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 #13 with an average rating of 6.5, while Broadcom is ranked #9 with an average rating of 7.0. IBM holds a 3.9% mindshare in ALM, compared to Broadcom’s 5.3% mindshare. Additionally, 77% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...

Read 20 IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) reviews

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1,608 Comparison Views

77% willing to recommend

Rally Software

Read 120 Rally Software reviews

3,812 Views
3,469 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...

Rally Software

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 18, 2026

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) and Rally Software are competitors in the project management and development lifecycle sector. IBM ELM has the upper hand due to its robust integration capabilities, while Rally Software excels in agile project management for teams focused on agile methodologies.

Features: IBM ELM provides comprehensive solutions for managing requirements, quality, and engineering workflows, offering tools for traceability, collaboration, and integration with other systems. Rally Software is known for its agility and adaptability, supporting iterative development with features centered on planning and tracking and enabling the integration of various agile methodologies.

Room for Improvement: IBM ELM could enhance usability and reduce complexity in configuration. Its interface might benefit from updates to meet user expectations. The integration processes could be streamlined to improve efficiency. Rally Software might enhance its reporting capabilities and scalability to better cater to large-scale projects. It could also benefit from improved test management features and better customization options for varying project needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM ELM's deployment model is complex, requiring initial setup and configuration, supported by extensive customer service. Rally Software offers a simpler deployment model with flexibility for agile environments and satisfactory customer service, ideal for quick implementations.

Pricing and ROI: IBM ELM involves higher upfront costs but offers long-term ROI with its comprehensive feature set. Rally Software provides a more cost-effective initial setup with quicker ROI, emphasizing its value for teams embracing fast-paced agile practices.

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) vs. Rally Software

December 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

13th

Average Rating

7.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Rally Software

Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

9th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

120

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category, the mindshare of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is 3.9%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rally Software is 5.3%, down from 6.9% 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	5.3%
IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)	3.9%
Other	90.8%

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.

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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

"The planning feature is rich with Scrum concepts: Sprint, Sprint retrospective, the rules in the Scrum framework."

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

"The transition to a SaaS-based solution is a distinct advantage."

"The integration with Git works well."

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

"It's easy to use."

"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."

"For companies in heavily regulated industries who are doing product development, IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is a good tool as it helps them create documentation that satisfies auditors."

More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) pros

"The Defect feature. In one view you can see all your defects and you can push them into the different releases."

"It is very stable. It has been on the market a long time."

"The most valuable features of Rally Software are the executive dashboards, ease of use, and many other features. They have encapsulated everything that a GI can do, such as monitoring, maintaining, and then releasing. It's continuous integration and development."

"CA Agile Central helps the entire organization run like one powerful team."

"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."

"The most valuable features are in-line editing, easy custom view setup, intuitive and helpful visuals (e.g., contextual formatting) and the collaboration features."

"What I like the most about Agile Central is that it is the only system I need to have full control and visibility of our entire body of work plus the activities and processes required to deliver it."

"It drives the conversation behind some of the pain points the teams have, based on the data that we're able to pull out of the system. As a result of that, we're able to make better decisions, to become better as a whole."

More Rally Software pros

Cons

"One of the complaints from users is that they have to click buttons too many times for just a simple task. Changing this would lead to a better user experience."

"There is not enough beginner support material in the form of FAQs or simple training to help you get started."

"If you look at the UI, it was literally designed ten years ago, and even at the time it was introduced, it was already somewhat outdated."

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

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

"Of course it would be related to customer experience. The solution is not user friendly at all. It needs an expert to use it, although the reporting feature was okay."

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

"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

"We'd like better dashboards to make visibility better."

"What I don't like about it is that it is really hard to find old work to reference information and use the reporting section of the application in terms of trying to analyze trends. If I am trying to find out which interfaces took this long and I want to compare and measure improvement from one quarter to another quarter, the reporting mechanism within Rally is very troublesome. They have an Excel plugin that you're supposed to use, but you literally have to pull the raw data out before you can do the analysis. You can't do it within Rally, and if you can, it is a secret, and I don't know how to do it. It should have better, easier, and user-friendly reporting without having to use the Excel add-in. It is very clunky. There is a lot of data in there, but it is not organized in such a way that makes it intuitive. You really have to kind of look for where do you put your documentation or dates. Some customization is available, but it is not plug-and-play like Jira. When I switched from TFS to Jira, I just went and started using Jira, whereas with Rally, you kind of have to really get in and figure out what you need to do before you set stuff up, or you're going to get yourself stuck. You can just start using Jira and be successful."

"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."

"The solution is expensive."

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

"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."

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

"The product needs to have more integration capabilities."

More Rally Software cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"The solution is not cheap."

"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."

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

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

"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."

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

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

"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."

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

"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

22%

Government

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

University

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	6
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	14
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?

I think usability should be improved in IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) as the top priority. If you look at the UI, it was literally designed ten years ago, and even at the time it was i...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Rational ALM?

For companies in heavily regulated industries who are doing product development, IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is a good tool. It helps them create documentation that satisfies auditors.

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?

Rally Software is affordable because our customers also prefer it, and I have never heard concerns about pricing preventing us from using this tool.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Rally Software?

While I'm not heavily involved in project management tools, I am familiar with these tools. One area for improvement might be the rigidity in role and access configurations, which require many proc...

See all answers

Comparisons

Jira vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 19% of the time

Codebeamer vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 16% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 10% of the time

Polarion ALM vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 9% of the time

Ansys SCADE LifeCycle vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

Compared 4% of the time

More IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) Competitors

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs Rally Software

Compared 28% of the time

Jira vs Rally Software

Compared 19% of the time

Jira Align vs Rally Software

Compared 6% of the time

OpenText Application Quality Management vs Rally Software

Compared 5% of the time

Smartsheet vs Rally Software

Compared 2% of the time

More Rally Software Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM)

January 2026

IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) report

Download IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) product report

Buyer's Guide

Rally Software

January 2026

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 (ELM) offers an integrated platform with customizable workflows, Scrum planning tools, and resource management features, enhancing project execution and collaboration.

ELM supports Agile and Scrum project management through its integration with tools like Git and IBM Doors, providing cataloging, traceability, and reporting capabilities. While users benefit from requirement management and dashboard functionalities, the interface and reporting could be improved for better navigation and customization. Its cloud-based architecture facilitates compliance and auditing, making it a valuable tool for engineering teams focusing on configuration and version control.

What are the essential features of IBM ELM?

Customizable Workflows: Tailor project processes to specific needs for adaptability.
Scrum-Based Planning: Facilitate Agile project management with Scrum tools.
Resource Management: Efficiently allocate and track resource usage.
Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly integrate with Git and IBM Doors for enhanced traceability.
Global Configuration: Manage configurations across locations for consistency.

What benefits should users consider?

Compliance Support: Provides tools essential for meeting industry regulations.
Collaboration: Streamlines team communication for smooth project execution.
Stakeholder Alignment: Enhances visibility and alignment with personalized dashboards.
Traceability: Ensures complete tracking of requirements and changes for accountability.

ELM is widely used in the automotive and manufacturing sectors for managing requirements and monitoring performance. Engineering teams leverage ELM for Agile methodologies, with central teams deploying it for end-to-end development processes including requirement gathering and backlog management. Stability and improved integration support remain critical implementation areas, along with enhanced governance features for comprehensive application.

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

December 2025

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

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