Methodologies

Although we have extensive experience in Waterfall, because it’s one of the most structured methods, stepping through requirements, analysis, design, coding, and testing in a strict, pre-planned, "all at once" sequence, our preference is to follow an iterative approach that advocates continuous refinement based on immediate end-user and stakeholder feedback.

Additionally, iterative methodologies advocate frequent "releases" in short development cycles, sometimes referred to as "Sprints", typically a two to four week period (with the length being decided by the team), and generally promote a disciplined project management process that encourages frequent inspection and adaptation, a leadership philosophy that encourages teamwork, self-organization and accountability, a set of engineering best practices intended to allow for rapid delivery of high-quality software, and a business approach that aligns development with customer needs and company goals.

Incorporated within our development methodology are the following six best practices:

• Develop iteratively - It is best to know all requirements in advance; however, often this is not the case. Several software development processes exist that deal with providing solution on how to minimize cost in terms of development phases.
• Manage requirements - Always keep in mind the requirements set by users.
• Use components - Breaking down an advanced project is not only suggested but in fact unavoidable. This promotes ability to test individual components before they are integrated into a larger system. Also, code reuse is a big plus and can be accomplished more easily through the use of object-oriented programming.
• Model visually - Use diagrams to represent all major components, users, and their interaction. "UML", short for Unified Modeling Language, is one tool that can be used to make this task more feasible.
• Verify quality - Always make testing a major part of the project at any point of time. Testing becomes heavier as the project progresses but should be a constant factor in any software product creation.
• Control changes - Many projects are created by many teams, sometimes in various locations, different platforms may be used, etc. As a result it is essential to make sure that changes made to a system are synchronized and verified constantly.