Hostcymru since its inception has been committed to deliver high quality E-Business Solutions to its clients.
We have designed a project life cycle which is followed for all projects and shared with all clients, so as to eliminate the possibility of any communication problems, and to bring about transparency in our work.
Hostcymru follows OO methodology and Techniques to support the Life Cycle for solutions development. OO denotes ‘Covering all phases from Project Analysis, to Design, to Implementation’.
We have dedicated Account Managers for each project. The role of the Account Manager is to maintain a direct contact with the client on a daily basis, and update them on the status of the project. They are also responsible for looking after problems or queries from the client and to provide feedback.
Hostcymru focuses on Customer satisfaction, as a result of which we have 24 hours / 7 days / 365 online support, wherein the customer query is immediately recorded and a ticket number is issued for reference to the client for that query.
Project Life Cycle Explained
The Life Cycle is broadly categorised into three stages:
1. Pre – Development Phase
This is the first phase in the development life cycle wherein the Information Architecture is created based on the understanding of the project. A proper requirement analysis is undertaken which carefully defines the objectives of the new project and develops a detailed statement of all the functions that the project is expected to perform. In addition we suggest to our Clients Value–Added features for their project to enable the enhancement of the concept and to ensure superior customer satisfaction for the client.
If an existing solution is in need of modification we focus on building models that unambiguously determine what the problem is for which we are trying to re – construct the solution. We also conduct Critical Analysis so as to cover all possible situations and accordingly suggest the best combination for our client.
We prefer to document everything so that there is no confusion or communication gap in terms of specifications and requirements of the client, and that is why we create the following documents before proceeding further in the cycle:
- Project Management Plan (PM Plan)
The PM Plan lists all the modules, tasks and sub–tasks in the project with an approximate completion time and points already approved by the client. It is created with certain assumptions based on our experience in delivering similar projects over the years.
- Configuration Management Plan (CM Plan)
The Configuration Management Plan describes how the Configuration Management activities (Configuration Identification, Configuration Control, Status Accounting) will be conducted and documented.
- System Requirement Specification (SRS)
SRS provides a detailed description of the Project. It describes the relationship between different modules and what function each component in a Module is performing. It is a graphical representation of the detailed functionality.
- Software Design Document (SDD)
SDD describes all of the system functions, the interdependencies among those functions, the system Interface and a detailed description of the internal design details of each function. The descriptions can take a form of Narratives, Structured Charts, Structured English, Tight English, Flow Charts, Pseudocode, etc. Regardless, these levels of design information are required to formulate White Box testing objectives.
- Prototype
This is a graphical representation of the Design of all pages and forms in the project. The total Navigation of the project is explained including each button and link. One can easily understand how the project is going to work.
2. Development Phase
This is the second phase in the development cycle, wherein the Design and Development of the project starts based on the inputs from the client.
The Design and Development of the project is segregated in two parts:
- The Front End, which is the User Interface – Designers
- The Back End, which is the Database – Programmers
The designers create the look and feel of all project pages, whereas the programmers design the layout of the Database. Once both are created they are sent to the client for approval. When the designs are finalised the coding for the project is started.
Hostcymru follows a set of International coding standards. On completion of the functionality of each module the client’s approval is sought. Once all the modules are created the integration of all modules is carried out. Separate quality checks are performed to test the overall project. Some of these are mentioned below:
Unit Testing – Consist of testing the smallest units of the Project design.
Integration Testing – Consist of testing the application that has been (partially) put together by integrating the smallest units.
Validation Testing – Consist of testing whether the project functions in a manner that is expected by the user.
Pilot Study – The project is put on the server temporarily and tested by a closed user Group (Limited Users).
Phased Approach – The Modules are tested in phases and a total quality check is undertaken.
Once the Hostcymru team is satisfied the project is deployed at the server location for beta testing. If there are any modifications, deficiencies or changes based on the beta testing by the client, they are made accordingly and the solution is ready for delivery.
3. Post – Development Phase
Once the Project is complete it is kept operational for close monitoring of the efficiencies and performance deficiencies. The project is kept for two weeks under monitoring and any minor changes and additions can be made based on the User Feedback within this period.
The break up of this period is as follows:
20% is devoted to debugging or correcting emergency production problems.
20% is devoted to changes in Data, Files or Reports.
60% for making User Enhancements, Improving Documentation and any other work for greater efficiency.
4. Value Added Service
During the entire Design and Development stage we suggest to our clients additional modules or features which can be beneficial in the project; important in terms of generating Revenue and giving our client a competitive edge over their rivals.
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