Development projects undertaken by ISPL follow the IIC Software Development Life Cycle and are fully monitored by IIC management. This guarantees that all phases of project development from design to acceptance testing meet the quality standards in compliance with ISO 9001 policies of IIC.

ISPL’s service philosophy is focused on cultivating close and long-term relationships with its customers, and on delivering value addition by way of superior and cost-effective services. Our unique IIC Software Development Life Cycle was developed to ensure successful execution of software development projects and assures that business goals are tied to tangible, measurable results. Designed and developed to address enterprise-scale projects, the IIC Software Development Life Cycle provides a reliable approach for the development of robust applications while ensuring exceptional quality, continuity, consistency and control through all phases of a project.

The ISPL Software Development Life Cycle is a robust methodology that facilitates a swift project “take-off” leading on to a predictable, low-risk path for high quality results. It is a “user-centric” rapid application development methodology that leverages continuous user involvement and “progressive prototyping” to assure that the development effort remains focused and the delivered system meets user requirements. It is also flexible enough to scale to fit the needs of different engagements. Our approach begins with the gathering of business and functional system requirements, and spans architecture and design of the proposed system in the context of pre-existing and currently available 3rd party technologies, development of the system using a continually evolving prototype, integration and quality assurance of the system components and finally the deployment of the system in production environment.

Our Project Management Methodology spans the four main stages of ISPL Software Development Life Cycle, viz. Discover, Design, Develop, and Deploy. Each of these stages is broken down into several sub-components as detailed in the accompanying graphic. Our Project Management Methodology also ensures extensive and formal documentation through all stages, including user sign-off of appropriate documents.

Key Deliverables

The activities performed in, and the key deliverables for the major stages are briefly described below.

Business Process Analysis involves the identification, definition and documentation of the key needs of the business. The deliverables include:

• Business Plan, which outlines the need for the system and defines the tangible benefits to be delivered.

• Staffing Plan (initial), which identifies the key personnel to be involved in the project and their roles.

• Investment Plan (preliminary), which attempts to define the overall system costs (including infrastructure, development and all other identifiable expenses).

Project Process Plan 

Project process plan involves the definition of the goals and objectives of the project from “user perspective”, identification of risk factors and dependencies, and the definition of proposed communication channels between the various stakeholders. The key deliverables include:

• Project Definition, which serves as the master specification document for the proposed system.

• Project Control & Procedures Definition for project monitoring, management of change requests, version control, and sign-off procedures.

• Deployment Plan, which defines the scope of the system-wide deployment, training and support requirements. 

• “Gap” Analysis Document: "Gap" Analysis involves the comparative analysis of the “Gap” in the capabilities of the pre-existing (or legacy) system and the requirements of the proposed system.

Requirements Definition 

Requirements definition is the listing of detailed, prioritized requirements specifying the proposed system including the system workflow. The key deliverables include: 

• User Requirements Document (URD)

• Functional Specifications Document (FSD)

• Project Work Plan & Schedule

• Resource Plan

• Risk Management Plan

Rapid Prototype 

Rapid prototype involves the development of an initial “look-and-feel” prototype focusing primarily on the User Interface (UI) and Reports. This prototype continually evolves through the System Design phase to result in a near functionally complete system. The key deliverables for this phase include:

• “Look-and-feel” prototype that includes a functionally 'complete' UI

• Reports Definition Document

System Design involves the technical architecture of the proposed system, the development of the Data Model and the Data Dictionary, and the identification of business rules and workflows. The key deliverables include: 

• System Design Document describing the System Architecture, Business Rules, Workflow, Logical and Physical Data Models.

• Complete UI of the proposed system including the incorporation of the required business logic into the UI. 

System Development 

System development involves the construction of the proposed system into a fully functional system including the integration of 3rd party technologies as required. The key deliverables include:

• Final Database Design including Logical and Physical Data Models

• System Test Plans including Test Scripts and Test Cases

• Data Conversion Plans 

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance involves the complete Unit Testing of the application and Stress Testing in order to determine the ability of the system to handle data and transaction loads. Key deliverables include: 

• System Test Reports outlining the results of System Testing 

System Integration 

System integration involves the assembly of the various components of the system and thorough end-to-end testing of the integrated system. The key deliverables include:

• Completed and Functional System

• System Test Reports outlining the results of the Integration, Performance and Data Conversion Testing

• User Acceptance Test Plans including Test Scripts and Test Cases

• Data Load and Conversion checks 

User Acceptance Testing 

User acceptance testing involves the thorough testing of the system by the “users”. The system is modified in accordance with the suggestions made by the “users” and the approved system is built and packaged for deployment in production environment. The key deliverables for this phase include:

• Error Identification and Correction

• Built and Packaged System ready for Deployment

• Complete Documentation and Training Materials

• Deployment/Roll-out Plan 

System Deployment

System deployment involves the execution of the Deployment Plan and includes implementation of the system in the target production environment, software configuration, data conversion and user training. The key deliverables include:

• Production System

• Change Control Plan

• Post-Deployment Support Plan

Post Deployment Support 

Post deployment support involves the monitoring of the system usage over a pre-defined monitoring period to ensure that the system meets or exceeds the previously defined business goals. Our resources will be available to provide ongoing maintenance support and for carrying out system enhancements and improvements. The key deliverables include:

• System Deployment Signoff signifying the successful execution of the project

• Post-deployment Support and Maintenance Contract

• Operational Guide

• User Guide