The STEP Software Method to developing quality applications encompasses five stages:

• Discovery
• Definition
• Proposal
• Development
• Conclusion

During each project stage, we perform a combination of four activities: Requirements Gathering; Analyzing & Designing; Coding and Testing.

PROJECT STAGES

Discovery

Captures business need and determines development capability fit. If your needs are outside of our development skill set we will recommend alternative sources that can potential assist you.

Definition

The Definition phase rigorously analyzes and precisely defines your requirements by evaluating several possible system architectures and selecting a solution that minimizes the risks of technology, skill availability and schedule. The outcome of the Definition stage includes clear requirements: domain model; use-cases (if necessary, prototypes); an initial architecture; and a resolution of major risks. Definition may take a few days to several weeks, depending upon the size and risks of the project.

Proposal

The proposal phase concentrates on splitting the development stage into several iterations, with each iteration providing a stable intermediate release upon which greater complexity is built in the next iteration. While working during the development phase, we seek your team’s participation throughout the proposal stage in order to create the best blend of expertise. Such a blend promotes communication, provides complete understanding of every step of the project, and assures that your team can maintain and enhance the deployed software with minimal or no assistance. A proposal encompasses development requirements, guaranteed development completion dates, clear acceptance criteria’s, a release plan, and detailed list of your responsibilities during the project.

Development

Development evolves the initial architecture through several iterations until the software is completely built and tested. Each iteration results in a set of executable releases, quality assurance results, and documentation. Growing the system iteratively and inside out ensures that development is a methodical risk reduction process. Because of the iterative development process, it is normal that you will want moderate changes in the system when you view the intermediate releases. By keeping the iteration periods shorter in the beginning of the development phase, we are able to interact with you early and accommodate such changes without requiring a revision of budget or schedule. Your payment schedule is synchronized with the completion of each iteration.

Conclusion

The Conclusion phase provides field-testing and transitioning of the software to the users. Once users start working with the software, additional issues may arise that require changes to the software. On-going technology transfer to your team ensures your team has complete control and mastery over all the artifacts created during the project: requirements, architecture, design, code, test plans, documentation, etc. If, at any time beyond Conclusion, the software fails an acceptance criterion, we will fix the software for free. As you can see, different stages of the project use a careful balance of four activities: Gathering Requirements, Analysis & Design, Coding, and Testing.


If you are looking for partners who are technically strong and cost competitive, we can work towards a very synergistic alliance with you. We welcome you to contact us for more information.


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