The Borland Open ALM Manifesto
Software Delivery – More Art than Science
We live in a world that increasingly depends on software. Yet for something we depend on to run our businesses, maintain our health, and guide our economy, we continually struggle to deliver software reliably and with high quality. Today the process by which most organizations approach software delivery is ad hoc, lacking in visibility and accurate metrics, and ultimately poorly managed. As a result, software routinely falls short of expected results. This leaves IT management and businesses in general under increasing pressure and scrutiny, while negatively impacting the users who depend on that software. The time for change is now.
Transforming Software Delivery – the Borland Vision
We at Borland are focused and passionate about making a difference in the outcome of software delivery, such that any business that creates, integrates or relies on software is confident that it can reliably meet expectations, and provide real business value.
Our belief is that software delivery and the application lifecycle should be treated as a fundamental, core business process. After all, the outcome of software initiatives ultimately supports other core business processes – whether operational, revenue-generating, product enabling, customer facing, or otherwise. Shouldn’t the application lifecycle be supported in the same manner as these other core business processes? Shouldn’t the process be defined, managed, measured, and continuously improved?
Ultimately, software delivery must become a best practice of any IT organization if the business is to achieve its full potential. Thus, our vision at Borland is best described in the following manner:
Borland is dedicated to helping IT organizations transform software delivery into a managed, efficient and predictable business process.
We do this through a combination of technology and services. We offer comprehensive, Open Application Lifecycle Management solutions – open to your processes, tools and platforms. We complement our technology with consulting and education services to ensure customers can leverage existing best-practices and continuously improve their software delivery processes.
Our belief is that this transformation will instill confidence in IT management and enable businesses to maximize the business value of their software investments.
Open ALM – a Differentiated Approach
Borland is the leading vendor of Open Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) solutions. We differentiate ourselves as open because of our commitment to flexibility and customer choice. We know that customers need the flexibility to define, manage and measure their software delivery processes based on their own unique needs. We understand that customers have existing investments in tools and practices that should be incorporated into an overall solution, regardless of vendor origin. And that ultimately their software delivery process should be independent of any specific deployment platform or technologies, yet supportive of all. This is our benchmark for an Open ALM solution.
Our ALM platform embraces this open approach. We believe the platform should help connect, manage and measure all the various activities and assets across the application lifecycle – even in an environment of heterogeneous tools. Although tools are important, it’s the integrations between them and their ability to effectively support a customer’s established process that will ensure successful project delivery and high quality software. This is why we are delivering on process-driven integration across all lifecycle activities, assets and tools. We believe this approach is key to driving visibility, automating metrics and reporting, and ultimately improving manageability of the overall software delivery process.
Principles of the Borland Open ALM Manifesto
Our vision is clear. Our focus is unyielding. And our commitment to our customers is best summarized through the principles of our Open ALM Manifesto:
-
You have the right to manage your application lifecycle like any other critical business process.
To make it measurable, predictable, improvable. -
You have the right to remain independent of a vendor’s agenda.
To use any process, tool, or platform that fits your needs. -
You have the right to freely choose your software development process.
To incorporate agile, waterfall, RUP, or your own customized process. -
You have the right to learn from and utilize best practices.
To compare your current practices to best practices in your industry. -
You have the right to receive the best value.
To get open tools and skilled consulting at a fair price.