Software development services is a complicated process to design an application or software in order to meet a particular business or personal objective, goal or process. This process consists of various stages: Planning, Analysis, Product Design, Development & Implementation, Testing, Maintenance

1. What is Software Development?

“Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development is a process of writing and maintaining the source code, but in a broader sense, it includes all that is involved between the conception of the desired software through to the final manifestation of the software, sometimes in a planned and structured process”

If you like the short explanation, here is what you should first have in mind. Software development services is a complicated process to design an application or software in order to meet a particular business or personal objective, goal or process. This process consists of various stages: Planning, Analysis, Product Design, Development & Implementation, Testing, Maintenance.

2. Software Development Processes

Software Development is an intriguing yet very complex thing which would normally go through a lot of processes. Each step should not be taken lightly since the success of a project depends on them. Here we will take you through the 7 Software Development Processes that Savvycom follows:

2.1 Analysis and Planning

At the first stage, stakeholders, end users and the project team often gather and discuss in order to determine what exactly the requirements are. Then, the project team has to lay out how future software is designed and which programming languages are going to be used. Below are a few key point of this first and also important step:

• Alignment: How does this project connect to your company’s larger mission and goals?
• Resource availability and allocation: Do you have the people and tools you need to take this on?
• Project scheduling: How does this project fit within your company’s goals and other tasks?
• Cost estimation: How much is it going to cost?

2.2 Requirements

The next step is to understand the technical requirements of this project. Every aspect of the  software whether it’s an app, website redesign, or simply new feature, needs to solve customer’s problems. 

As you move on from the planning phase and continue to fill out the statement of work, ask questions around this project, such as:

• What problem does this solve?
• Who’s going to use it and why?
• What sort of data input/output is needed?
• Will you need to integrate with other tools or APIs?
• How will you handle security/privacy?

Once your development team gets the answers to these questions or once you have finished discussing with the UPICK, They can start to identify technical requirements, testing terms, and decide on a technology stack. This is also when you might start sprint planning (if you’re using an Agile software development process) or break down large tasks into more actionable steps.

2.3 Designing and Prototyping

With the requirements in place, it’s time to start designing what this software will look like and how it will function. Functionality and flow should be at most important from the start.

Depending on the software development process you’re following, this step might mean you create simple wireframes to show how interactions will work in the software, or make more full-fledged prototypes in order to test with users. Alternatively, you might decide you need more user feedback and do a design sprint to quickly get a feature or idea in front of your users.

2.4 Software Development & Implementation

This stage is also known as “Programming” or “Coding”, at which computer programmers write program code in the suitable programming language. Then programmers conduct trials in order to detect errors and fix them until they’re error-free. This is the part when you would want to keep in touch with the development team as much as possible to ensure the pace of your project.

2.5 Testing

After the software is completely coded, it should be sent to the testing team before deployment, who gives feedback after using it. Although programmers should make sure there are not any errors existing, issues might not be obvious to them. Therefore, the testing team will use various test cases to have the software debug to ensure optimal functioning.

2.6 Deployment

With everything out of the way, it’s finally time to launch your software to all of your users. What we’re talking about here is pushing your code into production. A smart deployment plan plus an error free product will more than likely ensure the success of a project.

2.7 Operation and Maintenance

The Software Development Process isn’t over once your software is launched. It’s a “Software Development Lifecycle”, afterall. The ending of one phase is just the beginning of another, and that goes for post-launch as well.

Requirements and customer needs are always on the run. And as people begin to use your software, they’ll undoubtedly find bugs, request new features to be added, and ask for more or different functionality. Not to mention the basic upkeep and maintenance of your software to ensure uptime and customer satisfaction.

Finally, after the software is installed on the clients’ systems or devices. The programmers will carry out periodic maintenance in order to ensure programs can run smoothly and keep up with other apps of the same use overtime.

3. Types of Software Development Companies

IT companies all come in different shapes and sizes. However, it’s possible to broadly classify them into two distinct types: service-based companies and product-based companies.

3.1 Product-based company

These are businesses that work on their own products and deliver them to end-users, which can be both businesses and individual customers. Such companies invest time and money into developing the out-of-the-box solutions which they can later configure and implement on the client’s side. They create software which can be later used by other companies to solve different business problems.

Google or Microsoft are excellent examples of product-based companies. They both offer a broad range of out-of-the-box solutions that can be customized and configured to match specific business needs. However, out-of-the-box solutions have their limitations, and licensing is often quite expensive, especially if your company doesn’t end up using all of the included components (which is a very common case).

Businesses that want to build a tailor-made solution that addresses their unique requirements usually turn to providers of custom software development services: the service-based companies.

3.2 Service-based company

Such companies work directly for businesses and provide them with a wide range of services – for example, development of custom software projects or delivery of technical expertise in the form of team extension/argumentation, dedicated teams, or project teams.

Here are a few benefits of working with service-based companies:

• Software agencies hire skilled and experienced software developers, but they also invest a lot in their professional growth.
• When teaming up with a specialized software development agency, you get access to top talent and can leverage the company’s internal expertise acquired through the delivery of many projects.
• Such companies have extensive experience in building custom software and can assist you in many different areas – from product development and UX/UI design to software architecture and QA processes. 

The advantage of working with such companies is that you don’t need to worry about any overhead costs such as salaries, workstations, hardware, or software. It’s pretty much the same as setting up an UPICK.

4. What to expect from Software Development Service Company

4.1 Building software solutions

This is the primary area of focus for every software development service company. Such companies usually specialize in a few areas and types of software – for example, web development, mobile development, or fintech. 

Software development service companies often specialize in specific technologies like machine learning or blockchain. They build solutions for various industries and types of organizations, from startups, through small and mid-size businesses (SMBs), to large enterprises.

4.2 Delivering Business Intelligence tools

Many software development vendors offer expertise in building data science solutions. Data is valuable resource organizations have, but make the most of it they need specialized software able to unlock insights from large data sets. This is where software development service companies come in. They built data science solutions such as analytical reports, dashboards, and Business Intelligence tools that help their clients implement data-driven decision-making.

4.3 IT consultancy

Many software development service agencies provide their clients with advice for managing their software systems and architectures, building custom solutions, or driving innovation. The primary aim of consultancy services is taking the business to the next level by optimizing analytics, processes, and workflows with specialized software solutions.

4.4 Developing web applications and corporate systems

Software development service companies also design and develop advanced websites and corporate systems used by enterprises to automate tasks and provide access to resources on the go thanks to the cloud technologies. Such corporate web-based systems help organizations increase productivity, facilitate workflow management, and boost their bottom line.