ERP Development for a UK Software Company

Keywords: ideas into marketable ERP system, RUP, cooperation started in late 2006, 16 Shinetech developers, J2EE, AJAX

Jun 2010 update -We received news that the client has won its first order for the new ERP product. Congratulations! And we wish you many more years of continued success.

Client's Situation

The client specialises in software product R & D for ingredient and formulation industries. It had been selling an ERP product for years. Although sales continued to grow, the product technology had become outdated and the client planned to integrate more features to expand the target market to larger sized companies.

The exisiting product architecture was not adequate for further extension. The Shinetech team needed to build a new architecture that would support the existing functionality as well as new features.

The client had a clear vision of the features required for the new product, but sought assistance with costs and implementation schedules. The Shinetech team deployed a reliable and effective way to achieve the client's goals in good time.

Shinetech's Responsibility

The Shinetech team now acts as the client's IT department responsible for the full product development lifecycle from business modeling, product vision (requirement definition) through to implementation and support. The team's thorough understanding of the client's business model allows them to contribute effectively to the client's business operations. e.g. product development planning, production schedules, budget controls, risk management, etc.

Tailored RUP

This collaboration is managed by Shinetech Project Leader Harry Duan. After careful research on the client's situation, he customised the RUP development methodology, ensuring the closest fit with client requirements and capabilities.

• Continuous adjustment on development process: the RUP was continuously adjusted and optimized in accordance with changes to development plan, requirements and team size.
• Document standards: large projects require large teams and involve lengthy development cycles, during which carefully managed documents are essential for efficient communication. However, in this case, standard RUP documents were overly complex and elaborate and would have led to a reduction in the development team efficiency. Harry Duan ensured that the document templates were simplified where necessary and that unused documents were deleted.
• Roles: in order to derive the greatest efficiencies and cost effectiveness it was common practice for Shinetech team members to assume the responsibilities of several roles.

Challenges

To win client's trust: The key dynamic here is to ensure that the client can always understand the status of the project – in real time if necessary, and see what progress the Shinetech team is making against plan. 1. The team developed a deep understanding of client's business by analysing and documenting business models in the initial months. 2. Iterations were completed on schedule, proving that each team member understood their own development efficiencies and was able to draw up accurate estimates. 3. The team practiced continuous improvement by making sure that the quality of each iteration’s delivery was always better than that of last one.

To make each developer understand and apply RUP effectively in practice: 1. One hour of team training for new members on the development process, client's business, the whole project status and his responsibility. 2. Continuous training during iterations. 3. By self examination in regular iteration meetings, team members corrected and improved the way they interacted with the team and enhanced the development rhythm.

To expand the team from 3 to 16 developers in half a year: Factors included recruitment, training, break-in periods, and development plan adjustments. Through careful consideration and coordination, Harry managed project successfully and met all the client's objectives. Throughout the collaboration to date, the team management / expansion has proved to be successful and highly cost effective.

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