software development: fixed price model features

Software Development:

Fixed Price Model Features

Professional IT development www.belitsoft.com

Offshore Software Development Company

from Eastern Europe (Belarus)

Software Development: Fixed Price Model Features | Outsource to Belarus | www.belitsoft.com

WHAT IS FIXED PRICE MODEL

Fixed Price (FP) model of outsourced software development usually is used for projects which have the following initial characteristics:clear scope of projectcomplete set of requirementsclient and service provider know well each other’s duties and capabilities, skills.

Having this information before the project development start allows the client to get certain deliverables according to a set of milestones during the project implementation process. This helps to gain confidence and provides control over the process.

As a result the complex of these elements leads to a successful project completion.

INITIAL STAGE. SCOPE OF PROJECT

Any project starts with Scope of project definition. This is the initial stage of a project implementation. Any mistakes made here can be fatal afterwards. At this stage client and service provider should discuss and agree upon the following: business needs the client wants to satisfy with this project developmentincorporation of all business needs into the project. Should any vital business goal be missed during the scope of project making, it can become an obstacle for the client to achieve the main business goal in general.key controls needed for successful project implementationverification of availability of all necessary controls


INITIAL STAGE. SCOPE OF PROJECT

For example, a client needs a software product which will bring him profit. The service provider should collect all business aims of the client and make sure that all necessary IT experts and services are available to make this product development a success. Besides Scope helps to understand whether Fixed Price model is the right one. Fixed Price means that all business goals, deliverables and features to be implemented in the project are known and confirmed before project development launch.

In case client has no possibility to define all business goals at the stage of project planning it worth thinking about other project development models to avoid mistakes.


INITIAL STAGE. SET OF REQUIREMENTS

After client and service provider have discussed business aims and controls of the project, it’s time to look at the Set of requirements. A Set of requirements may include: Features list of the softwareDesired duration or time frame for the project implementation & Approximate price.

Often Fixed Price model is used for projects which have a rich features list at the stage of a request receiving. On the other hand service provider assists client to make Features list if there is such a necessity.

If a client has little experience in software projects development, an example of a Features list document can be send to fill in:

# & name of a feature Description

1. Registration. Users can register with username and email.

2. Newsletter. Users can subscribe for newsletters in a form with email.

Later this document is being discussed in detail and extended with necessary information together with an account manager or a project manager of the service provider.


INITIAL STAGE. SET OF REQUIREMENTS

Desired duration or time frame of the project implementation and price are very important points. They influence much the following:duties sharing between the client’s team and the service provider’s teamchoice of technologies to implement the projectproject implementation team building. Usually the faster client wants the project to be completed the more experts are engaged into the project and the higher level of experience and skills of the development team.

As a result, the budget for the project varies depending on all the points mentioned above. For example, budget may be influenced by the experience level of the team members (Junior, Middle, Senior as far as engineers’ qualification is concerned).


PLANNING

After the initial stage is complete, client and service provider knows Scope of the project, List of Features to be implemented, preliminary project duration and price, effective Plan of the project development should be made. Here are usually* included:

* Each company has its own process, so this is a major list of possible steps before project development start.


VISION DOCUMENT

Vision document is an essential part of projects with approximate duration over 500 hours.

Vision document is a file with some pages that includes the main description of the project, Features list, key risks, assumptions, and architectural concepts.

The structure has the following items*:

Introduction

Business Needs/Requirements

Scope & Limitations

Product/Solution Overview

Major Features (Optional)

Assumptions (Ideas how to accommodate uncertainties and their unexpected outcomes)

Other Needs

* Each company has its own process, so this is a major list of items included in the Vision document.


VISION DOCUMENT

On client’s approval Vision document can be omitted for small projects below 500 hours.

For example, our analysts take about 6 hours on average to make a Vision document for bigger projects over 500 hours.

Though Fixed price project development model can be used for a project of any size, the smaller the project, the less risks may occur. To reduce risks Vision document may be extended with additional parts.

Often a Product prototype is applied as a part of the Vision document or as a separate document. Prototype is a set of interfaces of the planned product which can be a corporate system, website or an application for mobile devices or web.

Prototyping is a necessary part of complex products, such as scalable corporate system or big website with numerous pages, filters and features.


ROUGH ESTIMATE

Rough estimate should be done for each project. This is a document that gives preliminary information or approximate estimate of project duration and its price. It’s done on the basis of the Features list and the Vision document. It helps client and service provider understand the preliminary duration and budget of a project.

Usually Rough estimate has both minimal and maximal number of hours and price as complete project details are not available in great detail. Having possible project budget and duration at hand helps the client to answer such questions as:

are all features really necessary to achieve business goals

should new features be added to achieve business goals

is the planned budget appropriate to implement the project with all desired features

should the project be split into smaller sub projects to have better control over business aims achievement

is the Fixed Price model the right one to be used to implement the project

Rough estimate is a compulsory part of any project developed using Fixed Price model.


SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION

Software Requirements Specification (SRS) is the most important part of the project planning. This document defines every feature of the project in great detail.

SRS is based on the Features list and Vision document and provides details for each feature. SRS usually has four sections:

Glossary

Use Cases

Functional Requirements

Non-Functional Requirements

Should the client send a request with a ready SRS document to the service provider, it can save much time necessary to implement the project. The more features are required, the longer the period of SRS document creation.


SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION

The difference between Vision document and SRS is that the second describes whole process of a product operation and use in great detail. For example:

User can register for newsletters

Features list:

User can subscribe for newsletters with email in a form.

SRS:

User subscription for newsletters. Steps:

1.User enters email in the form.2.Confirmation email is sent to the email.3.Newsletters are sent to the confirmed email. Etc.

Everything described in the SRS document is discussed with the client or the client’s team. After SRS has been approved, service provider makes final budget, schedule and risks list.


FINAL BUDGET & SCHEDULE

Final Budget is calculated using all information provided in the Scope, Features List, Vision and SRS.

Budget covers all costs of the project:

project management

project architecture and project design

project development

project testing and bug-fixing

project deployment

project support (on demand)

Budget can be changed only when the SRS is changed.

After Final Budget has been calculated service provider prepares Final Schedule. Schedule has objectives (features of project), time frame and number of hours necessary to implement every objective. Schedule splits the whole project into Milestones. Milestone delivers a set of the project functionality to estimate using Quality Standards and other acceptance conditions.


FINAL BUDGET & SCHEDULE

Milestone is an event to mark the end of a certain project development stage. It is a part of project management which serves to check whether the project is being developed on schedule or not.

Milestones allow client’s and service provider’s teams to check the project health and diagnose early schedule problem and what features are critical to be implemented to achieve main business goals on schedule.

This dashboard of the project helps to see progress. Usually Milestone check has the following structure:Objective of MilestoneRoles and responsibilities (for client’s and service provider’s teams)List of activities and features to be ready within the Milestone with cost and durationDemonstration to the clientComment made by the client during Milestone check

Having results of Milestone check client and service provider decide whether project development is done on schedule and what steps can be taken to improve either schedule or Features list.


RISKS LIST

Risk is a possible incident which can influence the project Schedule and Budget. The project team prepare list of Risks which is approved by the client. Usually Risks list include:

List of risks

Level of importance for each item in the Risks list

Plan what to be done when Risk case occurs

Sometimes when the Risk occurs it can increase the Budget and change the Schedule. Risks identification is a very hard process. It starts with Assumptions making in Vision document during initial project stage. Client can see possible uncertainties in the business goals and Feature list, their possible outcome and decide which Risks can be taken and which should be eliminated before project development start.

The presence of Risk list helps to reach success of the project.


QUALITY STANDARDS

Quality standards classify and describe issues and problems possible to occur during the project development. Problems may be as follows:Blocker

Catastrophic defect that causes total failure of the software or unrecoverable data loss. There is no work around. In general, a severity 1 defect would prevent the product from being released. Example: defects that cause the system crash, corrupt data files, or completely disrupt a service.Critical

Defect results in a severe impairment of functionality. Work is done but unsatisfactorily. In general, it is not recommended to release software with such a defect. Examples: following certain steps software may generate an error message. User can click Ok on it and continue with whatever user was doing with no harmful effects.Major

Defect causes failure of non-critical aspects of the system. There is a reasonably satisfactory work around. The product may be released if the defect is documented, but the existence of the defect may cause customer dissatisfaction. Example: a non-Client Financial Report is not recognizing an option correctly, but if a filter is set, the report can be generated with a proper output.


QUALITY STANDARDS

Low

Defect of minor significance. A work around exists or, if not, the impairment is slight. Generally, the product could be released and most customers would be unaware of the defect's existence or only slightly dissatisfied. Example: A button or button set is slightly off center on a data screen, or the problem is purely cosmetic and not easily recognizable.

Trivial

Enhancement request or design issue. These should probably be coded as Suggestions or brought to the Design Team.

Other Quality standards and requirement, acceptance conditions are negotiated for each project.


AGREEMENT SIGNING AND PROJECT START APPROVAL

After initial and planning stages of the project have been passed successfully, the client and the service provider sign the Agreement.

It means that the service provider and the client have reached understanding, all possible causes that may prevent the successful development of the project have been addressed, and the project can be completed on terms and at fixed price for sure.

Finally project development starts according to the conditions stated in the Agreement.

Fixed Price model projects can include all, several or one of the following services:

Software architecture and designSoftware developmentSoftware testingSoftware maintenanceOther services on demand

Sometimes it’s not possible to get a realistic final budget and duration, for example, the project is big, client and service provider have the clear Scope for several successive stages, farther stages are yet to be defined. In this case project can be split into several sub projects too.


Thank you for attention!

Any Questions?

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Belitsoft | Offshore software development | Eastern Europe, Belarus, Minsk | 2013

Software Development: Fixed Price Model Features | Outsource to Belitsoft | www.belitsoft.com

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