So, you want to have a software application developed?

Developing custom software requires planning, organization, dedication, and expertise to ensure its success. Software project planning and project management are essential to carry out any IT project.

Custom software is not a finished product which a company has on their shelves and which they can take down and hand over to their customers. Successful and effective custom software development necessitates careful planning, meticulous organization, absolute dedication, and reliable expertise. For this reason you cannot call an IT company, talk for five minutes, and then get a price. When you do custom software or any software project for that matter, it is paramount that the software company fully understands your requirements. This process takes time and is demanding for everyone involved.

The term "software application" refers to either a regular software program installed on your computer or a web-based application installed on a server. The problems and issues for both types of projects are the same.

This page is not about creating a small website with a few pages; instead this is about how you can get started on large software projects and what you should do to avoid becoming a statistic. Studies show that 18% of all projects are never completed and a staggering 53% are delayed with corresponding losses to the customer and the developer alike.

A word of caution

Due to the nature of web application development, software planning is of paramount importance. In fact, when you make software, planning and knowing what you want before you start are the most important things to remember. Without planning, the following will happen:

• The project will exceed the budget.
• The project will be delayed.                                         
• The developer may experience high staff turnover, thereby risking further delays and extra costs.
• The quality may not meet your expectations.
• The project may be developed using an incorrect technology.                 
• The project will not work as originally planned, and there will be shortcomings.
• There will be increased stress on project participants, customer and developers alike.

So, how do you make sure that you get started correctly? To ensure your project's success, there are fundamental guidelines that you must follow.

Know what you want

You have to know what you want. In order to know what you want, you have to identify what your users and/or customers want. You must be clear about this before you start; otherwise you will only end up wasting time and money.

Most software projects start out either with somebody getting a good idea or due to a demand or requirement arising in a company. During the process of formulating the idea and refining the details of the requirement, many make the mistake of simplifying things assuming that everybody else understands exactly what's on their mind. While this may be the case within a company, once you include parties outside your organization, it can become somewhat more complicated. Furthermore, at the height of brainstorming, when ideas are flying, things that do not have clear-cut answers are often deferred until later, and thereby leaving it up to the developers.

Limit yourself—know where to stop

Remember that Rome was not built in one day, and neither is your software. It is easy to get carried away with one wish after another; but regardless of how you turn things around, the development costs money, and there is only one person who will pay for this—you.

Write down what you want

Make a detailed document by writing down—and even drawing—your ideas. Insert pictures, sketches, or whatever else is needed in order to convey your ideas. By spending time writing, you will:

• be forced to think about what you want;
• have a concrete, visual reference of your thoughts;
• automatically review all your ideas in your head;
• better organize and polish your ideas;
• be able to present a document to a potential supplier so that the latter will be able to understand your requirements.

A good approach will be to make a list of all the features you want for your planned software application. Then group these features by version, starting with version 1, version 2, and so on. The most important things will be listed in version 1, less important things in version 2, and so on. Remember that when you bring out version 1 of your software application to the market, it is unquestionably guaranteed that new ideas, needs, and demands will arise. Some of these ideas or requirements may render things in version 2 or 3 unnecessary or outright incorrect. Therefore, if you program everything from the beginning, you are almost guaranteed to end up with a software application that nobody will use.

The "am-I-ready checklist"

Below is a simple checklist of things to determine if you're ready to start talking with 1902 Software about your IT project. Don't get the impression that we're trying to turn you away—most definitely not. Software is our bread and butter, but we know that if you cannot answer "yes" to most of these questions, then you're not ready—and we will all end up wasting time and money:

1. Do you have a document outlining the project? The document should contain the following information:
   • A brief about the project
   • A timeline showing when you expect the project to start and when you expect the project to be finished
   • Other materials which you think can help in evaluating your project
   • A general statement about financing the project. If you don't want to tell us, we leave that up to you, but please make sure that you know it yourself.
     
     
2. Are there other parties involved in the development of the project?
   • What are their roles in the project?
   • What will they bring to the project?
   • Are they ready and committed to work with the project?
     
     
3. Will the system integrate with other IT systems? If yes, with which applications are you going to integrate it?
   
   
4. Are you ready and willing to spend money on detailed development specifications?

If you can answer "yes" to most of the questions above, then you're ready to get started with the development specifications and well on your way to starting your software project. From this point onwards, you should equip yourself with a good knowledge of the complete software life cycle.