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Our methodology is an in-depth approach to application and web
site development. We have developed an approach in four phases,
each with its own sub-steps. Each step outputs deliverables, so
that you can enter the process at virtually any stage, and exit
it at any stage as well.
Our methodology contains a total of 10 steps described in the following
paragraph. Click on a step to learn more about it, or scroll down
the page to read through the steps one by one.
Phase 1: Discovery
Review
During the review process, we gather all required information to
complete the project. We will gather as much information as possible
about your business operations, workflows and infrastructure. This
is an excellent opportunity for us to better understand your business,
your customers, your markets, your processes, your problems, your
ideas, and so on.
Prioritization
Process
This step is reserved to organized the remaining of the project.
This critical step consist of defining a functional requirements
matrix, identifying the key requirements for the project. There
is also a need to define any other requirements within the customer's
current environment. For example, we will need to identify whether
there are any technology constraints that must be incorporated into
the overall requirements.
Research is also performed on the Internet or any other relevant
source, in order to learn more about your business, markets and
industry, as well as your competition. This review is more or less
deep depending on the requirements of the project, or depending
on your own request.
Gap Analysis
The gap analysis is prepared to outline any needed modification
in the infrastructure. It consists in defining the present state
or conditions, the desired or "target" state or conditions,
and hence the gap between them. Gap analysis alone however is not
adequate for all problem situations as goals may evolve and emerge
during the course of problem solving. "What ought to be"
can be a highly variable target and have many alternative solutions.
The gap analysis assures that we can develop a system that addresses
all the business issues identified in the review of the customer's
systems.
Once the requirements document has been finalized, it will be presented
to the customer for confirmation and sign-off, and the implementation
phase can start.
Phase 2: Implementation
Conceptual
Design
The design step is very important in preparation to the next phase.
During the design step, we take of the source material obtained
in the first phase, should it be from the customer or from other
sources, and we build the overall design, organization and look
& feel of the web site or the application. The design is built
with the end user's eyes, not just the customer's eyes: how are
they going to use the site? We optimize the navigation and make
sure the end user will have an enjoyable experience, with the desire
to come back for more. We also take into account the seamless integration
of the latest technologies to further increase the longevity of
the product.
The design document is submitted to the customer for approval and
sign-off.
Development
The site or the application is now developed. We assemble the different
pieces of the puzzle, per the design document, and put in place
the links between them to end up with the finished product. The
length of this step is directly proportional to the complexity of
the design, the number and the complexity of features to implement,
and sometimes on the technologies used. Software development is
not an exact science, and sometimes unique challenges may appear
that may require more time than anticipated.
The customer is always updated on a regular basis about the progress
of this step. Sometimes, an iterative process might be required
because the development phase reveals an issue or a potential improvement
that was not identified in the prior steps.
Quality
Assurance
We always test thoroughly the results of the development phase.
As a matter of fact, we start the QA stage very early in the development
process. It is more efficient to correct problems when they arise
than in block at the end. The research for perfection is a constant
during all steps of the methodology.
The Quality Assurance step is more or less complex depending on
the scope and the complexity of the project. It can consist in manual
verification and testing, in review of the implemented features
compared to the gap analysis and conceptual design documents, a
battery of automated tests with or without sample data, and more.
Once we believe the result is satisfying, we can go to the deployment
phase.
Phase 3: Deployment
Launch
This step consists in delivering the product to the customer. Depending
on the scope of the project, we can also install the application
or upload the web site to your server. Remember that we can also
provide hosting services
for your web applications. We will always assist you and verify
that the application performs as expected. This is the time to do
some fine-tuning and tweaking to optimize the product.
Promotion
In the case of a web site or a web application, the promotion phase
is important, as this is where we focus on making it known to your
target audience. We can help you with web promotion in many different
ways, from design of advertising banners to search engine optimization
and monitoring.
Support
We like to qualify this step as the most important of all. First
of all, we guarantee your satisfaction. Therefore, we will spend
as much time as necessary to make sure the product performs to your
expectations.
In parallel, we can offer longer-term maintenance, monitoring and
support services, to make sure your application keeps performing
optimally.
Phase 4: Expansion
Now that you are satisfied with your product, we can work together
on expanding our relationship either to improve the project just
completed by adding new features, or to work on brand new projects.
Reaching this last phase is our criteria of success. We hope that
this will be one of yours as well!
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