Software Development

Bespoke or “off-the-shelf” software solutions are often compromised by the requirement to meet the varying demands of different types of users. Software development delivers highly tailored software solutions that are designed to exactly fit a client’s needs.

Software development services are a multi-step process that has an end goal of designing software that meets a business’s objective(s).

Although the steps vary from project to project, typically, software development stages will include the following: 

• Analysis and planning
• Software design and development
• Testing and implementation
• Ongoing maintenance

A software development company is a business whose main focus is to develop, implement, and maintain bespoke software programs & applications for businesses and individuals.

Software development companies work closely with their clients to design and deliver software that has been developed to fulfil the demands of a client’s brief.

The benefits of employing the services of a software development company include allowing businesses to implement software solutions that are tailored to fit their needs exactly and giving clients access to a high level of skills that most businesses don’t have in-house.

Software development companies work with clients from the concept stage right through to implementation, testing and often beyond with ongoing maintenance and upgrade requirements.

Custom software development is the process of designing and implementing tailored software packages that fulfil a specific set of needs for an organisation or individual.

The process of custom software development is usually used where a very narrow set of requirements that can’t be serviced by off the shelf software solutions is identified by the client.

In these cases, a customised software solution that exactly fits these requirements can be designed and implemented. The process of custom software development normally follows a series of predefined processes that include: – Planning, design, testing, implementation, training, and maintenance.

The Agile software development method is a “working framework” followed by software designers. The framework is defined in the Agile Manifesto, which sets out a series of values and principles that were developed to simplify and speed up the software development process and, at the same time, deliver superior results.

Agility is unsurprisingly at the heart of Agile Methodology. Before the development of the method, software development was a rigid process that focused on documentation and sticking to plans over function.

The agile methodology encourages a flexible approach that allows plans to evolve during the process and promotes collaboration, learning, and ongoing assessments to continually improve performance.

The Manifesto for Agile Software Development is a framework of 12 principles and 4 key values that software developers use to guide their approach to a development project. Often referred to as the “Agile Manifesto”, it was created by software developers that were unhappy with existing software development processes.

They developed the Agile Manifesto to bring simplicity, flexibility, and standardisation into the software development process. The keyword is “Agile,” the manifesto aimed to make the process more flexible and to remove the existing over-rigid focus on documentation requirements.

To achieve this flexibility, the Agile Manifesto framework is based on the following 4 key values: 

• Functioning software over thorough documentation
• Individuals and interactions ahead of tools and processes
• Customer collaboration above contract negotiation
• Flexible response to changes over rigid adherence to a plan

The Agile methodology is more accurately described as a series of methodologies that fall under the “Agile” umbrella. As such, there are slight variations in how the Agile Software Development Life Cycle is described.

However, typically any agile software development cycle will follow the format detailed below: 

• Concept – The initial concept of a project is envisioned, and the scope of the project is determined
• Inception – At this stage, the project team is put together, and resources, tools and budget are allocated
• Iteration – This is the main stage of the project. At this point, the designers work closely with the stakeholders to produce the code for the design
• Release and Testing – The code is thoroughly tested by team members, and any bugs are rapidly addressed. Once the code is “clean”, it is released to the customer, often accompanied by a user training phase
• Maintenance – Once the software is “live”, the maintenance phase begins. Initially, this will involve ongoing support and addressing any new bugs, should they arise. As the project matures, it may also involve implementing updates as required. 
• Retirement – This phase occurs after the software has reached the end of its useful life. This could involve migrating data to a replacement software package, notifying users of the decision, and removing support for the package.

The Agile approach to software development is based on the Agile Manifesto. This sets out a working framework of values and principles that all Agile Software Development projects follow.

This is a flexible system that was developed to simplify and improve existing software development frameworks. Although there are variations depending on the type of Agile methodology, typically, the system relies on short development cycles or “iterations.”

These iterations will typically take between two to four weeks and can be considered a series of building blocks that come together to form the completed project. The flexibility of Agile methodology can be attributed to these short cycles that allow team members regular opportunities to assess progress and implement improvements where required.

Software development services can be considered as a series of complementary areas of expertise that combine to deliver the end goal of implementing a customised software solution.

The services typically include analysis and planning, software design, testing and implementation, training, and maintenance. Software Development companies provide the entire range of services required to take a software project from concept to completion.

Open-source software development is the process of developing software that is based on existing software whose source code is publicly available. This source code is designed to fulfil a certain purpose, e.g. operating system, office suite, etc.

Using open-source code as a foundation, software developers can customise the existing code to tailor the package to a business’s requirements. This can deliver bespoke software that delivers the required goals with reduced development costs.

Common examples of open-source software include WordPress, Open Office, Mozilla Firefox, Ubuntu, and even the ubiquitous Microsoft Notepad.