D⁴ Software Development Methodology

Use of a proven methodology, standard implementation patterns and reusable software components increases reliability and product quality. It also reduces cost and keeps project teams focused on delivering the best product. We monitor the quality through using well-designed specifications and ensuring that release schedules are in sync with business initiatives. Our team recognizes that the end product and how it helps our client improve their business practices will be the ultimate measure of success.

bitWise empowers client Extranet applications for ongoing client communication and management on individual projects. We know this provides our clients with a higher degree of confidence that the finished product will meet their expectations.

The development strategy includes the following steps and services:

Define and Clarify: Understanding our clients' business and brand is the critical first step. We work with you to clearly understand your immediate business needs and long-term goals, the competitive landscape and operating and technical environments. The define and clarify phase establishes the business case and lays out the business requirements that are to be accomplished. Industry patterns representing standard business processes and dominant workflows are analyzed to provide context and direction for the clients' immediate needs and long term goals. We agree on the business objectives and create a strategic plan of action. Together we define how the success of the project will be assessed. We also establish project scope, budget and a detailed work plan. A project plan is also developed that may group functions and features into one or more application releases. Collectively, the define and clarify phase comprise the initial specification and scope of work to follow.

Design and Architect: What will the solution be? Who will use it and how? What will it do? How will it work? What will it look like? Once we agree on project objectives, we define the functional, technical, and creative requirements. We document them and work with you to refine them. The goal of the design and architect phase is to lay out the technical blueprint, or framework, for the new application - a key strategy to avoid costly defects during programming. The main deliverables from this phase are the object models, technical design specifications, detailed user interface design, working components that comprise the infrastructure, systems test plan, and a refined project plan.

Our philosophy is to leverage legacy systems and existing software within a robust application framework that responds easily to changing business and technology requirements and enables quick delivery of new applications.

One of the project team's first tasks is to identify relevant design and implementation patterns that can be integrated to meet the needs of the application. To help control the risk inherent in building next generation applications, we address infrastructure issues such as security, connectivity and performance by building a 'working slice' of the application that validates proposed design solutions. The 'working slice' establishes a sound foundation for subsequent development of the new application. Finally, the project team lays out a build plan that allows coding and testing to proceed efficiently during the development phases. The development phase will include a series of incremental releases. The build plan informs and refines the overall project plan by showing the detailed steps necessary to complete the application development.

Develop: The develop phase consists mainly of the coding, assembly and testing necessary to create a production-caliber application. We use proven software engineering techniques, team-based development tools, frequent checkpoints and traditional code reviews to ensure collaboration and high quality. Since the scope and design of the application were validated and approved in previous phases, the team is well positioned to deliver a fast and on-target release. Short, incremental code, assembly and test cycles are used to allow project teams to constantly monitor the quality of the application. Each project team is also assigned a quality engineer to coordinate testing efforts. The development process is iterative, and facilitated by our project Extranet. The result is a working prototype of the deliverable that is ready to be tested and refined. The final 'Build' results in a stable application release that is handed off for further integration and/or user acceptance testing. These stages depend on our clients' staging and implementation processes.

Deployment: We now build the final product. If required, we integrate the solution with the clients' existing systems. We test and assure the functionality of the deliverable. We make sure you understand how to manage and maintain it. bitWise assists in the deployment of the application in areas such as: education, documentation, release management, system administration and more. The goal is to empower our clients to start realizing tangible business benefits from new application both quickly and efficiently.

Subsequent Releases and Enhancements: Many project plans are often based on incremental application releases to allow early return on investment and ease the burden of change management. The project team simply loops through multiple define/design/develop/deploy cycles until the overall scope of the application is achieved. For a period after the launch, we'll monitor and analyze how the solution performs against the success criteria we defined in the define and clarify phase. We also complete documentation for the project and present our thoughts on how to approach the next generation of the solution. We can also design and execute training sessions and help your staff to support the new solution.