The cold hard truth
Sometimes rapid development is not just the best way, it is the only way. But this
isn't bad news at all. In fact, it can save your business big money. When we do
rapid development we build the framework of your application, and integrate a few
processes, and begin immediate testing. This approach often exposes flaws in the
design or conception, and gives you a much better picture of where the development
cost lies. This allows you to adjust your budget and requirements early in the process.
Prototype to Waterfall Development
Just creating an application for a business process is relatively easy. And most
application development firms take the easy approach. You give them a specification,
and they start creating the program. Is this really the best way to create an efficient
application? Of course not. The problem with this approach is that it leaves a lot
of efficiency on the table. Without communication back and forth between you and
the developers the end result is an application that just works. It offers no real
enhancement to the process, and no efficiency gains to your business. Good communication
results in great business applications.
When all of the Prototype modules are built and tested we move to a Waterfall
approach. What this does is stop the application development process from
spinning out of control. This often happens because the development firm continues
to view the project as in a "prototype" stage. But the prototype
should only be used to build the logic of the module and the flow of the module
within the application. Putting a fixed stop point to the prototype ensures
that the development progresses along a steady course without constant deviation
and changes right before go-live.
We work with you throughout every step of the application process. If we discover
an obvious efficiency improvement, we'll get together with you and discuss our proposed
change. Often these changes aren't even related to the actual code. We look at the
flow of your business process and the flow of the application. This is real application
architecture. Application architecture extends well beyond the programming and in
to the very fabric of the business process. Only then can you truly expect an application
that your business not only depends on, but truly helps your business. The bottom
line is in creating custom applications for business that make you more profitable.
This means the application has to be easy to use, intuitive to even new users, and
easy to expand and extend. A modular approach Most business process can be broken
down in to modules. So why not build the application in modules? This is one of
the keys to effective business application design. It allows us to look at the process
in pieces, and then see how each of the pieces fit together to form an exceptional
program. We look at the data that comes out of each module, and determine the best
way to get that information in to the next module, and how to store that data so
that custom reports become as intuitive as the application itself.
Building scalable applications (And just what is scalable?)
We often hear that an application is scalable. But just what does that really mean
in the real world? In plain English a scalable application can be made to fit the
needs of your business as data, or the number of users using the application grows,
without re-writing the application. But it goes a bit beyond that. A truly scalable
application should cost you less initially. Then as the need builds for more horsepower,
it can be added. Intralink may build your initial application with Windows Server
2003, and use Microsoft SQL express. As the your business grows, we can simply upgrade
the SQL server version, or add licenses to increase the number of users and memory
available to the application. Or, we could move to an enterprise version of SQL,
and add much more hardware to increase response times, and increase availability.