How to Ensure Efficient Software Delivery?

Table of Contents

Introduction

An idea, if not executed timely and properly, gets built by someone or fails to tap the new market opportunity. Timely software delivery is as crucial as development because of multiple benefits, such as

• Meeting customer demands
• Minimizing associated costs, including delay in deployment
• Boosts morale and productivity
• Competitive edge
• Mitigates risks
• Satisfies customers

What’s essential is to understand what software project delivery is, what challenges as a client you may face during the process, how much importance software delivery life holds, and which tools and resources are leveraged by your hired partner to transform your idea into a digital platform.

So, let’s not beat around the bush and jump onto the detailed definition of software delivery.

What is Software Project Delivery?

Software project delivery successfully transforms a stakeholder’s idea into a digital platform. The software project delivery process includes everything from gathering ideas to developing it virtually after meticulously understanding every expectation.

And when talking about the software delivery life cycle, here is what it looks like

Create a Release Plan

First, create the release plan for the new software, or update the existing one. And then publish the software release plan after considering the time to market, business, and customer requirements. The plan ensures the deployment of the software and defines business goals as well.

The release plan’s key elements:

• Understanding the end-user requirement, business goals, and market reaction.
• Defining software core features and bug fixes based on their priorities.
• Ensuring the allocation of resources and meeting stakeholder expectations.
• Properly allocating testers, infrastructure, and external resources to deliver the software within the timeline.
• Understanding core challenges faced during the release and strategizing to overcome them.
• Develop contingency plans to stay prepared for unpredictable events and mitigate risks.
• Understanding stakeholders, business owners, product owners, or entrepreneurs’ expectations with the release plan, considering their feedback, and meeting their expectations.
• Creating precise documentation for the release plan and adhering to it.

Build & Packaging

Another phase that follows after release cycle planning is build & packaging. In this stage, the software build is created and packed in a distributable format to deploy and install easily. In simple words, the software is built and made available for end-users.

Below is detailed information about “Build & Packaging:”

• Converting human-readable source code to machine-readable content.
• Identifying the essential libraries and dependencies, including runtime environment, third-party libraries, and frameworks, to ensure the smooth functioning of the software.
• Packing binaries, resources, configuration files, or documentation in a distributable format.
• Assigning a package identification number and release notes, agreements, and licenses for tracking the software release.
• Testing packaged software to ensure integrity and functionality, including performance vitality checks, compatibility testing, and executing test suits.
• Working on documentation that includes user guides, installation instructions, or release notes for guiding users on installing and operating the software.
• Digitally signing software packages to ensure authenticity and ensuring it is tamper-proof.

Making it Available for End Users

Software built for users is essential for being available for installation. This includes:

• Testing the software: Requires software testing before deployment.
• Packaging of the software: Requires creating installers, deployment scripts, and uploading software to the server.
• Deployment of the software: Deploying software in the respective environments, including software installation on individual PCs, deploying it to the respective software, and ensuring the availability of the software through web apps.

Personalization & Configuration

Configuration is essential in making software compatible with a particular environment. On the other hand, personalization means modifying the software as required to meet a user’s personal preferences.

Configuration is crucial since it determines the software’s readiness for end-user usage. Customization is unnecessary in all cases; you can only configure the software and let it use by the intended user.

Educating Users

Educating users comes through training, which includes sharing knowledge and letting users develop skills to operate the software. Training users to let them understand different software functions, specific processes, and workflows makes software adoption easier. The training can be done in various forms, such as:

• User manuals: A software user manual is a document that helps a user uncover the length and breadth of the software. Right from installation to feature introduction and troubleshooting tips to frequently asked questions, it covers almost everything.
• Online tutorials: If you are not a bookworm, don’t worry; the online tutorial is another training option. A video tutorial is a form of training that covers every aspect of software training along with small but engaging tests that helps in learning software speedily.
• Instructor-based training: Virtual training only lets you know how your particular group of users can benefit from this software. The benefit of such training is you can answer questions and rectify your doubts instantaneously.

Supporting Documentation

Along with training, there is user support as well. The objective is to empower users and ensure the maximum utilization of the software.

• Ticketing system: A proper setup of the centralized system to submit tickets for queries. Then these tickets are addressed, solutions are provided, and progress is tracked.
• Knowledge base: Another way to educate users in the software project delivery life cycle is by preparing a list of questions and answers, troubleshooting, and addressing challenges.
• Online Community: A platform to interact with each other and share experiences.
• Technical support: Offering dedicated support through calls, chats, and emails.

Regular Updates

Updates & Upgrades in the software delivery life cycle are constant and two different concepts. Let us know how important are both updates and upgrades.

• Updates: Updates involve minor changes, focusing on fixing bugs, preventing security vulnerabilities, and maintaining the stability of the software.
• Upgrades: Introducing new features, enhancements, and modifications is all about upgrades.

This is all software delivery life cycle. Now that you know the literal meaning, let’s understand the next crucial step, which describes the challenges business owners face (you might also be the one) during software project delivery.

Challenges Faced by Business Owners in Software Delivery

Software delivery comes with several challenges listed below. Go through them to know what are these challenges and how to overcome them.



Pricing Models

Pricing models are the first and foremost challenge for business owners. When developing software, you require a team of dedicated developers, designers, and QA’s. But how are they going to be part of your team? How are you going to select them? Which pricing model is convenient for you?

You might face all these severe challenges as a business owner while finding a reliable partner for software development projects and timely delivery.

We give you a simple solution to ease your headache: If you plan to develop a small-scale project, hire hourly rate developers/team as a service.

On the other hand, If you are planning to develop a large-scale project, go for fixed or dedicated developers.

Do not hire freelancers for software project delivery because there are serious challenges with the freelancers that you may face.

Trust Issues

Since there is a geographical gap, there can be a serious trust issue because of no in-person contact.

• Development team/company selection: selecting a team/company requires ensuring skills, expertise, and years of hands-on experience for agile delivery.
• Transparency: Maintain transparency for smooth communication since a communication gap, transparency shortage, and inappropriate expectations can bring trust issues.
• Intellectual property protection: Trust the dev-teams confidentiality agreements, secure, confidential information, and do not misuse crucial information.
• Quality: One of the challenges business owners face during software project delivery is maintaining top-class quality, for which they need a reliable company to meet such expectations.
• Meeting deadlines: Ensure the software development team can meet the deadline within the pre-decided budget. The challenge comes when an unnecessary overhead cost leads to financial distrust among business stakeholders and development teams.
• Data security: Business needs assurance of the best practices that need to be followed to implement strict security policies.

Communication Gap

It is a major challenge business owners face in software project delivery because it poses several risks:

• Unclear/imprecise requirements: It will even lead to misunderstanding requirements, resulting in inappropriate software development management.
• Alignment challenges: Lack of alignment due to a communication gap includes no prior and clear-cut idea about priorities, goals, and expectations.
• Improper updates: Regular communication to update stakeholders about the project milestone, challenges, scope, and gap.
• No feedback loop: Constantly delivering feedback from business owners and effectively implementing them by the development team ensures the end product is superior.
• Distrust: Business owners may have restricted visibility into the business due to communication gaps. An incomplete understanding of project milestones, challenges, solutions, risks, and opportunities lead to distrust between stakeholders and the development team.

Cultural Gap

When business owners and development teams are geographically diverse, there seems to be a cultural gap. Below are some of the cultural gap challenges:

• Language: A software development team may need help understanding the requirement precisely, while a business owner may find it challenging to convey the requirements & expectations from the team.
• Work culture & practices: Since there will be a work cultural difference, all practices, expectations, and regulations will differ. In contrast, if the development team believes in working collaboratively without hierarchies, there will be a conflict of culture.
• Values & priorities: Another challenge is a difference in values & priorities. If a business owner wants to deliver a fantastic user experience to its end users, and if the software project development team has some different thoughts, then it is not going to build a fruitful relationship.
• Risk & innovation: If there is a risk-averse culture in the development end, business owner’s attitude towards risk and innovative may find some challenges. The situation may be vice versa; there might be chances where development teams are risk-taking, wanting to try innovation and technological advancement, but business owners want stability and no high-end solutions.

Technological Barriers

This could become a serious issue during software project delivery. Let’s understand how.

• Open to integrate: Integrating new software with the existing system can be one of the challenges business owners may face during software project delivery.
• Scalability & performance: Software must be scalable since businesses grow with a positive user experience.
• Security & compliance: Technological struggles may exist, such as software vulnerabilities, implementing security measures, and adhering to strict guidelines.
• Subject expertise: Along with SMEs, there should be proper availability of resources, development tools, hardware, and licensing.
• Technology & complexity: Business owners consider these technologies difficult to learn, but that’s not the reality. One must stay open to adopting new technologies to streamline the development and delivery process.

How Does On-time Software Delivery Benefits Your Business?

If you’re partnered with an agile software development company, get ready to welcome these five benefits of software delivery:



? Quick Time to Market
A software project delivery process involves continuous integration & continuous delivery (CI/CD), which ensures quick releases of the updates and add-on vital features. Such an agile approach makes businesses meet customer demands, match current market trends, grab existing market opportunities, and win new customers.

? Satisfied Customers
A customer abandons a digital product when it is flawed or doesn’t meet the customer’s requirement. But with a software development company having hands-on experience of more than a decade, you can expect timely delivery, highly secured, and flawless software. This not only satisfies existing customers but also wins you new ones.
Source: Clutch



? Top-Class Quality & Stability
Software delivery process is about implementing rigorous testing, maintaining quality & standards, and ensuring satisfied customers. Partnering with a development company that guarantees quality, bug fixing, eliminating system failures, and preventing cyberattacks are all you need.



? Leverage Flexibility & Agility
Software project delivery with a company following agile methodology ensures meeting customer demand, market trends, and feedback. The company delivers software in smaller segments, fastening the feedback cycles and adaptability. Such agility and flexibility make your business responsive and trustworthy.

? Cost-Effective
In the technological-advance digital landscape, automation is the key to success for any business. It operates at full capacity day and night, reducing manual efforts and dependency, helping you hire less manpower and unburden yourself with subsequent costs. Automating does many tasks, like streamlining workflows, eliminating human errors, and maximizing productivity. Moreover, timely bug fixing and updates prevent costly issues that may demand more resources.

Are you looking to hire a skilled software developer?
Hire software developer at an affordable rate for agile development and quick time to market.

8 Software Delivery Best Practices

When looking for a development company to transform your idea into a digital platform (software), ensure that the company strictly follows these software delivery best practices.



? Continuous Integration & Continuous Delivery
A software development company that ensures continuous delivery and continuous integration automates development, testing, and deployment. Doing this releases frequent updates, eliminates human flaws, and enables receiving quick feedback. CI/CD pipelines automate the delivery process, integrating, testing, and deploying software effectively.

? Configuration Management
Another software delivery best practice you can expect from your hired software project delivery partner is to use a version control system like GIT. The system monitors the software codebase. Besides, the version control system even helps collaboration, enables code review, and tracks the changes. Moreover, robust configuration management best practices ensure consistency and reproducibility of deployment.

? Automated Testing
Implementing unit, integrated, and regression testing ensures high-quality software. With automation, bug detection and prevention will be quicker, preventing regression and ensuring the software meets all the operative and non-operative requirements. A development company that follows all three testing models delivers highly-secured software.

? Automated Deployment
The primary objective of automation is to eliminate manual intervention, eliminate errors, and maintain deployment across different environments. Some development companies leverage containerization platforms, configuration tools, and deployment orchestration tools to automate deployment, ease rollback, and scale the software up and down.

? Infrastructure as Code
With the use of code and development tools, software development companies treat infrastructure as code to manage infrastructure resources like networks, databases, and servers. Infrastructure as code makes sure that all the infrastructure configurations come in versions, reproducible, and finely deployable. For this, the companies use Terraform and CloudFormation to manage infrastructure resources in an automated and declarative method.

? Tracking & Logging
To gain a wealth of information, businesses are required to implement tracking and logging practices. This will give you a detailed insight into software performance, identify and address issues proactively, and ensure optimal software health. You can even track software behavior, identify anomalies, and troubleshoot them on time using monitoring tools.

? Collaboration & Communication
Not only development is important, but a successful software project delivery is also quite crucial for business. And for this, software development companies establish collaborative and communication methods amongst developers, designers, and testers. Besides, following agile methodologies, regular meetings, sharing documentation, and leveraging collaborative tools ensure great and efficient teamwork, faster development, and quality maintenance.

? Security & Compliance
A software is always vulnerable unless it’s built with a highly secured environment and proper integration of security tools. Software project delivery companies run regular testing, perform reviewing codes, and assess implemented codes to make the software efficient in defeating vulnerabilities.

Conclusion

Software delivery is a crucial phase once the development is accomplished. And business owners or stakeholders must know what goes into the swift delivery of the software. The challenges are serious concerns, business owners should know how a great company could overcome those challenges and facilitate smooth software project delivery. Besides, you must also know what benefits you can reap by having a great software development company at your side. Lastly, get some idea about how you connect with the team or company whomsoever you hire for your software project development and delivery.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are three software delivery models?

The three most important and widely used software project delivery models are:

• Agile: It involves continuous development and iteration. Besides, there is no rigidness like the Waterfall software delivery model. And the model emphasizes more on collaboration and feedback. An excellent software delivery model for complex and frequent iteration projects.
• DevOps combines development and operation teams for better communication and collaboration. This results in rapid development.
• Waterfall: A linear approach software delivery model with more challenges than solutions. It has tight deadlines under which the project must be completed before starting the new phase. A great software delivery model designed for requirements and clear deadlines.

What are the benefits of software delivery?

Several benefits of software delivery include:

• Better communication: Improvement in communication amongst stakeholders since the project breakdown into phases makes understanding everyone’s roles and responsibilities easier.
• Risk mitigation: Eliminates the software project failure risk due to the software breakdown into phases, making identifying and fixing defects easier.
• Better prediction: You can even predict the software project due to the breakdown of the project development into phases.

How to choose the perfect software delivery for your project?

This entirely depends on the project’s size, complexity, and budget. Besides, you can even connect with the software development company to better understand the software delivery.