Finding the right application lifecycle management (ALM) solution is becoming increasingly critical to product development. More and more products are being created with embedded software or connected components and require ALM.
Codebeamer and Jira have both emerged as top leaders in this product software development space—but which is better for your needs? Let’s break down Codebeamer vs Jira for ALM.
Solution Overview: What is ALM?
To determine which solution is better in the Codebeamer vs Jira ALM software comparison, we first need a general understanding of ALM.
Application lifecycle management (ALM) is designed to support software development, especially in the cases of product applications and connectivity software. It provides an optimized framework to support the software and application development lifecycle, similar to how PLM does the same for products. It typically follows five stages: planning, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance.
Application lifecycle management (ALM) provides a framework for software and application development similar to how product lifecycle management (PLM) does the same for product development.
Codebeamer vs Jira Breakdown
Primary Use Case
Jira is primarily a project management and issue-tracking tool. It can be customized to support the ALM processes but is not specifically built for it. Many organizations use Jira to track support tickets, which can be useful in the ALM process once software has been deployed. However, to make Jira work for ALM you’ll need to invest heavily in implementation and customizations.
Codebeamer is an ALM platform specifically designed to support project management for complex software and application development. It includes pre-built workflows for each traditional ALM development stages and has all the traceability requirements needed to meet compliance requirements like ASPICE and ISO 26262.
While Jira can be duct-taped together as an ALM solution, Codebeamer is specifically designed to support ALM tasks.
Customization and Integrations
Jira has many customization capabilities, including integrations and plugins, making it remarkably adaptable for numerous use cases. However, altering workflows or building out these configurations to meet the needs of ALM requires advanced expertise. These add-ons can make implementation complicated and costly and require working with third-party support teams to get things working the way you expect.
Codebeamer, in contrast, is much simpler. It also includes customization options across workflows, configurations, and permissions, but implementing these customizations requires just a few clicks. Codebeamer includes all the tools you need for ALM without needing any third-party plug-ins or additional cost investments.
If you’re looking for a highly adaptable tool to support many different types of project development, Jira is a great platform.
However, if you want to ensure optimized workflows across ALM, Codebeamer is a better one-stop-shop solution.
Agile Support
Jira claims to support Agile development, and it’s technically possible, but its workflows are limited, and users report that they are clunky. Teams looking to try other development methodologies, like Sequential or Waterfall, will find that Jira is a poor choice given the extensive customization and build-out required.
In contrast, Codebeamer supports Agile, Waterfall, and other hybrid development approaches. It includes pre-built templates that can be easily customized to meet additional organizational needs.
ALM Software Comparison: Codebeamer is the ALM Winner
It should come as no surprise that a platform designed for ALM is better for ALM. So, in our ALM software comparison, Codebeamer is the clear winner.
We admit that as a PTC reseller, we have a slight bias. However, if you’re looking to develop complex applications and software, Codebeamer was built to do just that. It has all the tools you need to support all phases of application development—and without the need for any additional third-party plug-ins and add-on costs.
In our opinion, Codebeamer is the ideal solution for teams looking to advance their application development to create the next generation of connected and software-support products.
