One of the biggest challenges for any software company is to deliver the project before the deadline. Unfortunately, because of a number of reasons – tech teams tend to be running short on time. In this cutthroat competitive environment, business owners choose software houses that have both the expertise and experience to deliver the application/software/website in time. Time remains one of the most crucial components in deciding if a software company is successful or not. If you give your word to a client and do not keep it, you might not only lose the client but also have a bad reputation in the market.
When majority of the IT projects are never delivered or on time, it shows how software companies worldwide tend to miscalculate certain aspects about development process in the planning phase. Launching a product on time is a challenge but certainly not insurmountable. As different obstacles appear in the process, it affects the overall delivery and pace of the project. In this article, we have pointed out five crucial ways that will help you in speeding up the development process inevitably. Let’s take a look.
Clear product development strategy
Without having a strategy, creating a product is more like shooting in the dark. A well-defined product strategy will help the manager and employees in knowing how the milestones and weekly goals will be divided. For instance, if you have to develop an Android and iOS app – making a strategy will help you in calculating the number of days you can allocate to research, development, and QA. It will also help you in allocating some days for expected and unexpected hurdles in the way.
Before kickstarting the development of product, note down all the details of the phases that will help your team in reaching the goal (delivering project in time). Generally, the steps of product development strategy are: market research, creating a timeline, creating wireframes, product specification requirements, defining testing strategies (black box/white box/unit testing etc.).
Spend time on documentation
Documentation describes the functionality and architecture of the product to be developed. Documentation is done to keep everyone on the same page, including manager, stakeholders, developers and QA team. Without documentation, if there is a conflict later in the development stage – it is impossible to figure out what was mutually decided previously. Documentation improves the quality of software, and saves developers from going to and fro about the requirements and indulging in long discussions as everything can be found in the formal document.
As software teams document their coding practice and code review process, it is easier for old and new team members to understand how different components in the product are working together. Instead of going through unlimited lines of codes or giving them trainings about several components, developers can simply check the document to see the development phase. When the error codes are properly documented, it also helps develops in trouble shooting issues with the product and saves time of QA team. Documentation usually has the following parts: technical documentation, requirements documentation, and design documentation.
Use agile methodology
There is a reason that agile methodology was introduced in the IT world – waterfall method was failing software houses miserably and just adding more delays onto the project timeline. Agile methodology, when used in the correct fashion can save you from a number of hiccups, both expected and unexpected.
When you break the project into several iteration, following agile method and a lot time period to each of the iterations – it becomes easier to track the progress and halts in the process. As agile method lets both clients and stakeholders become a part of every stage of the process – it helps in modifying the product on the fly instead of waiting for the feedback, after all the development work has been completed (in waterfall method). As tasks do not overlap each other and the team of developers work parallel with each other, it saves time and extra efforts.
Stick to deadlines
Without setting deadlines and being strict about them, you can get the best talented people from around the world and the project will still not be delivered in time. Setting deadlines helps everyone in knowing what is expected of them and the current progress of project. It become easier to give quick recap to the stakeholders and higher management about progress too.
When you have divided development work into sprints, it becomes easier to track and record if you are on the deadline or lagging behind it already. While you will get bugs, errors and change requests, do not let it halt the current on-going sprint, rather create a new sprint. When the smaller deadlines do not get delayed, you will be able to deliver the project just on time.
Realize the importance of testing
To ensure that the product is delivered on time and the functionality works properly, testing plays a huge role in that. Opt for periodic testing instead of waiting for the entire product to be developed first. Each time a new source code is either added or changed, ask the QA team to do testing and see if all the components are working like they should or not.
If the project has a short deadline, instead of doing manual testing – go for automated testing. Use effective testing tools to get the work done in less time. In an ideal scenario, you should do both manual and automated testing to leave no room for error.
Conclusion
To leave a mark in the IT world, it is important for companies to deliver quality products in time. When you focus on creating detailed strategy, documenting every step, using agile methodology, never compromising on the deadline and doing testing – your chances of delivering on time increase immensely. If you are planning to partner up with an IT company to work on your next big idea, contact Zepto Systems today. We have been working with local UK and international clients for more than 10 years now. Expert developers, proficient project managers and QA experts help our IT team to deliver in time with unparalleled product quality.