into the maturity of your software development capabilities and recommends potential improvements to help increase the predictability and success of your application development projects. Key Deliverables include: ALM Maturity Model Document ALM Prioritized Initiative Document (Roadmap) Final Presentation with Recommendations for ALM Process Improvement

8. Approach to ALM Optimization

9. Online ALM Assessment Provides vendor-agnostic snapshot of development maturity across 9 different areas Compares against previous assessments, industry, and team size. Takes about 30-45 minutes.

10. Onsite Assessment Usually 3 Days Take what is discovered from the online assessment and establish root causes for any areas needing improvement. Interview both individual contributors as well as upper management to create a whole picture Provide a high level roadmap for solving identified deficiencies in their current ALM Minimize impact on the organization during the assessment (selective interviews)

11. Onsite Assessment – Sample Agenda Day 1 Introductions Set the framework for assessment High-level review of process with managers and leads Emphasize need for being candid Schedule Interviews Need to be cognizant of work commitments Need leads’ buy-off Start interviews Day 2 Interviews Day 3 Final interviews if necessary Prepare Findings Report Share Findings with Day 1 group Report Recommend Discuss

12. Onsite Assessment - Interviews Interviews are slated for 45-50 minutes per interview (1 per hour and a break) Need role/discipline representation (ideally from all listed below) Business Analysts Development Test Product managers Executive sponsors Build management Release Management 1-2 people per interview This reduces interference with the team over the multi-day process Mix of management and individual contributors

13. Expected Deliverables Baseline report Assessment Report Executive Summary Recommendations & Findings Existing Best Practices to adopt Gaps/opportunities Impact Analysis Proposed Iterative Roadmap Detailed Findings

14. ALM Assessment - Summary Provide an impact map of proficiencies and deficiencies in development organization Provide a roadmap for making necessary improvements Requisites: 30-45 minutes to complete online assessment 30-60 minutes for onsite interview 1-2 hour meeting slots for introduction and conclusions

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