Project Life Cycle

The project life cycle as implemented by Vision7 has been designed to clearly define the client's expectations and address risks early in the development process. Experience has shown a formal process reduces overall development time and results in a lower total cost of ownership. This process model works for projects of all sizes. For small and some medium sized projects, some of the steps can be combined or abbreviated. The following is a description of each phase of the cycle and the participants and outputs of each.

Initial Proposal Phase

The initial proposal phase is to understand and identify the broad project requirements and main features proposed in the application. It may also involve a discovery process for new methods or technologies. The intent is to develop a relationship with the client and address at a high level the issues, costs and schedules that will be required to create the proposed application.

The deliverables for this phase are:

• A rough estimate for effort or price for all phases of the entire project
• A rough schedule for all phases of the entire project
• An initial Function Point Analysis for all phases of the entire project
• A contract proposal for both of the Process Engineering Phases - Requirements Analysis and Specifications

Process Engineering Phase - Requirements Analysis

The objective of the Requirements Analysis phase is to identify and document the user requirements for a proposed system. The process involves Analysts from Vision7 who meet with, interview, and observe knowledgeable users to understand what the requirements are. In addition existing systems, processes, documents, and procedures are reviewed and included as appropriate. From the available information the analyst develops a list of the actors, use cases and system level requirements for the project. With the help of key users the list of use cases and requirements is reviewed, refined and updated in an iterative fashion until the user is satisfied that it represents the essence of the proposed system.

The deliverables for this phase are:

• A final Requirements Analysis document delivered for approval

Process Engineering Phase - Specifications

The objective of the Specifications phase is to distill the requirements into the functions and features the new system will have, to describe and prototype the functions and features as a user would actually see them, and to describe how users would interact with the system. In addition, the system architecture is described, including hardware, external interfaces and network requirements. Preliminary data elements, user interfaces, outputs and other interfaces are also described.

The deliverables for this phase are:

• The Functional Specification defines the precise functions of the system. It defines the exact inputs, the actions taken based on user input, the actions taken based on user requests, and the exact outputs by the system. The inputs, actions and outputs are defined as "functions". This is not a design document. This document does not define "how" the inputs, actions and outputs occur and are implemented, it only defines exactly "what" inputs, actions and outputs occur. This document includes enough prototype screens and reports to clearly define Functional Specifications of the system. It also includes logical data diagrams, and work and process flows present in the system.
• The Architectural Specification defines the system architecture that will enable a system to perform the functions defined in the Functional Specification. This document defines the system components, database components and other components required to perform these functions. These components are only described at a high level to enable a technical contact from the customer or a system administrator to understand how the new system will fit into the current environment of the customer. It is left to the design document, created in the next phase, to define in detail each of these components. This document further defines the interaction of these components and the message flow between components.

Additional deliverables to complete the analysis phases of the project are:

• An estimate for effort or price for the remaining project phases - Design, Development, Test, Deployment and Support (this is often done as a fixed bid)
• A detailed schedule for the remaining project phases - Design, Development, Test, Deployment and Support
• An revised Function Point Analysis for the entire project giving the effort required for the remaining project phases - Design, Development, Test, Deployment and Support
• A contract proposal for the remaining project phases - Design, Development, Test, Deployment and Support

Design Phase

The design phase is the process of designing exactly how the specifications are to be implemented. It defines specifically how the software is to be written including an object model with properties and methods for each object and a detailed database design.

The deliverables for this phase are:

• A final Design Specification. There is no approval required for this document.
• Performance testing and small prototypes are done to demonstrate technical feasibility

Development Phase

The development phase involves the actual coding of the entire application. This is usually the longest and most resource-intensive phase. As components of the application are complete, they are reviewed by the customer for accuracy as well as usability, according to a milestone schedule that is part of the main project schedule. There is also an alpha deployment test phase embedded in the Development Phase.

The deliverables for this phase are:

• A beta version of the application
• Preliminary manuals and user documentation
• Preliminary as-built technical documentation
• A test plan for final product acceptance

Test Phase

The test phase involves a formal walk through of the entire test specification and modification to the application where appropriate. This is done first by Vision7 Testers, and then verified by the customer.

The deliverables for this phase are:

• A final version of the completed application

Other deliverables to complete the Development and Test phases are:

• A completed version of the test specification
• Final manuals and user documentation
• Final technical documentation

Deployment phase

The deployment phase is a staged roll out of the new application. This involves installation and initial training and may involve hardware and network upgrades.

Support Phase

The support phase of the project is the last component and it continues as long as a warranty, extended warranty, or support contract is in place.