Do you want to start a software development project for your company but you are unsure how to get started?

Starting with the right foot is always important when you are thinking to building a software for your company. In order to minimize events that can cost you time and money we need to take in consideration 4 important things:

Identify the problem to be solved

First, you must have a clear idea of the problem you are trying to solve, this must be documented and have the correct expectations. A large percentage of projects have an incorrect expectation at the beginning and this can cause delays, a more expensive project, or poor quality deliverables.

This stage of the project is critical because it will help you communicate your expectations to your team or development partner.

Quantify your problem to calculate a budget and ROI

What is the correct measure to determine if your project will be expensive or not? Software development can have multiple purposes and it is important to understand how you are going to measure our ROI.

What is the purpose of the software? Attracting new customers, better serving existing customers, reducing maintenance costs, reducing manual processes, reducing human interaction, avoiding manual errors? The reasons why a company decides to develop software can vary, but you must analyze what you are going to get from the solution and find a way to monetize it.

Once the problem is calculated in ($), it will be easier to evaluate if it is a good option and how quickly it will get an ROI. Taking this assessment will help you set a budget, calculate your ROI, select the right Equipment or Supplier, and even make a financial plan.

One of the things you need to consider is the cost of the infrastructure, for example, if you have a base cost for development, you have to add the cost of the servers, licenses or any other hardware that you may need.

Create your Team

This is the most important task, you have 2 paths for this, create your internal team or look for a development firm. Ideally, a technology consulting company can help you determine which one is best for you.

In case you want to create your team, you will need someone to help you with the hiring process based on the technology you will be using. There are two main roles you should hire to get started 1.) Business Analyst 2.) Software Development Architect. The first will help you identify all the requirements that your software will have and the second will help you with the technology that your software will use, and it will also help you to hire the rest of your development team.

The other way is to hire a development company, as there are many development companies, you need to look for certain things during due diligence before choosing one. Some of the things to consider are experience, technology skills, vendor process, communication skills, time zone, cost, etc.

The globalization of the pre-Covid 19 pandemic was already a boom as many companies were obtaining services from around the world. Since the pandemic, people who weren't sure they had someone telecommuting in their business became the norm and that opened up even more options.

• Experience is the boss

Experience is the most important factor in the equation when choosing a provider, since, in all aspects of life, experience enables a skill that allows people to turn around and make smarter decisions in difficult situations, allowing them to prevent problems and implement the best practices obtained. from previous projects. Knowing the industry and how to adhere to certain regulatory standards could become a key aspect if your project requires specific regulations to be adhered to.

• Go to the experts

The selection of the technology to be used depends on many factors. In case you do not have a technical person who can decide the programming code and infrastructure to be used, that means that you will hand this decision over to your software development provider.

But how do you know they have the skill and knowledge to decide? Are they embracing technology because it is the only technology they know? Can you provide pros and cons of different technologies before choosing one?

• Vendor selection

47% of projects are over budget, behind schedule, or are delivering poor-quality deliverables due to lack of planning and poor execution.

In software development there are different types of methodologies that can be used, such as Waterfall, Agile (Scrum, Kanban), etc. Today the most common used are Agile frameworks. But it does not stop only in the choice of a framework, we need to have a process in place so that the whole team applies the methodology in the same way and there is a common synchronization in the way of working and the expectations that each one has of each one.

• Communication and time zone: The most important factors to consider

Communication is a key element that will maintain the team engaged and focused on the activities that each other are performing. A lack of communication will directly impact the progress and quality of the project.

In order to avoid this, be sure to set the communication channels, frequency and tools to be used in the project. With distributed teams throughout the world communication can become a pain point if not managed as expected. In case your team is working on shifted timezones, make sure to have a clear structure and communication processes, this will avoid work to be delayed due a lack of response and or clarity. Having a team in time zones that do not overlap between each other will be challenging, make sure the communication expectations are set.

Project Documentation

One of the biggest problems when starting a project is definitely the documentation. The most difficult part is putting the ideas in a document that can be read and understood by all interested parties, and it must also be descriptive to fulfill what we expect from the project. This is not an easy task, 2-3 hours of meeting would not be enough, usually this is a process that takes a couple of weeks.

There are some documents that will help you with this process:

• User research document
• Reference point
• User journey
• Flow of users through the application
• UX and UI documentation and designs
• Business Requirements, Use Cases, or User Stories.
• Technical documentation

Why is this important? Well this will be the blueprint for your project, your team will follow the documentation to complete your project.

Conclusions

Each project is different in its needs, they can change depending on the desired objective, but this guide will serve as the basis for planning the development of your project.

Heres is the link where you can download the full document with checklist and tips for your future project. Steps to start your project <-- Download for free.

For more info you can contact us at business@onephase.com

Thank for your reading.

Onephase Team