Requirement Definition
One of the most important tasks in development of a software solution is gathering and defining the business requirements. In this stage, the requirements of the clients are gathered. This is done on the basis of information provided by the client in the form of documents, existing systems & process specs, on-site analysis interviews with end-users, market research and competitor analysis.
This stage comprises of following steps:
- High level requirement gathering and analysis keeping business application goal in mind.
- Creation of visual scope document and feature list
- Client approval / feedback on scope document & feature list
Analysis
Scope & vision document and feature list created in requirement definition phase comes instrumental here as we carry out the detailed analysis of the project. So the scope document and feature list are input to this phase based on which the analysis is carried out.
This stage comprises of following steps:
- Detailed analysis and creation of Software Requirement Specification (SRS)
- Creation of business rules and flow diagrams
- Creation of test plan and test cases
Design
Input to this phase is Software Requirement Specification, Business Rules, flow diagrams and scope agreed upon in the Requirement Definition stage. This stage involves the designing of the application both from High and Low level point of view and lay out the architecture that satisfies the current business needs and scalable enough to support anticipated future requirements.
This stage comprises of following steps:
- Designing Architectural Diagrams
- Creation of High Level and Low Level Design class diagrams
- Establishment of Entity Relationship Diagram, Data Flow Diagram and Deployment Diagrams
- User Interface – The prototype is developed and validated against the requirement
Development
Input to this phase is all design documents created in Design phase (both high & low level designs) and actual coding work is started. All business logic / rules and algorithms are implemented at this phase and we make sure that the end application satisfies the client’s need and that the code is well structured for future enhancements and maintainability purpose.
This stage comprises of following steps:
- Development of code base
- Code review
- Unit testing based on test plan and test cases
Integration and Testing
Input to this phase is Test plan, test cases and client acceptance criteria in the deployed environment. Quality assurance is an integral part of any software development.
This stage comprises of following steps:
- Application testing based on Test plans, test cases
- Integration and quality testing
- Client acceptance tests are carried out
- Client feedback and debugging
Deployment and Acceptance
At this stage, the developed application is deployed on LIVE environment / server and comprises of following steps:
- Integrated application and deployment plan
- Implementation on client premises or hosting server.
- Development / Implementation signoff by client.
- Transition of application to the maintenance phase.
The steps above are iterated through until the final deliverable is completed