Lifeboat Technologies is a software solutions development company, based in Cleveland, Ohio. We specialize in developing custom software applications
which enable businesses of all sizes to optimize their business processes and reduce costs. Using the latest software development technologies and techniques, we create
cutting-edge solutions that give you a competitive advantage.
In this initial phase of the Development Process, customers typically have an abstract
idea of what they want as an end result of their development project, but not an
exact definition of what their software should do.
A
Lifeboat Technologies Client Project Specialist, designated
to your project, will discuss the system to be developed and will help to identify
incomplete requirements.
Through these discussions, the Project Specialist will help to develop a list of needs vs. wants.
This enables the software's features to be prioritized and evaluated given that many projects are constrained by time and most likely there are specific
needs that must be met within a specific time frame. This is also the motivation
for breaking a large project into smaller "chunks" or multiple development cycles.
High priority, mission-critical features can be implemented in earlier phases, while
desired but less essential features can be added in a later phase.
Our Project Specialist will provide a careful analysis of the existing process (when one exists).
This may also include the possibility of modifying the existing business processes to take
advantage of the automation that can be leveraged (e.g. eliminating data redundancy
or multiple points of data entry). We look for opportunities to
streamline processes while preserving product useability.
Once the requirements have been established and prioritized, an initial timetable
is provided. We call this the "Scope Document".
The Design phase consists of two steps. The first step is to establish
a high-level design that specifies what the various parts of the system will be,
and how they interrelate. During this phase, decisions are made in regards to the
hardware and operating systems that are required, as well as what software development
platform and tools will be used.
The second step of the Analysis & Design phase is a detailed specification of each
business module, window, and function within the system. A detailed database design,
is established at this point, providing a foundation for technical documentation or "blue print" of the
system.
Our developers will then fine-tune the project layout via a "prototype application".
This prototype can usually be created relatively quickly and its purpose
is to allow the user to see what the final product will actually look like, including
the layout and the opportunity to see how the data is organized and what steps are
required to perform specific tasks.
The majority of testing is done during the Development phase and is referred to
as
unit testing. Unit testing ensures
that the individual components of the system work well, both separately and in conjunction
with other parts of the system.
System testing is performed by our Quality Assurance Analysts and its goal is to
make sure that the original requirements have been met and to verify that the individual parts of the system work as a coherent
complete system. This stage of testing is done in close coordination with the client's targeted
end users.
After the Quality Assurance phase of the Development Process, your project is ready
to be implemented in your Production environment. Existing Production Data is converted
to work with the new application when applicable. Final testing is performed to
verify that all components have been successfully deployed.
Once your project is running in the Production environment,
Lifeboat
Technologies offers Maintenance & Support services which include:
- Performance Monitoring & Optimization
- Load Balancing
- Redundancy Configurations
- Network / Hardware Maintenance
- Environment Adaptation
- Fault Correction
These services allow your systems to perform as they were intended and maximize
up-time, productivity and
ROI.