During the probing into the sector, the software company should also consider the numerical majority of the companies. Developing a software for a sector where a very few operators actively work may in the end turn out to be a very costly job. In such cases, the software company had better decide not to develop the product at all.

On the other hand, the level of computer awareness of the people that is going to use the software is also an important fact. The graphical interface of the software must certainly be user-firendly. And it is definitely at this stage that developers should begin to plan about the level of training the end users are going to get.

Though a sector may have a lot of operators, the companies may value the information technologies less. Or they may not allocate sufficient budget for the software investments. Therefore, the hardware requirements of the software or the need for the trained personnel should be assessed well by taking into considerations mentioned in the previous lines.

4. The other software used in the sector

Unfortunately, many software companies still start developing a product without even doing the minimal reseach beforehand. When these companies encounter with a better software solution than theirs, they then feel obliged to examine and assess the current products on the market. However, this means that they are to start the job all over from the beginning or they are to cancel all the labor they have produced up until that time.

To eliminate these frustrations, the software developer had better inquire well about the available software within the sector. The developers must assess the shotcomings or powerful features of the other software. By doing so, they can develop a superior and more quality software.

There may a variety of the products serving the same purpose within the sector. In this case, before starting the development of the software, it is crucially and strategically important to analyze the scope of the competition, the differences between the products, their market shares, the regional intensity of the developer companies and the opinions of the users.

The priority should be given to the following facts during the analysis:

The software companies may hold the exclusive monopoly of the market in some specific regions. In this case, a company should seek unattended regions that are free of this monopoly but that may also bring revenue. The region of focus should be evaluated and worked well about its dealer infrastructure, the transportation and other vital concerns.

5. The analysis of the software

After completing these preliminary assessment procedures, the company may safely decide about whether to develop the software or not. The final decision should strictly be established in the light of the former analysis process and the possible risks should be calculated beforehand.

During the analysis of the software, the company must determine to work on one or more customers. However, working on more customers is advantageous in that it familiarizes the developers with the sector and it provides extensive analysis opportunities.

It is essential to bear in mind that the sactors are not homogenously characterized.

The factors to analyse:

The company should observe the adaptability of the operators at small, middle-sized and big companies of the sector to the development stages of the software. The main goal must be to include the solutions to the problems encountered by the operators at the development phase during the actual development.

Besides, it is equally important to regularly report and keep the information gathered during the analysis.

An analysis that observes the standards given above will absolutely yield healthier results.

6. Designing in accordance with the analysis

It is important that the user interface of a software be designed and created by a professional team. The end user should be using the program conveniently and easily without feeling bothered or distressed about particular annoyances. The designing phase depicts both the the user intreface and the backbone of the program.

The other technical factors of the designing phase can be listed as follows:

A. How to choose a database and how to design it

As seen above, the design process is grouped under two main titles. The designing of the database which constitute an integral part of the software infrastructure and designing the interface of the program are the two main pillars serving as a roof support during the whole design process.

Choosing a database and designing it

Though many software had excellent visual tools, unfortunately, they have disappeared in the course of time; it is all because it was not possible to transfer them to multimedia environments or they were not able to support the magnitude of data traffic.

During the database selection process, the design team of the database should consider the maximum values obtained from the former analysis. For instance, if it is expected that the user shall be able to access million of records in the future use of the software, the software that will be selected should be able to support that feature and it shouşd be designed accordingly.

It is very appropriate to mentioned here that, today, even the simplest application is developed using the open system database. The option of hiding the design is not welcomed and it is regarded as an incovenience even by the customer. Naturally, the customer prefers an open system database; this will enable the customer to deal with the future problems that may be encountered.

If we consider the influence of the electronic commerce in the future, the importance of the desgin and the choosing of the database becomes more conspicuous.

Designing an interface and selecting the appropriate development tools

Some applications are designed in such a way that you are not able to shut it down for moments of time. If the interface of the application is designed well, both the end-user and the support team of the company encounters with less problems and uses the program more conveniently. Moreover, the coding tools that the programmers are familiar with or that they can provide supoort with should be used.

It should be kept in mind that the center of focus should not only be the customer. The support team of the company should also be considered during the design process. The customers would not be willing to buy the applcation software that does not provide sufficient support.

7. Taking the design to the computer environment (the coding phase)

The codes do not extend in length as it was the case previously. Coding is used due to the application of enhanced technology. Using the tools are recommended. However, this does not cancel the fact that good coing is necessary.

When the programmer receives an application whose design is completed, s(h)e should first unerstand the module well. The programmer who is not able imagine the module in his/her mind well cannot achieve success.

The coding details, workflow diagrams, tables and triggering codes should be handed over to the programmer in writing.The programmer should be well informed about the job to be done.

The components of the coding are as follows:

It should be emphasized that the software is not finished when the coding is finished. In fact the coding task is never to be completely finished; with additional coding, the former one is continously renewed. There is no exception to that. However, only the software that begins to answer the demands can survive. All the facts mentioned up until here prove once more that the coding should be logical and understandable.

Some programmers sometimes need some special functionalities that perform specific tasks. It, indeed, takes a lot of time to do these specific coding tasks. Charles Calvert recommends that one should not "rediscover America" each time. He says "...It is generally wiser to purchase these specific functionalities at reasonable prices from the dealers. If it is feasible for you, do it on your own each time. Experienced programmers mostly prefer to sell the programming tools to the other programmers. You cannot beat programs like TurboPower in their own playground. Buy their codes, and take draw to your side. You do not have to rediscover America each time...".

8. Software’s testing phase

Testing of the software seems to be the last stage of development, however, it should be a continuous and all throughout process. The first tests during the development process are performed by the programmer himself/herself. Yet, the actual debugging and the task of providing feedback is done by the test teams. Test and feedback still continues as the end user users the program as well. The tests that the programmers perform are mostly technical tests rather than workflow tests. Workflow tests are carried out by a group of specialists.

Software Testing Process:

The most fruitful feedback is obtained at the testing of the end-user. During the beta tests of the software the software developer must request from the customer to create test groups. This also facilitates the adaptation of the customer to the program. At the end of the tests assessments should be made with the relevant groups. Sometimes the source of the errors is found out to be the at the analysis process or the design process. Or, if there is another request of the user, this request should dbe directed to the analysis team. Because the architectural foundations of the software are created by them.

9. Preparation of the training and orientation materials

The software is ready for use after it is be finalized completely by the addition of complimentary components. The training of the application and its documentations constitute the complimentary components.

The most important material to be used during the sales and support processes are the documents. The infrastructure requirements, the installation, settings and related documents should be created carefully by professional people.

How to get prepared before sales process;

All the groups of the software development process should be one step further than the end-users. In the next step, the customer mey request that the application is carried to multimedia or Internet environment or to other interactive environments. Therefore, the software costs low with the initial considerings and more value will be added to it by the technological enhancements.

10. Conclusion

All these process steps have been mentioned here in general outlines without giving further details. As a matter of fact, the most important technological tools that contribute to the profit of the customer are the application software. To develop a good application software developers should be committed to the steps of the development process. In the following graph one can observe the increase that an application software adds to the customer’s performance and efficiency.

The information to be derived from what is conveyed up until now can be summarized as follows with some additional factors to be considered:

References

Saffet PAMUK