How may we help you?
Plan
Every project requires a plan. Plans change, but they are an essential element to every successful project.
At Intelliware, we put a great deal of effort working towards creating the right level of plan.
Big, expensive, inflexible plans weigh down projects, and can be a major contributor to software project failure. To avoid over-planning and “analysis paralysis”, it is critical that plans are kept:
- simple (to facilitate communication);
- high level (to keep you focused on the end result);
- adaptable (to accommodate change); and,
- realistic (to better plan the future actual results).
Intelliware’s planning services fall into three broad categories. Assessments and Roadmaps evaluate your current state, and recommend the best routes to get you where you want to go. Storying is an Agile approach to breaking down requirements into building blocks that allow you to layout a project, product or release plan in a business friendly manner. Usability services use prototyping and concrete user feedback to ensure easy-to-use applications.
Intelliware’s Assessment & Roadmap services have been used by our clients to:
- assess the current state of an application or system
- evaluate a new technology
- explore technical architecture options for systems, applications and products
- assess software development process capabilities and recommend opportunities for improvement
- pull together high level development estimates
- recommend steps to migrating towards Agile development practices
- layout high level product or system development plans
Assessments identify the areas of greatest business and technical risk, and design a plan to mitigate exposure to those risks. The completed comprehensive development plan includes an actionable series of prioritized next steps supported with a timeline and requirements list. The Assessment allows the business to raise money, get approvals, or start the project with confidence.
The results of an Assessment are a clearly defined "High Impact" Roadmap that has a short development and delivery cycle, a high level Gantt chart outlining overall timelines and functional development expectations, and a solid list of requirements that will be further developed once the project begins.
Roadmaps are clearly defined lists of development priorities that detail functional expectations. Roadmap development is an exercise of review and assessment of existing applications and current architecture to identify opportunities for reuse or change in direction. Working with business and technical staff, challenges and priorities will be identified and used to develop the architectural vision. Considering the ways in which the business will grow in the future, the process ensures a balance between the business operating model and current technical state. The end result is an architectural direction and a prioritized list of application objectives supported by frequent and iterative development cycles to achieve that end.
Intelliware’s Storying services have been used by our clients to:
- gather and define requirements
- prepare product and system release plans
- explore product definition options
- serve as the building blocks for larger system development plans
- facilitate better communication between business and in-house IT
Stories are the core building blocks of Agile software development. Think of them as requirements in the form of lightweight use cases.
A Story describes an individual piece of functionality. They are individually documented, testable and easily implemented. Stories become the main units of work through all phases of a project, from defining strategic alternatives, to organizing tasks, iterations and releases. They are written in plain business English and facilitate communication between technical people and business users.
Stories are a key element in managing project scope and coping with change. Stories are sequenced and constantly reprioritized throughout the project to manage scope and budget to adapt to change encountered in development and implementation.
Stories provide you with great building materials for a successful project, regardless of how you choose to build.
Our Usability services have been used by our clients to:
- prototype user interface for new applications
- prototype web versions of existing applications
- assess development opportunities in current systems or applications
- assess and compare competitive applications
Usability is critical to the successful adoption of any application. When interfaces are intuitive and information is presented in a clear and consistent fashion, users adopt new software and embrace new functions with less training and implementation effort.
Intelliware ensures high level software usability with user-centered design methodologies and multi-disciplinary teams. The process includes consulting and working with both user and client ensuring their perspectives are considered during design. Collaborating with end users throughout the development process ensures that the application works the way it should, both in terms of technological effectiveness and user adoption.
Usability is central to the design and development of all Intelliware projects. Stand alone usability reviews may also be conducted based on internal criteria, external influencers and other domain-related factors.