How We Work
Building Blocks of our Work Process
Following are the popular concepts that we follow at Inogic:
Software Life Cycle
The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a structured process that enables the production of high-quality, low-cost software, in the shortest possible production time. The goal of the SDLC is to streamline the process of software products such that it meets and exceeds all customer expectations and demands.
The SDLC defines and outlines a detailed plan with stages that include its own process and deliverables. Adherence to the SDLC enhances development speed, keeps the process in check and well-managed, and minimizes project risks and expenses associated with alternative methods of production.
Agile
The Agile model believes that every project needs to be treated uniquely and the existing methods need to be tailored to best suit the client’s requirements. In the Agile methodology, the tasks are divided into time boxes or short time frames to deliver specific features for a release.
An iterative approach is taken and a working software build/product is delivered after each iteration. Each build is incremental in terms of features; the final build holds all the features required by the customer.
The Agile process flow includes concept, initiation, iteration or construction, release, production, and retirement, as described below:
- Concept: Envision and prioritize projects
- Initiation: Identify team members, the appointment of funds, and discussion of initial environments and requirements
- Iteration or Construction:The development team works to deliver working software based on iteration requirements and feedback
- Release:Quality assurance (QA) testing, internal and external training, documentation development, and the iteration is put into production
- Production:Ongoing software support
- Retirement:End-of-life activities, including customer notification and migration
Multiple iterations will take place during the Agile software development lifecycle and each follows its own workflow. During an iteration, customers and business stakeholders provide feedback to ensure that the features meet their needs.
A typical iteration process flow can be visualized as follows:
- Requirements: Define the requirements for the iteration based on the product backlog, sprint backlog, and customer and stakeholder feedback
- Development: Design and develop software based on defined requirements
- Testing: Quality assurance (QA) testing, internal and external training, documentation development
- Delivery: Integrate and deliver the working iteration into production
- Feedback: Review customer and stakeholder feedback and work it into the requirements of the next iteration
A few advantages of the Agile Model are as follows
- Is a very realistic approach to software development
- Promotes teamwork and cross-training
- Functionality can be developed quickly with working prototypes
- Resource requirements are minimum
- Suitable for planned and ad-hoc changes
- Delivers early partial working solutions
- A good model for environments that change steadily
- Minimal rules and documentation are easily employed
- Enables concurrent development and delivery within an overall planned context
Scrum
Scrum is a software product development strategy that organizes software developers as a team to reach a common goal — creating a ready-for-market product. It is a widely used subset of agile software development.
In a rugby scrum, all the players literally put their heads together. When it comes to software development, a scrum can be characterized by developers putting their heads together to address complex problems.
Scrum software development starts with a wish list of features — that is a product backlog. The team meets to discuss:
- Adapt sprint backlog and daily plans to the current situation
- Track progress
- Improve team collaboration and participation
- Identify roadblocks and impediments
- Synchronize the team member’s efforts for maximum impact
Scrum relies on an agile software development concept called sprints:
- Sprints are periods of time when software development is actually done
- A sprint usually lasts from one week to one month to complete an item from the backlog
- The goal of each sprint is to create a saleable product
- Each sprint ends with a sprint review
- Then the team chooses another piece of backlog to develop — which starts a newsprint
- Sprints continue until the project deadline or the project budget is spent
In daily scrums, teams meet to discuss their progress since the previous meeting and make plans for that day:
- The meetings should be brief — no longer than 10-15 minutes
- Each team member needs to be present and prepared with his/her part
- The ScrumMaster keeps the team focused on the goal
Who attends SCRUM:
- Scrum master (the team’s facilitator and point person)
- Product owner (the project management lead for the agile team)
- Development team
Automation
Automation in software development is a way to minimize errors during the software development process, make it faster and more cost-efficient, and improve team collaboration and productivity.
The software development automation setup process depends on the chosen automation option and the development project specifics.
The low-code approach to software development requires little to no coding to build applications and automate processes. The cost of low-code development is nearly four times less than developing an application from scratch with custom coding. Low-code development technologies include:
- Low-code application platforms
- Business process management suites
- Multi-experience development platforms (MDXP)
- Robotic process automation
- Citizen automation and development platforms (CADP)
- Rapid application development (RAD), rapid mobile app development (RMAD)
Automated software testing implies writing code-based test scripts to execute all test steps automatically. To develop test scripts, and validate and maintain test code, test automation engineers employ specific test automation tools.
