Design and production of customer order software
Information technology, which is result of intersection of electronics, data processing and communication, has caused distances to disappear and computers and users to be closer toghether. It has mechanized communication systems and has increased data transfer capacity. This has provided decentralization and has increased speed and quality of decision-making and effective management. One evidence of information technology in organizations is the use of information systems at different levels.
Information systems can be classified by different points of view such as type of application, information, etc. In a general view, systems can be divided in terms of different levels of management and types of related decisions.
Software development methodologies
There are different methodologies for designing, producing and developing software systems. Each methodology includes at least one software design and development process, along with a modeling language that provides a set of modeling tools. In choosing the appropriate methodology, attention should be paid to various factors, including business requirements.
Meanwhile, depending on customer’s needs and type of its business, incremental and agile models can be used. RUP (Rational Unified Process) methodology is one of incremental models for software production and development that was presented by Rational company and its purpose is to help manufacturers and managers in software industry.
In terms of management, a software life cycle in RUP consists of 4 phases, including initial, detail, construction and transfer phase. Each phase ends at a transition point.
In fact, each phase is a period of time between two transition points. Completion and evaluation of each phase confirms fulfillment of its goals and leads to continuation of the next phase.
Software development methodologies
There are different methodologies for designing, producing and developing software systems. Each methodology includes at least one software design and development process, along with a modeling language that provides a set of modeling tools. In choosing the appropriate methodology, attention should be paid to various factors, including business requirements.
Meanwhile, depending on customer’s needs and type of its business, incremental and agile models can be used. RUP (Rational Unified Process) methodology is one of incremental models for software production and development that was presented by Rational company and its purpose is to help manufacturers and managers in software industry.
In terms of management, a software life cycle in RUP consists of 4 phases, including initial, detail, construction and transfer phase. Each phase ends at a transition point.
In fact, each phase is a period of time between two transition points. Completion and evaluation of each phase confirms fulfillment of its goals and leads to continuation of the next phase.
Initial phase
One of most important goals of initial phase is agreement of beneficiaries on the goals of the project and its scope. Obtaining software scope of the project and its limitations is another goal of this phase.
Detail phase
One important goal of detail phase is to establish a stable architecture for the system, which is used as a support for design and implementation activities in the construction phase. The system architecture is evolved by considering most important requirements and risk assessment, and its stability is evaluated through one or more prototypes. The prepared prototype is used and reviewed by the employer.
Construction phase
Purpose of the construction phase is to complete development of the system based on the established architecture. The construction phase is actually a process that emphasizes resource management and operation control to optimize cost, schedule, and quality. At the beginning of this phase, development team takes steps to complete the requirements by presenting a demo version to the employer, and the development process continues based on the agreements between the parties.
Establishment and transfer phase
The focus of the transition phase is to ensure availability of the software to its end users. At the end of this stage, software development cycle is completed and the project is in the final stage.