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Getting into the modern world of tech-driven everything likely finds you at the helm of a software development project, regardless of your direct participation in the “tech” industry. It is always good to know the basics of software development planning, as developers will be looking to you for strategic guidance.
So what are the benefits of software development planning and how do you plan an effective development schedule? Let’s dive into the details.
Benefits of Software Development Planning
Software development is an art and a science. Planning ahead ensures not only that you get a superior product, but also secures a more efficient timeline and greater security. Good planning also leaves room for improvements in the software as technology advances.
Regardless of how talented your developers may be, they can only create according to your direction. Perhaps most importantly, planning your software development keeps communication between non-techs and techies on the same page.
6-Step Planning Guide for Software Development Projects
You can use the following guidelines as a blueprint for developing your plan.
- Project Analysis: Define Your Goals
The first step in developing a plan is properly communicating your vision. You should be able to easily explain it to a layman before you try to translate it into “tech speak.” When it makes sense IRL, you know you have a clear vision for the developer to follow.
- Work Out What You Need
Do you need developers with certain skill sets? Will your software have subscription-based dependencies? Will you require ongoing maintenance after the software is built? Will you consider improving your online presence by means of digital marketing solutions? Most of these things can be worked out beforehand so the dev team won’t be surprised in the middle of development.
- Plan Costs
When you know the resources the project requires in detail, you can work out line item costs for each of those resources. You also protect yourself from being overcharged by development teams by doing this. If your costs are split into line items, you can research anything that looks to be priced suspiciously high.
- Create Timeline
Once you have your resources and budget in place, you can begin work on a timeline. The timeline can affect the budget as well because working faster usually costs more money. However, you can more easily optimize your timeline once you have each line item worked out.
You may also choose to remove some items with a long time horizon from your MVP. One item that pushes the timeline of your entire app too far back can also deter your funding and marketing schedules.
- Build Your Team
Software development is not a one size fits all discipline. Certain developers and teams have specific talents. Often, you may need to daisy chain teams together to create your software package. Building your team means assigning the most effective person to the task at hand. Here are the four major parts of every software development team:
- Development & Coding
These are the people who will actually translate your vision into “computer language.” They are syntax experts who create the most elegant solution for your software — one that will run at optimal speed and compatibility with the software environment around the new application.
- Testing & Quality Control
This is an essential component of any software development services process. Just because something works on paper doesn’t mean it will work in the real world. The software environment moves in real time, and your software development agency must test your dependencies as well as core functionality before deploying to production.
- Deployment to Production
Even the best software development company faces the challenge of deployment: Depending on whether you are mass producing the software or using it internally, it will need to be mastered to its environment so it is compatible with your operating system and other software applications.
- Support & Maintenance
You may need ongoing maintenance from a software development service after a product has been deployed. This is perfectly natural depending on the kind of software you are creating. Work with your custom software development services to figure out how much ongoing maintenance will cost beforehand. This could be one of many software company services you need.
- Measuring and Tracking Progress
Coming up with the proper metrics to measure success is just as important as developing a plan to successfully launch it. You may want to get your marketing and operations teams in on this process because the success of a software package isn’t just how efficiently it runs. You can run an efficient package that doesn’t speak to your customer base at all. Is that really a success or just a technically correct deployment?
How Can You Improve the Success of a Software Development Project?
Aside from setting clear goals, perhaps the most important single step in your project development is creating a plan around a universally appraised format. Some of the most popular include the Gantt chart and the PERT chart. Top software development companies will offer a proprietary solution, but you can always fall back on one of these options.
Proper planning helps to allocate resources to the website and software development company where they are needed and gives devs a clear vision of what they are doing. Follow the steps above, and you can be sure that your process will run more smoothly with fewer surprises.