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Streamlining the Software Development Process: Strategies for Efficient Product Building

No matter what kind of software you need or who is going to use it in the end, you want the development process to go as efficiently as possible. Efficient digital product building is essential to your budget, return on investment, deployment, and use of the software in the future. Here are six expert tips on how to ensure your software development process goes smoothly, from the initial idea stage to building to considering flexibility for months or years from now.

Six Expert Tips on How to Streamline the Software Development Process

1. Test Your Concept

Before you get into the development phase of your software, you should make sure your vision is feasible and worth pursuing, whether it’s for your own business internally or something you plan to sell to others. How to define a software product is one of the key issues during this early stage. The more specific you can be, the better because you need to know if your project is going to work in the real world.

Although it might seem like hurrying to go ahead with custom application development would streamline the process, proof of concept (PoC) is vital and can’t be skipped over. Otherwise, you risk wasting money on developing something that can’t be used or isn’t practical financially.

Key questions to ask include:

Is there a need for the software in your workplace or in the market?
Can the project be accomplished within your budget, and what would be your return on investment (ROI)?
How can you test your concept with the intended user base?
What hurdles do you anticipate encountering as you enter development or implement the new software?

Once you nail down your proof of concept, it’s time to create a roadmap for development, with steps that will be taken along the way and timeframes for accomplishing various milestones. You may wish to include steps such as building a prototype (the first iteration of the product) or creating a minimum viable product (MVP), which is a stripped-down version of the final result.

2. Partner with Experienced Software Vendor

You want to collaborate with software developers who are experienced and adept at finding solutions for even the most complex software projects. They should be known for innovation and for staying at the forefront of new technologies. Software is typically an evolving sector, as is your business most likely. The best developers understand this and build scaling and change into their projects for clients for market resilience and agility that gives them a competitive edge.

3. Delegate Project Implementation

Once you complete PoC and build a roadmap for your software creation, it’s time to turn the project over to the development team, as hard as that may be. This lets you focus on other aspects of your business that require your input.

Being able to delegate responsibility to the experienced team will actually speed up the process and make it more efficient.

4. Embrace Agile Project Management

There are many different types of project management used in software development. Agile project management has become one of the most popular for a multitude of reasons. When compared to traditional management (often called a Waterfall approach), Agile methodology typically comes out on top because:

It results in higher quality products.
It involves the client while still letting the developers carry the bulk of the work.
You can focus on key metrics.
The risk level is lower.
You can realise a faster return on investment.
It is a more forward-thinking approach.

Within Agile project management, there are different styles of working (Kanban, Scrum, XP, etc.). You should discuss these with your software developers to see how your work styles will mesh once the project is underway.

Some Agile management best practices to keep in mind include:

Multiple iterative cycles where you plan, develop, and implement, with feedback along the way
Breaking down one large project into many smaller milestones (remember your roadmap completed at the end of the PoC stage?)
Stellar communication between development team members and with you
Finishing one step before moving on to the next one (aka time boxing)
Periodic evaluation that retrospectively examines previous stages for opportunities for improvement moving forwards

5. Employ Strategies to Accelerate Delivery

Streamlining and accelerating a software development project definitely overlap, but they are not the same thing. Whilst streamlining entails smoothing out the process, accelerating involves actually moving up the delivery timeline to finish faster.

There are several ways you can accelerate your project, including:

Nearshoring to developers vs. attempting in-house development
Finding the ideal balance between code quality and short deadlines
Using a dedicated development team that focuses on your project
Being available and responsive to the developers when they need input

6. Consider Future Applications

As we mentioned earlier, software applications are not static entities but dynamic creations. Your software should be future-proofed to the degree possible. Some of this can be discussed during the proof-of-concept stage, and some are part of the technical development process once the project is in motion.

Your developers should help you set your business up for future code changes, wherever you need them. You should receive regular progress reports to help you see where to make changes. The developers’ goal should be the same as yours: to provide the best possible service to your end users.

ELEKS Can Help Turn Your Software Ideas into Reality

Are you ready to take your software idea to the next stage and beyond? ELEKS is here to help you do that in a variety of industries, such as:

Logistics
Fintech
Retail
Insurance
Automotive
Healthcare
Agriculture
Energy
Media and entertainment
Government

From proof of concept to budgeting to the nuts and bolts of bringing your software project to life, ELEKS will be with you using the strategies listed above and more.

Ready to implement your product vision?

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