Terrace Consulting Services Overview: Every project will require some degree of Planning before Implementation can begin. Analysis and Planning are essential in order to confirm requirements, define the scope, document the budget and most importantly to define a well-structured, tractable Implementation plan. We have outlined the steps we follow for a Typical project below. Project Planning: Terrace typically follows a hybrid of 'Agile' & 'Structured' methodologies for our normal project. We borrow some of the best practices of 'Structured' in our planning activities in order to clearly define the Statement of Work (SOW), budget and schedule for the project. We then follow a modern 'Agile' approach during development, testing and implementation guided by the SOW. Planning Activities: The Project Planning activities we follow during a typical project involve both Terrace and client resources. These activities are efficiently designed to drive generation of all the deliverables necessary to define, approve and begin work on the project. Project Preparation: Review preliminary requirements documentation and prepare for requirements meetings. Terrace understands our client's time is valuable and proper preparation will allow us to efficiently optimize the meeting time.
Requirements Meetings: Meet with project stakeholders to define and understand the requirements and system users. Terrace provides meeting notes for each of our requirements meetings so our clients can confirm our understanding. We will set meeting goals for each meeting such as agreeing upon a Minimum Viable Product modules and features or understanding report requirements. Terrace Deliverable Development: Terrace will develop the Project Planning deliverables (outlined below). Terrace will solicit feedback from the client during this process and provide periodic views of the Planning deliverables so there are no surprises at the end of the project. Client Deliverable Development: Terrace will develop the required Project Planning deliverables (e.g. user stories, site map, screen mockups, architecture diagrams). Terrace will solicit feedback from the client during this process and provide periodic views of the Planning deliverables so there are no surprises at the end of the project. Deliverable Walkthrough: Terrace will meet with the project stakeholders to review the Project Planning deliverables and make any requested revisions. It is critical for all stakeholders to attend this meeting to gain consensus and agreement on the requirements, project schedule, and costs. Planning Deliverables Each project is different and consequently the list of deliverables for planning may differ as well. The list below represents a typical set of Project Planning deliverables: Module & Feature Inventory Site Map Screen Mockups User Stories Software Search & Selection Analysis High Level Architecture Diagramming Project Contingencies & Constraints Project Resource & Schedule Plan Project Cost Estimates The goal of Project Planning is to ensure that all the critical assets necessary to start implementation are generated by the team and approved by the client. Each project planning engagement is staffed by a team of one Sr. Business Architect & one Sr. Technology Architect. Additional resources may also join the effort periodically to complete the development of individual deliverables.
Project Implementation: Once Project Planning is complete, Terrace utilizes the Project Planning deliverables as our roadmap for the Project Implementation. Software Selection The first alternative to research when looking for a business technology solution should be prepackaged software including pre-developed software products, apps, plug-ins, frameworks and services. Many times one or several vendors have developed parts or all of a technology offering which will substantially address the requirements of the project thereby reducing development times & costs. However, in some cases, a pure custom development solution is the best solution. Whatever the mix of pre-packaged and custom developed, Terrace's project teams have a long and successful track record of building high quality custom or enhanced prepackaged solutions on time and on budget. Agile Process We follow Agile development processes for our Implementation projects once software selection is complete. Agile development is characterized by a series of incremental development 'sprints' culminating in a code complete project. We utilize an Agile Approach for all our projects whether 1) pure package software installation, 2) a mix of package software and custom development or 3) pure custom development. For Terrace a typical project will include 3 sprints: Sprint 1: We recommend planning the development of the most complex / highest risk work as part of the first sprint. The higher risk work is typically characterized by a feature set that is more complex due to the technology or scale or business process. We like to perform the more complex work first to minimize overall project risk. Sprint 2: We recommend planning for the development of the user interface and user experience in this sprint. We like to complete development of this early as well since it provides a tangible deliverable to the client for review and possible revision. Typically these user interface screens and navigation render completely but don't have all business functions implemented. Sprint 3: We recommend work for the third spring to include all the code remaining behind each screen, development of administrative features, implementation of any system to system interface and back-end processing features of the application. In some cases we may recommend to organize the sprints would by module. For example in an ecommerce project, splitting up the Catalog, Buy Path, and back-end ERP integration into discrete sprints. However it is sliced and diced, Terrace will work with our clients to come up
with a logical plan of work and deliverables to include in each sprint. This implementation approach keeps the client interaction frequent with predictable deliverables along a planned timeline. Implementation Activities: The Implementation activities during a typical project involve resources from both Terrace and the client. The list below represents a typical set of Terrace Implementation activities: Kickoff Meeting: The Terrace Sr. Business Architect and Sr. Technology Architect run a kick-off meeting with the Terrace and client project teams to review the application scope, architecture, team responsibilities, and project schedule. Brand and Graphic Assets: Our clients typically develop the brand and design assets via in-house or contract designers. We understand every designer works slightly differently so during the Kickoff Meeting we review the logistics of the graphic assets to ensure a smooth transition to the development team. Based on the Terrace screen mockups developed during Planning, the designers provide the brand, explanatory PDF screen renditions, graphic images, video, and style guides. Code, Database and Interface Development: Terrace prides itself on delivering high quality, highly performant, secure, and maintainable code, database and interfaces. Our Technical Architects routinely walk through incremental code deliverables with our team to ensure the highest level of quality and maintainability. Unit tests are also part of our code, database and interface development process. We factor in security, performance, usability, validation and error handling, and logging up front during development. Test and Issue Resolution: Terrace executes functional, load, performance, load, cross browser/platform, conversion, and usability tests. We do not wait until the end of development to test code and resolve issues. As our development team completes a feature, testing commences. Client resources are involved in the final user acceptance test. Deployment: Terrace Deployment activities are the final packaging and transition of our implementation projects. Terrace deployments are also iterative and 'practiced and rehearsed' on the upstream environments such as development, QA, and/or staging to ensure the final production deployment runs smoothly. Management: Predictability is the number one goal for all Terrace projects. Terrace's 'secret sauce' is our ability to develop innovative software predictably for a reasonable cost. Terrace was built on a culture of strong engagement management and reporting to facilitate management of budget, schedule, features, and risk.
Implementation Deliverables: Each project is different and consequently the Implementation deliverables may differ as well. The list below represents typical Terrace Implementation deliverables: Tested Code & Database Conversion Scripts & Sample Test Data Tested Reports Tested Interface Code Automated Unit Tests Test Plan, Test Cases, & Test Scripts Functional, System, Integration, Cross Browser Tests Load & Performance Test Scripts & Results Bug Tracking & Resolved Issues Development, QA, Staging, & Production Environments Production Deployment Checklist User Training & Documentation Administrator Training & Documentation Periodic Status Reports Project Plan Updates Each project is unique. Terrace will identify the specific number of sprints and deliverables in a Client Approved Work Order for each project. Project Support: Terrace offers fast, friendly, knowledgeable support services to registered support customers. Each Support Request is tracked by our private Support Portal and Ticketing system to transparently manage resources, scheduling, status and completion. We offer support services for scheduled (normal business hours) and non-scheduled / emergency (after hours) work. Our support services span all aspects of your technology solutions including: Custom Programming Analysis and Testing Maintenance Data Issues Server Issues Training We staff our support services with a range of skills and experience in order to routinely handle a full range of support tasks.