Datasouth

Datasouth’s Software Development Process is designed to meet rigorous standards of quality, robustness and scalability expected of software solutions. The management of this development process revolves around the specific needs and time constraints of the client to ensure the delivery of a high performance solution.

Initial Discovery Phase

Datasouth’s Software Development Process begins with the Initial Discovery Phase. Datasouth provides two initial non chargeable consultations. These initial observations provide Datasouth with a clear understanding of the client’s existing business processes.

After these initial non chargeable consultations Datasouth will provide the client with a proposal. If, however, the scope of the project is such that it is deemed necessary by Datasouth that the client should enter deeper discussion, prior to drafting a proposal, the client will be offered this further consultation at a fixed price. If accepted, Datasouth will engage with the client in order to make sure all business and technical needs are addressed.

Through spending time on the discovery phase we help to reduce any project risk for our clients. Prototypes can be developed to prove a user interface, your architecture, or designs. We can also validate the capacity needs of your system before a line of code is even written. The more you learn now, the greater the likelihood of project success later.

In the final part of this phase Datasouth will prepare, submit and present a proposal for consideration.

Requirements Analysis and Design Phase

On acceptance of the proposed solution, Datasouth will enter a requirements analysis phase. This stage of the software development process will help Datasouth and the client validate any initial assumptions, project specifications and business metrics such as ROI calculations. Detailed project specifications and a design of the solution are created and presented to the client for their approval.

Commercial Development Phase

Once approved, the Datasouth software development team will begin developing the solution. Datasouth will assign a dedicated team for the project.

During the development of the solution, Datasouth will release limited previews of the software in order to obtain feedback. This continuous engagement with the client ensures a comprehensive solution that meets the client’s requirements.

Datasouth understands that the involvement of quality assurance must occur as early as possible in the software development lifecycle. Frequent feedback loops are a method of guaranteeing success.

As the Development Process begins, documentation and expectations are communicated and an understanding of the product/application is assimilated amongst the core team. This documentation will include, but is not limited to, all design documentation, product requirements and schedule expectations. As development continues, this document repository is updated and extended as needs arise.

During the development phases, development stakeholders come together on a pre-determined basis to demonstrate the features that have been added to the solution and self-police any limitations or errors that have arisen at that point. Issues around any shortcomings in functionality will be addressed before final user acceptance testing.

Once the development phase has concluded, user acceptance testing is conducted. This ensures that all designed functionality, configuration, layout and craftsmanship are complete and up to industry standards. User acceptance testing helps to guarantee that the solution passes the requirements of the client through the direct observation from a responsible client stakeholder. At this point, the Project Manager verifies in writing that development is complete and that the commissioning phase can begin.

Support and Maintenance

Upon successful completion of the project, Datasouth will provide a two week commissioning period whereby any outstanding issues with the solution will be fixed at no cost to the client. After the commissioning period, Datasouth can continue to proactively monitor the client’s solution through a Datasouth Software Support Contract. This provides the client with a number of service level agreements that guarantee response times to solution issues. The client will be provided with contact details of the Datasouth Service Desk who arrange technical support for client solutions. Whenever Datasouth identifies maintenance issues, a response team is formed that includes our quality assurance and programming personnel. This team works together to ensure that the client’s issue is understood and resolved. Naturally, all issues are tracked and measured and reports are generated for our clients and our management to review.

The successful completion of a project is extremely important to Datasouth. The Datasouth Software team will work diligently to achieve our client’s objectives and will at all times conduct business with a transparency that will help to establish a lasting partnership with the client.