The new release of Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) tool Tasktop supports an ALM synchronization solution that addresses the visibility and traceability needs of software development teams. Tasktop team announced the release of Tasktop Sync 1.0 version last month.
Sync allows IT organizations to synchronize existing ALM servers to connect different artifact types like tasks, work items, defects, requirements and tests that are created during the various phases of a software development lifecycle process. Organizations that have different ALM stacks like HP ALM, HP Quality Center, and IBM Rational Team Concert can achieve traceability across the tools using the Sync tool.
Tasktop Sync, built on Eclipse’s Mylyn framework, moves the existing Task Federation technology from a developer’s desktop client to the server to provide real-time synchronization of the project artifacts. No new repositories are needed when using Sync because all the data is stored in the existing ALM systems.
With Tasktop Sync, the ALM architect or admin sets up the mappings between the various ALM systems of record for requirements, Agile development and testing. For example, the mapping can be specified that defects should be one-to-one mapped between the Agile tracker and the defect tracker. Once Tasktop sync builds up the cache, the changes in the test system are propagated to the agile tool and back. This allows the stakeholders to work in their system of choice without having to switch to different tools to view and manage different artifacts.
Tasktop also recently released Tasktop Dev 2.1 version (this product line was previously known as just Tasktop). This release builds on the Eclipse Indigo release of Mylyn 3.6 and includes the latest connectors and new Agile planning support. It can be used to connect the developers to both the Agile and the traditional planning processes, while ensuring that they can use the best-of-breed ALM and open source technologies.
Some of the new features of Tasktop Dev 2.1 are:
- Changes to the Release Plan can be saved offline so that they can be submitted later which allowing the Agile teams to plan while they not connected to the network. Also, the release plan can now be grouped by Activtiy or Assignee.
- Kanban Support: The planning tools now support Kanban including a story board and Work-In-Progress (WIP) limits.
- HP ALM support includes bringing the HP ALM Tests into the Task List along side the HP ALM Defects and Requirements. The new support also includes the HP ALM Workflow.
- Time tracking reports are now accessible from the main toolbar.
- Tasktop support for Visual Studio includes the ability to open Tasktop Companion Application and the ability to view task associations.
There is also a webinar scheduled for this Wednesday where Tasktop CEO Mik Kersten will show how Tasktop Sync can be used to connect development, QA, and agile project management stakeholders.