The following procedures are usually included into standard outsourcing project execution process.

Kick-off meeting

A good practice is to say "Hello" when the project starts. We arrange a kick-off meeting at the beginning of a project when each party can present itself. Additionally some initial questions may be coordinated, namely, reporting terms, required formats, etc.

Project requirements clarification

You can be sure that project is already 50% successful if an offshore team understands your requirements correctly. That's why our analysts are always in close interaction with customer representatives. Of course it is impossible to define all the nuances of the project on its first phase, so the process of requirements detailing is built iteratively.

Clients provide us with business needs or ideas and our specialists transform them into formal Software Requirements Specifications and Use Cases.

Moreover, it is important to create GUI prototype (markup) to be able to see how the system will look like - usually it helps to make requirements clearer. 

Fig. Project prototyping 

Technical & Functional prototyping / Architectural design

It is always essential to see how the system you've planned to get will look like. Usually at Belprog we create different prototypes for such demonstrations and requirements aligning technical prototypes with demonstration of a few custom controls or some technology usage, functional prototypes with demonstration of some scope of functionality, and so on. In most cases we also create Software Architectural Document (SAD) which describes the general solution structure, used approaches, and technical decisions.

Implement & Test the solution

At this stage, we transfer the project requirements into a working system. 

Fig. Project development and testing

The best practice here is to deliver regular versions of product, so a client could see the progress in real time, and also to continuously improve the product quality. Implementation and V&V (testing) go together and establish a development cycle until the scope is ready and the quality is accepted.

Acceptance testing on a customer's side

At Belprog we use a comprehensive set of tests and quality control methodologies to guarantee final product quality. Nevertheless, your acceptance of provided results is a crucial point in the project.

Support phase

After the project is completed we enter the support phase. Its duration should be defined in the Service Level Agreement. Usually it means that during the support phase all arising problems will be fixed for free.

Planning & Risks management

A preliminary project plan and a risks list should be created during the project estimation phase. However it is impossible to foresee all possible risks as well as it is quite difficult to create a well-detailed plan before project is up and running. These activities are rather continuous. In project due course project manager regularly reviews the list of risks, defines new risks and sorts out existing ones, updates project plan with actual work, modifies list of tasks in accordance with made decisions and established priorities, and so on.

Reporting

At Belprog we have a standard set of reports that we usually use to update client about project progress, problems that need resolution, available defects, etc. By default, the following reports are used:

•  Weekly project status report
•  Report on project plan / Updated project plan
•  Available Defects report / Fixing dynamics
•  Other

For further information on Belprog outsourcing services, please contact us.