7 Essential Phases of Custom Software Services Trusted by 12+ Industries
Services Offered
PCApps offers a wide breadth of custom software services, including software application and database engineering services, centered around our expertise within the Microsoft SQL Server and the .NET framework.
Software Services
Database Services
Industries We Serve
No matter what industry you are in we have the solution for you! We are currently partnered with companies from all of the following industries but if you don’t see your industry listed, give us a call and we can pioneer a solution just for you!
Custom Software Phases
PCApps Custom Software Service Roadmap focuses on demonstrating value to Clients, both regularly and early. We work closely with Clients to meet their business needs.
Phase A: Free Consultation
Our first step is to have you meet with a senior engineer to discuss the project for your custom software service. The purpose of this meeting is to determine the general scope of the project, and make sure PCApps is a good fit.
Phase B: Rapid Prototype Design
At PCApps, we begin each project with a detailed prototype design phase that bridges the gap between business needs and technical functionality. By creating a visual model, we ensure that clients can clearly see and refine the software before development begins. This approach leads to precise budget and timeline estimates, reducing risk and ensuring that the final product aligns perfectly with the clientโs vision.
The important part is that PCApps will work to get a concrete, useful portion of the project into the hands of the client, as soon as possible. This demonstrates value to the client, and helps refine timeline estimates.
Phase C: Detailed Design
During the Software Detailed Design Phase, PCApps collaborates with clients to gather the in-depth technical and functional details necessary for the development process. This phase ensures that the application aligns with business requirements by defining use cases, business logic, and data models.
Although less visible, this essential step prevents costly issues later and accelerates development by clarifying expectations early on, leading to a more efficient and successful project outcome.
Phase D: Development
Once the final prototype design is approved and functional details are fully understood, PCApps begins the development phase through regular client meetings. The timeline for delivering the “Beta 1” application depends on the scope and complexity of the project. PCApps provides a clear schedule and segments the development into sub-phases, allowing clients to receive and test incremental components.
This parallel development process enhances efficiency and facilitates continuous client feedback, ensuring that the application evolves in line with expectations.
Phase E: Testing and Refinement
Beta testing is your team’s first chance to test the new Smart Client application in a real-world setting, ensuring that all features, performance, security, and workflow align with business expectations. The goal is to identify and resolve any issues that could impact production use. Similar to the prototype phase, PCApps uses frequent software releases and client feedback to refine the application until it is fully ready for deployment.
Phase F: Migration/Deployment
As your application nears production, the final step involves migrating legacy business data into the new system, configuring server settings, and potentially setting up an AWS-hosted environment.
Admins are trained on account management, and a combination of automated and manual methods ensures clean data migration, addressing common integrity issues like missing or duplicate records from older systems.
Phase G: Maintenance & Support
PCApps always strives to ensure clients are as independent as possible, putting data and code directly under their control. However, we build early warning systems into our products whenever possible, and are always available to to ensure your project is running properly.
With 30 years of experience in the industry, you can rest easy that we’ll be available for convenient Maintenance & Support for the decades to come.