The first phase involves discovery and definition. We will prepare all the functional and non-functional requirements, document your processes, create network topologies, use cases, and much more. We will also recommend your technology stack, calculate a time estimate, create wireframes, and develop a high-fidelity clickable prototype.
Phase I: Architecture
A successful and effective software application requires detailed and comprehensive planning—just like any other complex project. We focus on writing a Software Requirement Specification (SRS) document as it enables us to plan the entire build from the users’ point of view and which technology will bring it to life.
245TECH’s particular approach to defining projects has helped many clients develop custom applications in a proven way that avoids frustrating rework, blown budgets, and missed deadlines.
Download an SRS Sample:
Wireframes play a crucial role in our process. Lo-fi wireframes help us quickly decide how we can structure your app without spending precious time on the design too early in the overall process.
High-fidelity Prototypes are an essential part of the development process at 245TECH. These prototypes don’t just allow our team to iterate quickly and easily during the definition phase, they also serve as a critical reference for the software engineers when they start coding.
Phase II: UI/UX Design
Our UI/UX designers perform a thorough analysis of the Project Blueprint to prepare the relevant designs or “views” as needed for each device as defined in the SRS. Our designs focus on ease of use supported by user testing and professional UX expertise.
Never confuse wireframing and prototyping with user interface design. Wireframing and prototyping are about how your app works, while UI design is more about how your app looks and feels.
During this stage, our experts deal with the visual representation of your software including fonts, buttons, forms, images, illustrations, animations, etc to create a custom platform that is pleasing to the eye and easy to use.
User Experience, also called UX, involves everything that affects your customers’ perception and interaction with your app. While you may think your app is easy-to-use, your core users may not. Once we have an initial version of your UI ready we will work with our UX team to employ a focus group and rate the design from a user perspective.
Phase III: Development
During the development process, our software engineers work to bring your project to life. During this stage, our team rolls out the development environment and starts programming. Typically, it begins with implementing the overall architecture and design with the technology stack as defined in the SRS, wireframes, and prototype.
We also establish and adhere to delivering in short bursts so we get immediate feedback rather than waiting until the end. These “sprints” as they are known are typically performed every two weeks and have well-defined deliverables associated with them.
Our first major development milestone is the alpha build, which is the initial working version of your app. It doesn’t always have all the features implemented at this point but will give you the confidence that things are moving forward. The alpha release contains the obvious core functions of the application ready for testing and high-level feedback.
After the Alpha Release, our team creates the beta build of your app. This version marks the completion of the major functionality of your application. At this stage, we focus on improving the usability, quality, and overall experience based on your feedback.
We perform quality assurance (QA) testing throughout the entire application with extra emphasis after Beta Release. This ensures we move in the right direction toward deployment. Our team will provide uses a variety of tools to test in different environments including various devices (desktop, mobile, tablet), browsers, and operating systems. We also focus on speed testing, stress testing, and more depending on the project.
At this stage, we make sure your app complies with the Project Blueprint and any change orders. This is where the client acceptance review comes into play. Before development, we establish client acceptance criteria and make sure we meet those criteria during this phase. In other words, we make sure you get what you paid for.
Phase IV: Deployment
After Client Acceptance, we quickly move to deployment. This is where we submit your apps to the app stores, push code to the production servers, scale the servers as needed, and do a final round of live testing using real credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay accounts.
We know deploying your application can be a daunting and tricky process. When dealing with load balancers, app servers, and databases in a single release any mistakes can be seen by your audience if not spotted and fixed quickly. By using test domain names we can easily swap them out with your production domains and create a seamless deployment experience for your users. This is just one of the many tricks we’ve learned over the years as an Amazon Web Services partner.
Depending on your needs, you’ll be directed to either Google Play or Apple’s App Store for app deployment, or both. In order to get your apps approved by these services, you have to follow certain procedures and steps that are based on a number of app requirements and rules for each platform. This process can take several days to a few weeks as we wait for approval from the app stores and fix any issues they can’t live with.
SSL Encryption
In this phase, our experts install bank-level SSL encryption to scramble sensitive data during transmission.
Password Policy
We know that the number one security breach vector is weak passwords. Our developers design your app in a way that only accepts strong alphanumeric passwords. Depending on the app it may include two-factor authentication and 90-day password expirations.
Firewall
At this stage, our experts install a software firewall to avoid attacks by hackers. In a nutshell, we block ports that are not being used.
Intrusion Detection
To prevent application intrusion, our developers consider the top vectors of attack that cybercriminals and hackers use to break into apps and steal data. We use the right tools to prevent app intrusions such as Snort or Suricata.
The software you have spent so much time and money working on is now being released to the world! But we aren’t finished yet.
At this stage, we run through everything again to make sure all core functionality is working. We impersonate your users by setting up a new account, picking a package and upgrades, and paying with a real credit card, for example. Once we know this 360-degree testing is working 100% we enter support and maintenance.
Phase V: Support & Maintenance
After application deployment, users will start to use your app, and the team at 245TECH will be there for constant monitoring & support for any unexpected problems or issues.
We are always eager and willing to serve you with post-launch support in order to resolve any issues you may face running the application. In addition, as your business grows, we’ll be here to add new features and enhancements to keep your users happy for a long time to come.
245TECH prides itself on delivering scalable software that works. Our mission and core values (not to mention contract) dictate that we correct or rectify any defect or bug in any app or solution we create within 30 days at no charge.
It is now possible to use cloud service providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, to deploy applications into live environments that scale with your audience and budget.
Backups
Our team ensures that your data is automatically backed up off-site or to a different region on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. If there is a catastrophe we can switch over to a hot spare of your database (if specified in the Project Blueprint) or manually restore the data within a few hours.
Disk Space
We use the best tools and resources to optimize disk space and we keep an eye on this so you don’t run out and suffer downtime.
Speed Testing
Experts at 245TECH can conduct ongoing speed testing to measure the performance as well as response time. We can create conditions that imitate thousands of concurrent users so we can plan scalability and find weaknesses.
Source code management systems make version control and long-term storage of your code a cinch. Using GitHub helps streamline the development process, providing a centralized source for all your code. As we develop your software you will be given access to your GitHub codebase, which stores your new intellectual property (IP).
245TECH excels at providing ongoing upgrades and enhancements for your app along with effective search engine optimization and pay-per-click to increase organic traffic and improve user engagement.