Custom Programming Seven-Step Process

1. Free Initial Consultation

• We meet with you to discuss your overall objectives and to see if we can provide you with a solution that meets your timeline and budget. We don’t want to waste your time or ours – we’ll give you our honest assessment, and we’ll decide together whether J Street is a good fit for your project.

2. Requirements Definition Phase (or Phase 0)

• If your project is too large or complex for us to give you a features list and estimate after the initial consultation, we’ll suggest that we work on this Requirements Definition phase separately as a “Phase 0” project. It’s important to note that a Phase 0 is exactly the same work that we would do as part of the larger project – we just split it off as a separate budget to give you a better estimate before proceeding with the rest of the project. Either way, this phase comprises the following:
• We hold meetings with key staff to learn about the current systems, and to determine the requirements from all the people who will be using the system.
• We review existing systems and procedures to understand and document the “as is” environment. We identify features that must be retained, those that fall short of the desired goals, and those that are no longer desired or necessary.
• We maintain a detailed Question and Answer (Q&A) document to communicate effectively between J Street and your company.
• From this activity we build a Features List. This is the list of activities the application will perform or support, and defines the overall scope of the project. The Features List is monitored throughout the project to ensure that the scope remains understood and controlled.
• We build a system architecture description that defines the server and application technology that will be used for the project, and a description of the computing environment available at your company.

3. Estimate

• We deliver a high-level Project Plan, which includes top-down cost and schedule estimates for all components and activities for the new systems. Top-down estimates do not identify individual screens, web pages, reports, etc. Instead, they are high-level estimates using our past experience with similar projects, the perceived complexity level of the new system, etc.

4. Design

• Based on the interview process and the Features List, we design the system that will meet your requirements.  We describe and sketch the database structure, web pages, reports, imports and exports that will make up the application, and review them with you.
• We work on defining business rules: the validity checks, error messages and automatic actions that give the system its “intelligence” to meet the requirements.
• We define security requirements by identifying the specific permissions that groups of users will have.
• During this process, we review everything with key staff to make sure that we are meeting their requirements. We use the Q&A document to keep track of design decisions made.
• After the application design is complete, we re-estimate the project from the bottom up. The estimates created during High-Level Requirements Definition are top-down, meaning that they do not identify individual screens, web pages, reports, etc. The new bottom-up estimate includes all the individually identified and designed components and activities, and adds them up for a more accurate and detailed cost and schedule. From this point forward, these feature and task level estimates are used to track the project status.

5. Construction

• When the design is finalized and the bottom-up estimate has been approved by you, we begin construction. This is the process of building and programming the actual screens, web pages, reports, and server logic that comprise the working application.
• The construction phase requires less interaction with your staff, but there will be meetings to resolve design issues that arise during construction and to review progress.

6. Delivery & Documentation

• We will work with your company to schedule appropriate times for installing the applications. We will work onsite at to the extent necessary to ensure a smooth installation, or we can do everything remotely.
• We will build all desired technical documentation for the system, including complete database design documents (Entity Relationship Diagrams and Data Dictionaries), Business Logic and Pseudocode (when appropriate), System Architecture Overview, and Business Data Flow Diagrams.

7. Training & Support

• We work with your staff to “train the trainers” which reduces costs and enhances full ownership and responsibility for the new applications.
• As the system gains acceptance and more employees start to use it, it's normal for some issues, questions and enhancement requests to come up. J Street will be available to answer questions, resolve issues or make minor system modifications.
• Major system enhancements and new features will be handled as separate phases using this same 7-step process.