Developement under regulations
Strange as it may sound, development processes under regulatory supervision can actually be profitable for all concerned
By: Rami Azulai, joint CEO of Orcanos
In today's decentralized and global development environments, we are also in need of a solution to provide tools for management, control and supervision throughout the entire product development project - from the stage of the requirements, planning and testing, to implementation of the software for the customer. It is not surprising, therefore, that in recent years the field of ALM (Application Life Management) has been enjoying accelerated growth among suppliers of software for implementing effective ALM solutions that create transparency and integration among the different development entities in the organization.
Many software companies around the world have already identified the advantages of implementing ALM systems, allowing different people in the organization to follow up, monitor and supervise the entire development process. In this way, at each point in time different officeholders can obtain an accurate picture of the product, not only in the development and testing sections, but also the marketing managers, who are in regular contact with the customers and update them regarding progress of the development and meeting their demands. In this way, there is full transparency throughout the entire development process, with everyone "talking" to each other with a single platform and a single source of information. This also avoids the problem of lack of communication, as the marketing manager can ensure that the developers have understood the customer's requirements and are working according to them, and avoids development problems or situations in which the poor flow of information is liable to create delays and unnecessary work for the developers. This is particularly true in today's age of globalization, when development companies employ software and control staff scattered at different sites around the world.
Alongside the increased awareness of the advantages provided by the ALM tool, we can expect a parallel trend of regulatory and supervisory bodies guiding the development processes and, in practice, creating standardization of the field. Today it may sound very far off, but it works in certain fields, such as biomedicine, for example, or the development of military and security systems. Today, biomedical companies are required to comply with FDA standards, and even certain telecom companies have to meet the TL 9000 standard, and the ALM systems are necessary to prove that they are in fact in compliance with the development processes and all the quality standards. It must be remembered that these companies cannot realize their business targets without the regulatory processes, and so such systems are seen as essential to their existence.
The implementation of regulatory standards will make it possible to ensure that the customer, who purchases a software product and is also required to meet high quality standards, can be certain that the development that has been ordered does in fact comply with all the most stringent regulations and standards. Furthermore, among those who are currently expressing an interest in measures of this kind are investors and venture capital companies. The reason for this is simple. When a venture capital fund or a private investor invests in a company or product, it wants to be certain that the company does indeed meet quality and effective work standards, and is not "burning" precious cash and personnel resources as a result of poor quality software products. With the ALM tool, it is possible to guarantee that the company in which they are investing is indeed capable of meeting the targets set in its business plan, and following up its performance in an ongoing and direct manner.
The development companies should also welcome such a step. Standards can only make their work easier. This does not mean that people will work harder, on the contrary - communication through the ALM tool can significantly increase efficiency, and thus streamline and improve the process at every level. There is regular, online communication, and times for responding and giving answers to the customer are considerably better, and in line with the customer's expectations. In this way too we avoid the complexity that characterizes many software companies, which reach a situation in which the customer is dissatisfied and returns again and again to the developers, asking for a new version without bugs and problems.
In conclusion, the introduction of standards and regulatory intervention often sounds like something that will delay to market processes and cause difficulties. In the case at hand, there is no doubt that development processes supervised by means of an ALM tool can create a win-win situation and streamline development processes, no matter how complex and sensitive they are.