Following the first Software Delivery InFocus podcast which we published in September, October sees Bola Rotibi's second podcast episode, in which she discusses a series of questions focused on the topic of Application Lifecycle Management (ALM). Her guests are John Leegte (ICT Architect at the Dutch Tax and Customs department, Belastingdienst) and Steve Jones (Head of SOA and SaaS for Capgemini?s global outsourcing business).

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is a topical subject that has garnered significant column inches in recent months, as many of the leading players in the market have launched new versions of their ALM solutions, and make strategic announcements concerning future directions and customer services and support. Over the last few months we have either heard about or seen previews of products from the likes of Borland, Compuware, HP, IBM, Microsoft, MKS, Polarion and Serena, to name but a few. Software is seen by many organisations as a key enabler of business value—whether that be through improving operational efficiency, competitive differentiation or business/product innovation. With this in mind, an ad hoc approach to software application lifecycle management cannot provide the predictability, visibility and traceability that organisations require of a process that has such a significant impact on the balance sheet. So—how relevant and applicable is ALM now and in the future, particularly in light of today's technology and business environments, when issues such as agility are so much to the fore?

The episode is slightly longer than normal (clocking in at 41'55"). There was so much good material in the conversation, we didn't want to cut anything! Thanks very much to both John and Steve for such a great conversation.

You can download the audio here or alternatively you can subscribe to the podcast feed to make sure you catch this and all future podcasts!

As with all the episodes in this podcast series, we've also published a companion report which summarises the discussion and "key takeaways". You can find it here, and it's free to download for all MWD's Guest Pass research subscribers (joining is free).