Main software development stages

 
The process of software development might seem complex, however, if we look through stages, it will become quite clear as day. Nevertheless, before that, you should understand that there two types of software development companies:
 

• companies that develop software for many clients;
• companies that develop software for a specific client.

In our article, we will talk about the second type and how their teams organize the development process.
 

What is Software Development?

First things first, let’s define a simple explanation of what software development is. If we summarize various definitions, we will get:

Software development is a complex process of creating software or software components for a company’s business goals. To do it successfully, a specialist needs to know a specific programming language and tools.

If you think that development consists only of writing and maintaining code, then we are here to correct you. The process itself involves many stages that you should not ignore or you might get the software with a defect:

1. Analysis and planning of future development

The correct performance of this first step will determine whether a project will meet the client’s requests. Thus, before launching the project software development company should meet with a client and collect all the needed information. Only then, a team of developers can create a certain plan for project development. Moreover, the developing company should have a clear idea of the client’s business sphere. This will help create precise software. Main points of this stage to ponder over:

• Does your company have the necessary tools and professionals to work on the project?
• Do you have enough time for project development?
• What is the final price for a project?

2. Understanding project requirements

Every software project should help a client solve certain tasks, achieve business-goals, reach a new market, etc. Thus, the developing team’s task is to fully grasp all technical requirements and be ready to implement them. After working on the software development process company should ask the client such questions as:

• What issues do certain solutions solve?
• What kind of users is going to use the software?
• Will the client have to integrate the software with other tools?
• How will the client manage security?

Answers to these questions will help discover technical requirements, testing conditions and choose the appropriate tech stack. Thus, they should be as much honest as possible.

3. Prototyping

After gathering project information, tech requirements and creating a full-fledged development plan, it is time to design a prototype of future software.

Taking into account chosen process for software development (Agile, continuous integration, etc.), the development team will create:

• plain wireframe to present how the software will interact with users;
• full-scale prototype to test on a group of users.

4. Development

This is the stage when programmers start shaping software code using a convenient programming language. Before the development team passes over a final code, they perform several trials to detect any errors and correct them.

5. Testing

After the coding stage, developers send software to the testing team. These specialists provide comprehensive feedback on its functionality, appearance, productivity, etc. Even though developers should be attentive to any possible issues, they still might overlook some of them. Thus, the testing team’s task is to check software from different angles and test cases so that product could work effectively and smoothly.

6. Deployment

Finally, the software is ready for launch. If the development team did right all the previous stages and excluded all errors from the code, the client would get a successful product. There are also scenarios when a client needs support in the post-launch period. The software development company offers such a service for those clients who do not have needed specialists for software support or have little knowledge of support.
 

Software Development Services

Among the most common and needed software development services that a company can offer are:

• Web application development
• Business application development
• Open source system evolution
• Corporate communications systems development
• Automated business solutions development
• IT processes automation solutions development
• E-document management systems development
• Custom software development

Each of these services helps automate, streamline and improve various processes in your company. Thus, study each of them before choosing one for your company.
 

Should you choose an in-house or outsourced team for a software development project?

This is a vexed question for many companies that need to develop software. Before making any rash judgment on these two types of development, think of your budget and the time you dispose of. In-house and outsource teams can offer you the same services and stages of development; however, everything depends on whether you are ready to spend time and money on project.

Think of these situations and you will understand why they are crucial in the pre-development process:

• The in-house team needs a place to work, specific tools and software to work on your project. To top that, you will pay for their taxes, insurance, etc. If you are fully prepared to do that, then it is the best choice for you.
• The outsourced team works remotely; they already have all the needed tools and software for your project development. You will pay only for their work. The main point is to streamline your communication process with a team to reach a planned goal.

Read more about pros and cons in our article “In-house or outsourcing development: make your choice”.