WORKING WITH US

From the First Conversation through Project Retirement

We are often asked by prospective customers to explain to them the "business side" of a typical software project relationship:

1 The First Conversation.
Our first meeting with a prospective customer is usually an informal fact-finding mission.  It is our goal in the first discussion to find out as much information as possible about the company's objectives and determine if we can offer a solution that fits their needs.  If we feel that we can be of service, we will offer to schedule a follow-up meeting(s) to get more detail about the project so that we can build a proposal.  If the customer's requirements are outside the scope of our service offerings, we will attempt to direct them to one of our trusted partners who can meet their needs.  We don't require any commitment from the customer to proceed with a project proposal.

2 The Proposal.
After having gathered enough information to understand the scope of the system to be designed, we will deliver a formal proposal to the customer that outlines:

• Our understanding of the customer's requirements
• A brief overview of the solution as we envision it
• A brief technical overview of the project's hardware and software requirements
• A "time and materials" cost estimate, including a breakout of the work to be performed and an hourly rate associated with each task

The purpose of the proposal is to give the prospective customer an idea of the resources that will be needed to complete the project.  The cost estimate should be viewed as a baseline budget for the project -- the budget is directly tied to the software lifecycle process and may fluctuate after the project is under way and requirements are finalized.  We work very closely with our customers throughout the process and notify them when there are shifts in the budget and project schedule.

3 The Project Kickoff.
After the customer has agreed to the proposed solution, we will hold a kickoff meeting to describe how we will proceed with each phase of the project.  During this meeting we will identify protocol for communications about the project and outline responsibilities. 

4 The Development Lifecycle.
After Project Kickoff, our staff will begin the formal design and production of the product. It is crucial that the customer's staff be available throughout the development cycle to answer questions and give feedback about the software being designed. Topics that were addressed in a very general way in gathering information for the proposal will be addressed in very specific detail once the project is started. When the project design is finalized, our development team will begin implementing the solution. After the solution has been completed, tested and approved by the customer the first version of the product will be released into its production environment.
For more detailed information about the development lifecycle, please read our article "About Custom Application Development."

5 The Satisfied Customer.
It is always our goal to exceed our customers' expectations by delivering software that is useful, secure and robust. We always strive to have a continuing relationship with our customers after project completion -- in most cases, the software we develop will require additional modifications, revisions, and yes, even bug fixes. We work hard to ensure that our customers continue to receive the support they require after the project is complete. Post-release planning is crucial, and we make an effort to address those issues before the project begins.