Software Development in Phases

Demo Version and Proof of Concept

Unless demanded otherwise I shall author a demo version in a timely fashion which will already be usable such that you will be able to try it out. This demo version then – your acknowledgment provided – is going to be the basis for any further development. Thereby each major step will be coordinated (in time and cost) with you (as the customer or project manager). This way you shall get a continuously developing demo version (Alpha status) which you can test and try anytime.

Beta Version and Pilot Phase

Provided the Alpha version has matured enough at some point then the software can be deployed on a pilot basis for a prolonged time period (Beta status). As a rule of thumb a Beta version can be distinguished from other versions in that with a Beta version all the necessary functionality of a program has already been implemented, however, it has not completely been tested. Therefore the program may still have many and possibly serious bugs which need to be remedied.

Release Version and Approval

Provided all subsequent development work has been done in the Beta phase and the software has proven to be reliable enough on a pilot basis then at that point the development process may be terminated (Release status). In this case the customer is asked for conducting a close and final examination of the software. When a satisfactory result is obtained from this final assessment the commissioned software is approved and with that the mission is accomplished.

Updated: December 17th , 2018