In our previous article, “Requirements Capture: 10 Keys to a Successful Software Development Project”, we detailed the first five tips for software requirements capture. Following these tips improves your chance of a custom software development project meets your needs and is on time and in budget. Tips 6 through 10 below complete our list.
6. Make resources available.
Your software development partner needs access to your current system and your employees.
Give your development partner a login for a test version of all existing systems.
Let your team know they have your support for spending time with your software development partner. Your employees have daily responsibilities; they need your approval to invest time on building your new system.
Working with your existing software and your team helps your partner understand your business. Understanding your business helps them develop a system that fits your unique needs.
7. Include the employees who actually use the system.
As a business owner or manager, you know what you need from the system.
You also want your system to meet the needs of the people who actually do the work. Involve your subject matter experts from the beginning of your software project. Incorporate their input on the design and functionality.
Team members who are involved in designing the system develop a sense of ownership. They will understand how the application works. They become advocates, trainers, and in-house experts when the system goes into production.
8. Let your employees know their input is important.
Listen to your team members who are working on the new system. If they complain that the consultant is focused on technology instead of your business, listen and take action.
Your employees will be working directly with the consultant in a team environment. They will have a good view of the consultant’s effectiveness.
Let employees know that their participation and expertise are critical to you and to the overall success of the project.
9. Remember why you hired your software development partner.
You and your staff know how to run a profitable business.
Your software development partner knows how to deliver on time, in budget successful software solutions.
It takes both groups to build a team that will create new custom business software that will exceed your expectations.
Encourage your team to ask questions about any aspect of the software development process. Expect your software development partner to ask many questions about your business, goals, and requirements.
You hired your software development partner to help achieve specific business objectives. Hold your partner accountable, and understand the responsibilities of your in-house team, too.
10. Take ownership of the project.
Your ownership and support of your custom software development project is critical to your project’s ultimate success. Without your support, the project can’t succeed.
What To Do When You Must Make a Change
As shown in the Gause and Weinberg chart, it’s less expensive to build the right functionality the first time. Adding unplanned features after coding starts may be expensive. Modifying existing code to accommodate unplanned functions may delay software completion.
With custom software, the scope and features of your application evolve as the project moves forward. Creating your project in phases or sprints allows you to build on the functionality that has previously been coded.
Your software development partner’s primary focus is providing you with the features you request. A good project manager will factor in your feedback throughout the development process.
As you review prototypes and begin using early versions of the system, you’re likely to have suggestions for improvement. You may discover that what appeared to be a great choice does not work the way you anticipated.
With custom software, you are never stuck with the existing features and functions.
Here are some considerations about changes to requirements for your system.
- Discuss any proposed changes as soon as you are aware of them. As shown in the Gause and Weinberg chart, the longer you wait to make a change, the more it may affect the cost.
- Don’t assume every change will increase cost and delay completion. Some changes can be easily built into your system in the current or a future sprint.
- Budget for the unknown. No matter how thoroughly you plan your requirements, someone is going to identify a great new feature. Budget accordingly and give yourself the flexibility to incorporate unanticipated improvements throughout the development process.
Once you identify a requested change, your consultant will document the new feature and tell you whether it will increase cost and/or delay completion.
Only you can decide if a change is valuable enough to warrant the cost and time it takes to implement the change. The return on investment of the change can dictate whether to implement it now or later.
Follow the 10 Tips
You’ll start your custom software development project right by following the five steps outlined in our previous blog and the additional five steps in this one. You will get clear requirements and minimize dreaded scope creep. You’ll significantly increase the probability that your custom software will exceed your expectations and be on time and in budget.
The purpose of custom software is to provide you with the features you need to automate your business functions. Custom software means you don’t have to change your business to fit into the pre-determined mold that packaged software requires. Custom software means flexibility.
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