Portfolio Expert
Change Is Good
The emergence of SaaS with hosted and shared infrastructure options enables faster adoption of ALM tools and easier access to the benefits that automation brings.
Software as a Service (SaaS): What is its impact on Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and how can it be a driver for adoption and process improvement?
It's no secret that human beings change their behavior with great reluctance. We're wired for consistency more than we are for change. When we do manage to change, it's often under great duress and often only temporary.
The greatest barriers to adoption and consistent, appropriate usage of ALM are not technical or even financial. More often than not, it's human and cultural issues that stymie ALM -- the simple reluctance to change.
That's where new licensing and software delivery models come in.
The emergence of SaaS with hosted and shared infrastructure options enables faster adoption of ALM tools and easier access to the benefits that automation brings for code management and code quality. Of course, this value proposition assumes that people adopt the tools in consistent and appropriate ways.
Inside SaaS
IDC has its own taxonomy for how to approach SaaS, as evolved by my colleagues Amy Konary and Erin Traudt. SaaS refers to vendor-provided support and delivery of software applications, employing two primary models-hosted and on-demand shared infrastructure approaches.
Hosted Application Management (Hosted AM) -- which has been known typically as Application Service Provisioning (ASP) -- means that applications are hosted and either installed or managed by the provider off-site. Pricing involves a one-time fee with recurring maintenance/support costs that are separate from the licensing cost.
The second option -- Software On-Demand -- is typically designed for one-to-many delivery with a shared Web infrastructure. The software is built for delivery over the network and is not deployed at the user site. It's purchased annually with a subscription fee and there's little or no customization. This gives users significant flexibility to retain -- or to ditch -- the service provider.
So how does this impact ALM adoption and evolution? By removing barriers to entry.
Requiring no implementation costs, deployment effort or maintenance, the SaaS approach is all about immediate gratification. Developers enjoy the benefits of automated tools much more quickly than they could otherwise. Developers who experience automation of code quality and change management are much more likely to accept and leverage the technology, rather than continue to handle code management manually in an ad hoc manner.
In short, SaaS has resulted in larger numbers of new users being exposed to automated application lifecycle tools. With traditional deployments, the massive implementation burden often bogs down enterprise deployments, exhausting internal IT staff and budgets alike. On-Demand approaches to ALM adoption allow IT to focus on the human dimension: process and organizational change in conjunction with iterative development approaches.
Focus on Flexibility
Another key SaaS benefit is flexibility and cost. This is possible because companies aren't tightly bound to expensive implementations that they have deployed in-house and customized at great cost themselves.
On-Demand SaaS in particular plays well in a world that is moving towards services approaches for software development. The concept enables greater adaptability and responsiveness to changing development environments.
A variety of factors make the timing ripe for SaaS and ALM, including software that's designed for Web delivery and consumption, experienced firms that are emerging to optimize infrastructure support for SaaS and customers who are frustrated with "business as usual" when it comes to deploying and purchasing software.
Keep in mind these key areas when considering a SaaS provider:
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Support hours and phone availability |
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Disaster recovery guarantee |
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Application availability |
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Service Level Agreement (SLA) and how to redress client needs if SLAs are unmet |
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Testing for optimization |
The level of customization your organization requires for certain products may impact your choice of Hosted AM or On-Demand, but ALM requirements are typically fairly consistent and common across markets (with the notable exception of IT Project Portfolio Management and testing/change management for certain verticals).
So as you consider your next ALM tools purchase, check out the licensing and delivery alternatives. Leverage the opportunity to focus on process and organizational change rather than application deployment issues. Existing and emerging providers are increasingly committed to offering SaaS options for their products. More will evolve as demand -- and savvy users -- emerge.
About the Author
Melinda-Carol Ballou is program director for IDC's Application Life-Cycle Management research, where she focuses on software life-cycle process configuration and management, software quality and IT governance software. Prior to joining IDC, she ran Ballou IT Strategies, an independent consulting company specializing in PPM and ALM, and served as senior program director at META Group.