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CLS Development Process
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CLS can handle all aspects of the development process. Our creative and technical
services include the full life cycle development process. From initial requirement
definitions, deployment and maintenance, re-engineering of the existing solution,
to building turnkey solutions from scratch. CLS is committed to employ rapid development
processes, delivering robust and scalable solutions to meet our clients' needs.
These aggressive and iterative methodologies ensure rapid solution development with
higher project quality and lower time to market. These techniques include, but are
not limited to, the following project phases:
- Initial free consultation - This generally consists
of CLS visiting your facility to discuss the solution needed and get a general overview
of the project scope. At that time we would provide further information on our capabilities.
- Problem and requirement definitions - This is a more
in depth look into the required feature set to allow us to estimate the resources
required to determine the actual quotation, generally a non-binding estimate of
that is provided at this stage for your reference.
- Discovery and Analysis of possible solutions - This
phase is generally optional and would be performed only if the requirements are
complex and not yet clearly defined. This would entail meeting with the stakeholders
at your company to nail done specific features and expectations of the solutions.
- Cost and timing estimate and formal quotation - This
is the formal quotation from CLS including the project timeline and a detailed breakdown
of the required tasks with costing provided for each. The solution architecture
and technologies utilized is outlined in detail.
- Development and Feedback Loop - This is when actual
development begins, generally an iterative process whereby you and your users can
see the application in the early stages in order to ensure that we meet expectations
in terms of the UI and expected functionality.
- Testing - Upon completion of the development phase,
CLS will perform unit testing to ensure all bugs are ironed out. Unit testing will
be done by the user community and feedback will be provided back to CLS to iron
out any kinks.
- Documentation - The level of system documentation
will vary based on customer requirements and may consist of training materials,
application architecture, database ERD diagrams, deployment process, and maintenance
and administrative procedures.
- Acceptance - When the applications is deemed acceptable
in terms of functionality and reliability, the customer would sign off acknowledging
the applications meets or exceeds all requirements as outlined.
- Deployment - CLS will deploy the solution and integrate
within your existing IT infrastructure as required. Once deployment is complete,
the users will again test the application to ensure everything is working as designed.
- User Training - How extensive this phase becomes is
a function of the complexity of the application and the familiarity of the users
with the functionality in use. Some applications will include interactive help screens
and documentation to aid in this process.
- Maintenance/Enhancements - This phase will vary based
on customer need for new features or modification to the existing application logic.
We have worked within formal development frameworks such as the Rational Unified
Process (RUP) the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) and Agile. The particular
methodology utilized is based on the scope of the project and customer requirements.
Employing these techniques allows CLS to maximize the efficiency of our development
resources and those of our customers.
Sometimes a project is well defined and is limited in scope enough such that a formal
development process is not warranted. We allow for this flexibility and will work
with you to ensure we manage the project correctly while keeping excess administration
and communication overhead to a minimum. If you have internal project management
staff we will be happy to define the process by working through them.
In terms of financial arrangements, generally a deposit is required upon acceptance
of the proposal with progress payments through the development cycle as agreed upon
project milestones are met. The final payment is only due when the customer has
signed off on the application and deployment is complete.
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