"Unlike core application development, the survey responses for requirements management show that IT organizations are still struggling with the fuzzy front end," Tam says. "While all is not lost, IT organizations should invest in putting a process-not more tools-in place that helps everyone share requirements more easily across a complex technology and organizational landscape. By finalizing requirements early, IT will be able to deliver better software to the business."

The actual process of getting apps out to customers, DevOps, also needs work, Tam says. Delivering working software quickly is a key principle of the Agile Manifesto, but the survey suggests IT organizations are struggling to make it happen. The respondents indicated they are doing a good job following a standard release process across applications and quickly fixing post-deployment issues, but they are faring less well when it comes to reducing post-deployment bugs. And deploying on time without issues was the lowest rated score across all the survey questions at 2.15.

"These survey results for release management seem to indicate that even with more frequent Agile sprints, deploying apps into production has not necessarily turned into a free-for-all," Tam says. "However, that is not the whole story. The extremely low score for deploying on time without issues clearly shows that the "standard" release process is not working well. So, while enterprise IT is adhering to a standard release process, it's only the ability to quickly fix issues that is keeping application releases on track."

Tam recommends that IT organizations revisit their current release process, which is likely geared for more infrequent deployments, and revise it for the new world of faster deployments. He also suggests automating as much of the release process as possible to eliminate manual errors, instituting controls like a release vault to ensure that the correct code is deployed and implementing appropriate approval processes.

To help IT organizations understand where they stand, Serena has created an that allows organizations to benchmark their application development and delivery processes against all survey respondents, as well as comparing specific ALM processes to industry peers.