our development process
More information
This document describes what you can expect from a Samarind bespoke software development.
a fixed price development
Unless otherwise requested, we provide a fixed price quotation for the bespoke software you require. We find that the vast majority of our customers appreciate knowing exactly how much a development will cost before committing themselves to it.
When asked to quote for a piece of bespoke software work, we make it our business to ensure that we have sufficient information to enable us to accurately estimate the amount of work required to complete the development. We usually draw up a 'database schematic' for the proposed system, which will identify the key elements of the system and the relationships between them.
We have a tried and trusted estimating methodology which we use to translate this into a number of man days of effort for the development, which is in turn multiplied by our standard software development rate to arrive at our quoted fixed price for the job. The only situation where we may need to vary this price is if your requirements change significantly during the course of the project.
what's included
Your fixed price quotation includes everything required to get the system developed and fully working, including:
- a full and detailed analysis of your requirements, including a review of any existing computer and / or manual systems if you have not already done this yourselves, to ensure that all needs are identified;
- the design, construction and testing of the system at Samarind's offices;
- delivery of the initial version of the software into your testing environment, so that you can then proceed with your own testing;
- one-to-one training for the one or two main users of the system during the development project (we would normally expect to provide approximately 1 day training per 4 weeks of total development time);
- implementation support, to help you prepare for making the system live and to assist and advise you during the implementation period;
- a moderate amount of data conversion work, if you have computerised data, providing it is readily convertible to the new system;
- a 3-month 'fine-tuning' period following the system's implementation, during which all telephone support and any small modifications are carried out free of charge.
Following the 3-month fine tuning period, we offer telephone support and remote diagnostic services on an ongoing basis, at a cost of 12% of the cost of the software per annum for our standard level 3 service. Please see our Bespoke Software Support Services document for more information.
options
The following options are available at extra cost:
- additional and / or more formal training;
- a full software support package tailored to your requirements;
- comprehensive 'software development life cycle' documentation to your preferred standard (SDM, GAMP etc);
- specialist data conversion from particularly obscure, complex and / or incomplete electronic data sources;
- on-line, context-sensitive help;
- user manuals;
- technical documentation;
- full source code (excluding any Toolkit elements);
- full intellectual property rights / ownership of the resulting system (again, excluding any Toolkit elements);
- an escrow agreement covering any Toolkit elements of the system.
If requested, these items will be quoted for separately and shown clearly on your quotation.
your responsibilities
As a valued customer with whom we expect to develop an effective working relationship, we expect you to:
- be able to tell us exactly what you want the software to do, preferably with as few 'changes of mind' as possible;
- be available to us during the development period to answer any questions we may have;
- carry out full and comprehensive 'user acceptance testing', in order to establish that the software we provide functions exactly as you want it to;
- with our help, make an informed decision as to whether or not to 'parallel run' the new system alongside the old system, to ensure that the new system is performing correctly following its implementation, and to ensure that this is adequately resourced within you own organisation.
payment terms
For bespoke software work, because it involves us doing the major part of the work before installation, we usually require staged payments of a third of the development cost with order, a third on installation of the initial version of the software and the remaining third on completion.
Ongoing support services, following the successful completion of the development, are usually billed either annually or quarterly, payable in advance.
Our payment terms for all invoices, unless otherwise agreed, are strictly 30 days from invoice date.
For more information, please don't hesitate to contact us.