IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs Rally Software comparison

IBM and Broadcom are both solutions in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category. IBM is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.2, while Broadcom is ranked #10 with an average rating of 6.8. IBM holds a 3.8% mindshare in ALM, compared to Broadcom’s 5.8% mindshare. Additionally, 76% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...

Read 19 IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) reviews

1,521 Views
1,506 Comparison Views

76% willing to recommend

Rally Software

Read 120 Rally Software reviews

3,642 Views
3,387 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...

Rally Software

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 6, 2025

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management and Rally Software compete in lifecycle management. Rally Software appears to have the upper hand due to its collaboration features enhancing team productivity, while ELM excels in integration capabilities, making it ideal for complex systems.

Features: IBM ELM is known for comprehensive integration, requirements management, and versatile tools for complex projects. Rally Software shines with its agile capabilities, real-time collaboration, and productivity-enhancing features. Its agile focus is particularly appealing to teams aiming for rapid iteration.

Room for Improvement: IBM ELM could improve by simplifying its deployment complexity and enhancing ease of use. Additional intuitive design improvements could further benefit user experience. Rally Software may enhance reporting capabilities and provide more robust support for enterprise-level project lifecycle management.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM ELM offers flexible deployment models but might take longer due to its complexity. It provides superior customer service throughout deployment. Rally Software features quicker, simpler deployment and satisfactory customer support, making it suitable for faster project starts.

Pricing and ROI: IBM ELM involves a significant investment with a strong ROI for large-scale projects. Its cost may deter smaller teams, though extensive functionalities justify the price for enterprises. Rally Software, with competitive pricing, offers fast ROI by efficiently supporting agile transformations.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Rally Software Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Rally Software

September 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...

Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

12th

Average Rating

7.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Rally Software

Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

10th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

120

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category, the mindshare of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is 3.8%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rally Software is 5.8%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Rally Software	5.8%
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)	3.8%
Other	90.4%

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

Featured Reviews

Juergen Albrecht

Managing Director at CCC Systems Engineering Suisse GmbH

Combining tools for effective data analysis while customization and integration need improvement

The most valuable feature is how IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) allows me to present to the customer what the actual software, even hardware, will do. It helps them gain an impression of the complexity of the functionality and find an easier way to decide whether to implement it. A picture says more than one thousand words, which is why I work with the combination of ELM and the specification of DOORS. The automation capabilities I built use column-based scripts for analysis to search, fetch, and transfer information. When I open modules, it automatically analyzes the changes since the last opening by me.

Read full review

Rakhee Srivastava

Sr. Information Architect and Principal Consultant UX at Tech Mahindra Limited

Real-time dashboards provide clear insights into project progress and team velocity

Rally Software is easy to use for Agile project methodology because it follows Scrum and Kanban, helping with sprint planning and backlog management. Rally Software provides real-time dashboards for different kinds of stakeholders and governance, giving clear insights into project progress, team velocity, and potential risks. Backlog management is present in the product, allowing prioritization of tasks. The dashboards provide all types of insights through analytics. Capacity planning helps optimize resource allocation, ensuring balanced workload and realistic sprint commitments for our projects. The solution integrates with GitHub, and we can also integrate with Excel and CI/CD pipelines.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"At the same time, if you're working from the architect or the designing team you, it's quite easy to manage the resources online."

"The most valuable feature is how IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) allows me to present to the customer what the actual software, even hardware, will do."

"It's easy to use."

"We have something called the GC (global configuration), which is a unique feature compared to any other competitor we have in the ALM space."

"The most valuable feature is the reporting of the CPU usage on the dashboard."

"The word emulation and importing is good."

"Everyone in a team can work on the same platform and share the same information."

"IBM Rational ALM is a very good tool. I like the management and traceability features and the test management tool. The latter is not linked with the stories and fixed management. It is really useful, and we can create test plans. We can also test some metrics related to QA."

More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) pros

"When we went into Scaled Agile Framework, we could not have done it without the use of Agile Central. It allows us to scale our Scrum teams, and it also enables us when we do our remote big room plannings."

"The most valuable feature is actually creating a field within there for architectural review. So when teams are struggling or have questions on the architecture or strategy that they take, they can actually flag that particular story, release, or project. Those can then be reviewed by the architecture team and the teams actually get additional information on how to course-correct, build on the architecture that we're trying to build throughout the organization, and get over road blocks much quicker."

"I was able to create epics for our budgeting concerns and it helped me link everything together."

"Gives me a dashboard where I can see what things are not being worked on, what things are blocked."

"It's a good platform to keep track of all the user stories across all projects. So rather than having one off Excel spreadsheets with all of the requirements, it is a good place to have all of that."

"My teams uses it for their daily agile management. They describe their user stories and track the progress of their projects."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the Kanban board."

"Rally Software provides real-time dashboards for different kinds of stakeholders and governance, giving clear insights into project progress, team velocity, and potential risks."

More Rally Software pros

Cons

"The stability of IBM Rational ALM could be improved."

"IBM Rational ALM should remove the features not used by the customers and keep this product as lightweight as possible."

"The solution can improve in the development area and the customized applications."

"Improvement is needed in bridging DNG and Rhapsody and vice versa for better data exchange from both sides with some trigger technologies."

"In the next release, we expect a traceability metrics configuration where we can configure the user stories. We also expect them to improve or simplify the query process."

"The features should be more intuitive. If I'm looking for something, its location should be easy to locate."

"The GUI is a little bit outdated."

"I think nowadays people are getting into Jira and other tools. What is happening is, this solution is becoming more traditional, whereas Jira and other tools are more attractive for the new users to learn and start using because of the graphical interfaces."

More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) cons

"From a test management perspective, it should have the capability to give you both automation and manual integration in one place."

"It could improve by being self-organizing: user stories, different hierarchies, and different perspectives. Not just as a single hierarchical structure, but something that can be multidimensional."

"I think the interface could be a little bit more visual and less wordy. Right now, it seems like it's just a lot of text on the page. In other ticketing systems where it's more visual, you can see more of a flow. But in this one it's more just a list of tasks. I would like to see that a little bit better, especially considering it has so many great organizational features, like child tasks, different artifacts. It would be great to see it presented more appropriately."

"CA Agile Central does not have a workflow tool included."

"The product needs to have more integration capabilities."

"I'd like to be able to color code timeboxes, so I have an easy visual way to track the success of sprints."

"The stronger CA can get on dependency mapping the better. That's the biggest hiccup. As you're setting up your features, they should make it easier to flag the dependencies, either across features or across projects. Then you're more set up for success."

"I think there is a missing link with the development activity. Some developers are pushing in new versions of the code, but you cannot make the link from the user story to a specific application version."

More Rally Software cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not cheap."

"This product is a little expensive and we had to pay extra to have them set it up for us."

"IBM Rational ALM has both monthly and yearly licensing options."

"The price of the solution could be reduced. Many of our customers are not using all the features and this could be why our clients feel the price is too high."

"We have a contract, but I am not aware of the details."

"I understand it's a little more expensive. That is why many people prefer Jira."

"We are always looking for a discount, if the solution was less expensive it would be a benefit."

"Frankly, pricing is expensive and needs to be carefully planned for when budgeting."

"It is expensive and may not be worthwhile for a small company."

"I don't know the exact pricing, but I think the tool is priced high. They provide quality workmanship, good software, regular upgrades, and they're always attentive and listen to users. Everything comes with a price. I think it's an expensive solution compared to Jira or other competitors, but it's a complete package."

"Rally Software costs $50 a month, and for a base account, that price is acceptable."

"The license costs are fairly high as compared to some of the other solutions out there."

"From a price point, it's a cost effective solution for our needs."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

23%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

12%

Transportation Company

Manufacturing Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Insurance Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	110

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Rational ALM?

The solution is customizable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Rational ALM?

Improvement is needed in bridging DNG and Rhapsody and vice versa for better data exchange from both sides with some trigger technologies. This would provide a visual reminder of changes in a modul...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Rational ALM?

Most of my primary use cases involve the combination of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) ( /products/ibm-engineering-lifecycle-management-elm-reviews ) and DOORS, including both Classic D...

See all answers

What do you like most about Rally Software?

Rally offers many features that help the management of activities, coordination, alignment and reports, which applies agility across the organization. If I were to highlight a particular feature, i...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rally Software?

I don't know the exact pricing, but I think the tool is priced high. They provide quality workmanship, good software, regular upgrades, and they're always attentive and listen to users. Everything ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Rally Software?

The product itself seems to have a lot of bugs. One issue is that it sometimes allows people to modify data inappropriately. For example, team members can change numbers at will. While we have a me...

See all answers

Comparisons

Jira vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 25% of the time

Codebeamer vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 19% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 12% of the time

Polarion ALM vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 10% of the time

OpenText Software Delivery Management vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 3% of the time

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Microsoft Azure DevOps vs Rally Software

Compared 31% of the time

Jira vs Rally Software

Compared 29% of the time

TFS vs Rally Software

Compared 5% of the time

Jira Align vs Rally Software

Compared 4% of the time

ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management vs Rally Software

Compared 2% of the time

More Rally Software Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

September 2025

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) report

Download IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) product report

Buyer's Guide

Rally Software

August 2025

Download Rally Software product report

Also Known As

IBM Engineering Rhapsody, Rational ALM, MKS

CA Agile Central, Rally Enterprise, CA Agile Training, CA Agile Coaching, CA Agile Academy, CA Agile Management , CA ALM

Overview

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management stands out for its robust Agile Scrum planning, lifecycle traceability, and tool management, offering cloud-based configurability and strong collaboration features.

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management provides rich capabilities for Agile project management, facilitating requirements and test management, configuration management, and version control. Its integration with IBM Doors supports comprehensive requirements handling, and the cloud-based platform enhances collaborative efficiency across teams. Despite needing advances in user-friendliness and reporting, ELM's global configuration and compliance features make it invaluable in demanding environments.

What are the key features of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management?

Scrum-based planning: Supports Agile methodologies with rich planning tools.
Lifecycle traceability: Offers complete traceability across development stages.
Customizable workflows: Adaptable workflows with Kanban for flexibility.
Git integration: Supports efficient version control and collaboration.
Global Configuration: Manages complex configurations globally.
Compliance and reporting: Ensures robust auditing and comprehensive reporting capabilities.

What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?

Collaboration: Enhanced sharing across platforms for seamless teamwork.
Cost-effectiveness: Delivers efficient tools that optimize project spend.
Comprehensive requirement handling: Facilitates detailed requirement management through IBM Doors integration.

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management is vital in sectors like automotive and manufacturing, where it implements Agile frameworks to manage requirements, conduct testing, and handle defects. It integrates into development pipelines ensuring live traceability and visibility, supporting critical engineering processes efficiently.

IBM

With Rally Software, you can plan, prioritize, manage, track, and continuously improve your work so that you can deliver the value that your customers need with speed, quality, and efficiency. Our enterprise-class Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) SaaS platform provides visibility into progress, roadblocks, and dependencies across multiple teams, projects, and programs. This allows you to align to your strategic goals and create better business results, and to do it all in a single system of record.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Tennis Australia, WeCloud AB, Port Otago Limited, Logicalis US, Valmer, The Chevrolet Volt, Ashurst

Physicians Mutual, Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare, Editora Abril, Tata Communications, Level 3 Communications, Seagate, TomTom, Philips, Hiscox, Physicians Mutual, MYOB

Buyer's Guide

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Rally Software

September 2025

Free Report: IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Rally Software

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