Stages of a Software Project

For any software project, there are six main stages:

• Choosing a supplier - choosing who will do the work
• Specification - setting down on paper exactly what the system will and will not do
• Design and build - the software company goes away and designs how the system will work, and builds it
• Testing - checking that the system does what it says it will
• Handover - running the system as a pilot study, training and documentation
• Going live - releasing the system to the world!

For large systems, it is vital that you make sure that the specification stage is distinct, and that the end result of this is a detailed document stating exactly what the system will do, and perhaps more importantly what it will NOT do. It may be helpful at this point to have a look at the traps to avoid section of this web site.