Approach

Part of TSC's proposal was to outline their approach to this project. As a result the software development process diagram (Figure IV-1.3) was included as an overview of TSC's Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).

Figure IV-1.3. The software development lifecycle illustrated.

Once the project appears to be accepted, the client needs to accept the proposed system and the developers need to know how to implement the functionality. Then there is the problem of relaying to the client the objectives that have been expressed to the requirements facilitator. Further issues arise when the architect needs to communicate to the developers how to construct the desired functionality. These two challenges require documents to state, in exact detail, what is needed from the proposed system.

The first challenge is to communicate to the client, in this case Silicon Coast, the objectives and functionality that were identified. This ensures that there is no misunderstanding. Once there is a consensus that the desired product has been formally documented, there needs to be a binding agreement that this documentation has been accepted and any further modifications must be formally assessed.

The second challenge is to communicate to the development team the architecture that needs to be built and the technology that may be used. The solution requires a document that discusses the technical design of the desired product.

On completion, the project must have achieved the objectives of the application, which are outlined in the requirements document. To ensure success, a test plan needs to be thoroughly examined.

This may be due to budget, policies, or the priorities of the client in this case, Silicon Coast Corporation.

Some concepts and proposals do not even get to this point. Technology, budget, or binding process can determine a project's fate before it even starts. With the concept of the chat functionality broadly discussed, it was time for Tatam System Consultants to formalize its findings and to prepare for the possibility of developing the application.

The final product will be a chat application for Silicon Coast Corporation that will have the following features:

• Deployed on a scalable system

• Accepted by the Silicon Coast Corporation

Tatam System Consultants understands that different approaches are required for different projects. Documentation for a mining company should be produced differently from that produced for a government institution. With this in mind, Tatam System Consultants has a generic approach to the software-development life cycle, which is developed according to a "horses for courses" approach. This means that there are boundaries and phases that need to be addressed when approaching the SDLC. However, depending on the individual project, emphasis on different stages will be different. In the company's experience, the general stages of a project are as follows:

The planning phase. This phase may consist of two parts. In the first part, initial data is gathered and then defined in a planning document. This initial project plan consists of a high-level overview of the proposed system. It may include a definition of resources and high-level tasks, and an initial schedule. It also may identify success and risk factors.

The second part of the planning phase refines the project plan once the requirements have been formally identified. It also may revise the success and risk factors that were recognized in the first part of this phase. A Gantt chart can be used to display the proposed timeline of the project. Depending on the level of detail in the initial project plan, this second stage may not be needed.

The requirements phase. This is the most important phase in the project. The project requirements are explored and defined. Other projects may take longer, and further formal requirement-gathering discussions may be needed. With some projects, organizational structure and policies may also constrain how these discussions are organized and facilitated.

The requirements document describes the required features for the user, business, and functionality, as well as technical considerations. Once again, this document must be tailor-made for the situation. It may involve discussions of the business's high-level objectives, the vision, or the project scope from a business perspective. It should state what the software has to do to employ the defined functionality. It almost always identifies the tasks the users follow in order to use a feature or functionality.

The test plan. This plan is a detailed scheme for testing all aspects of the system. It may test functionality, performance, ease of use and other system issues that may affect the success of the project. It should directly reflect the functionality specified in the requirements document.

The sign-off on requirements. On completion of the requirements phase, the project plan may be revisited and refined. At this stage there must be a sign-off. Tatam System Consultants will not officially continue with the project until this has been done. Once the sign-off has occurred, then any changes will have to be approved. This is the first milestone in this projects contract. Once delivered the decision to continue with the project will be made.

The design phase. This phase inherits the requirements and then models the proposed system. A design document consists of an architectural specification for each feature outlined in the requirements. The system architect determines this documents format. Tatam System Consultants has discovered that different developers respond favorably to different design approaches. A more junior developer within Tatam System Consultants needs to have a lot more documentation and specific data-flow diagrams (DFDs), sequence diagrams, and data models to be efficient in his work. However, the most senior developer only requires a minimal amount of documentation (DFDs and data models) to complete her work.

This document may map the data objects, processes within the system, object collaboration, security roles and responsibilities, user-interface concepts, the layout of the application, and so on. Depending on the system, this document could be any number of pages. The developers, who will inherit the design, should determine the end product. Tatam System Consultants finds it is a waste of resources to produce documentation that the development team won't use when constructing the system.