By: James Hunter

Organizations want to streamline their software delivery processes while ensuring high quality and security. IBM DevOps Loop and IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) offer a powerful combination that addresses these needs, providing a comprehensive solution for agile, secure, and efficient software delivery.

Enhancing efficiency and compliance

IBM DevOps Loop and IBM ELM together bring significant business value by addressing the complexities of modern software development and delivery. For technical professionals, this combination offers a unified platform that enhances efficiency, ensures compliance, and accelerates time-to-market.

What problems do they solve?

1. Toolchain Sprawl and Complexity: Many teams struggle with a sprawling toolchain that hinders efficiency and makes it difficult to track metrics and reporting. IBM DevOps Loop provides a single, open platform that integrates disparate tools and data, streamlining the delivery process.
2. Security and Compliance Risks: Security breaches, compliance risks, and downtime are major concerns. IBM DevOps Loop's Governance, Risk, and Compliance capabilities, combined with IBM ELM's rigorous requirements management, ensure that software development pipelines are secure and compliant.
3. Manual Steps and Disjointed Data: Manual steps and disjointed data tools often lead to miscommunication, longer release cycles, and quality issues. The integration of IBM DevOps Loop and IBM ELM automates and governs the delivery of code, aligning business goals with delivery activities.
4. Productivity and Quality: Teams need to deliver more without increasing costs and ensure high-quality solutions. IBM DevOps Loop's extensive automated testing, CI/CD, builds, and deployments, along with IBM ELM's powerful systems and software modeling, accelerate time-to-market and reduce human error.

Complementary Strengths

1. AI-Driven Automation: IBM DevOps Loop leverages AI at every stage of the delivery lifecycle, from planning to deployment. This complements IBM ELM's robust requirements management and testing capabilities, ensuring that software changes are reliable and compliant.
2. Seamless Integration: The key technical integration points between IBM DevOps Loop and IBM ELM include Quality Assurance (Testing), Value Stream Management, Automated Deployment, and Requirements Workflow Visualization. This seamless integration ensures that all aspects of the software delivery process are covered.
3. Comprehensive Reporting: IBM DevOps Loop offers comprehensive insights and DoRA metrics, while IBM ELM provides detailed reporting on requirements and test cases. This combination enables teams to visualize value and delivery risks, linking business and delivery stakeholders effectively.

IBM DevOps Loop focuses on the delivery aspect, providing a single platform for planning, development, testing, and deployment. IBM ELM, on the other hand, excels in managing the complexity of engineering processes, ensuring that mission-critical systems are compliant and meet high standards. Together, they offer a complete solution that covers the entire software lifecycle, from requirements gathering to deployment.

Challenges: Addressing Pain Points

1. Complexity of Engineering Processes: Teams often struggle with the complexity of engineering processes, especially when delivering mission-critical systems. IBM ELM addresses this by providing powerful systems and software modeling capabilities.

2. Toolchain Sprawl: A sprawling toolchain can hinder efficiency and make it difficult to track metrics and reporting. IBM DevOps Loop solves this by providing a single, open platform that integrates disparate tools and data.

3. Security and Compliance Risks: Teams fear security breaches, compliance risks, and downtime. IBM DevOps Loop's Governance, Risk, and Compliance capabilities, combined with IBM ELM's rigorous requirements management, ensure that software development pipelines are secure and compliant.

The result:

• Efficiency: By integrating disparate tools and data, IBM DevOps Loop enhances efficiency and streamlines the delivery process.

• Compliance: IBM ELM's rigorous requirements management ensures that software development pipelines are compliant with industry standards and regulations.

• Quality: Extensive automated testing, CI/CD, builds, and deployments accelerate time-to-market and reduce human error, ensuring high-quality solutions.

In reality

One notable example of ELM is the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system developed for NATO. The AGS BattleLab project, led by the Air Force Institute of Technology-Poland, required a complex engineering test platform to model, simulate, and test the AGS system. The project involved hundreds of thousands of pages of documentation and over 300 test cases.

By leveraging IBM tools, the team was able to manage the complexity of the project, ensure compliance with NATO requirements, and complete the project within a tight 31-month deadline. The integration of IBM DevOps Loop would have further enhanced the project by providing a single platform for planning, development, testing, and deployment, ensuring seamless collaboration and automation.

Tips for Successful Implementation

1. Start with a Clear Strategy: Define your goals and objectives clearly before implementing these technologies. Understand the pain points you want to address and the business value you aim to achieve.

2. Leverage AI and Automation: Make full use of the AI and automation capabilities offered by IBM DevOps Loop. Automate repeatable delivery processes, use AI guidance on deployment risks and issues, and leverage intelligent gates to prevent bad code from going live.

3. Ensure Comprehensive Reporting: Utilize the comprehensive insights and DoRA metrics provided by IBM DevOps Loop, along with the detailed reporting capabilities of IBM ELM. This will help you visualize value and delivery risks, linking business and delivery stakeholders effectively.

4. Integrate Seamlessly: Ensure seamless integration between IBM DevOps Loop and IBM ELM. Focus on key integration points such as Quality Assurance (Testing), Value Stream Management, Automated Deployment, and Requirements Workflow Visualization.

5. Train Your Team: Provide adequate training for your team to ensure they are comfortable using these technologies. This will help maximize the benefits and ensure successful implementation.

Trends and Insights

The integration of AI and automation in software delivery is a growing trend and IBM DevOps Loop + IBM ELM offer AI-driven automation and comprehensive reporting capabilities.

Moreover, the demand for mission-critical systems in highly regulated industries is on the rise. Industries such as aerospace, defense, automotive, and infrastructure require robust engineering solutions that ensure compliance and high standards. IBM ELM, with its powerful systems and software modeling capabilities + IBM DevOps Loop with it’s AI and automation delivery platform is well-positioned to meet this demand.

In conclusion, the combination of IBM DevOps Loop and IBM ELM offers a powerful solution for agile, secure, and efficient software delivery. By addressing the complexities of modern software development and delivery, these technologies bring significant business and technical value, ensuring that organizations can deliver high-quality, compliant software faster and more efficiently.

Schedule a live demo to explore how your team can streamline compliance and accelerate delivery with IBM DevOps Loop + ELM.