TSI TechAdvisory Newsletter - Nov 2024
TSI TechAdvisory Newsletter helps Indian businesses navigate digital journeys via explainers, reviews, and partner introductions. This edition focuses on Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) nuances using the topics below:
Hidden Gems in SDLC Strategy
TSDD is Your Project's Best Investment
A tech team strategy that works
Hidden Gems in SDLC Strategy
SDLC strategy provides a structured framework for software development, mitigates risk, and aligns efforts with business objectives. Many projects get caught up with fancy tech, AI/ML algorithms, rockstar developers, etc., but they don’t determine success. Only a few of our project teams understand this; we need more. Below are a few overlooked aspects of SDLC among Indian organizations.
A well-crafted Tech Solution Design Document (TSDD)
Obsession with User Experience
Knowing what needs to be built in-house and what can be outsourced.
Paying close attention to security design and code quality
Planning adequately for automation testing, performance and scalability
A thoughtful tech team strategy
Technical Debt Management
TSDD is Your Project's Best Investment
A well-crafted Tech Solution Design Document (TSDD) can save your project time, money, and headaches. It serves as a blueprint for developers and engineers, providing them with a clear understanding of the system's architecture, components, and functionalities. TSDD comprises the following sections.
The High Level Architecture presents a visual representation of the system's components and their interactions. It breaks down the system into smaller, manageable components.
The Data Flow Diagram (DFD) illustrates the data flow through the system.
Interface Design: A well-designed UI interface is intuitive, efficient, and visually appealing, making it easy for users to accomplish tasks. API interface lets systems talk to each other seamlessly.
Components Design: Frontend Components handle the user interface and interaction. Middleware Components bridge the frontend and backend, handling tasks like data validation, authentication, authorization, workflow, business logic and API calls. Data Models define the structure and relationships between data elements.
QA design focuses on testing strategies and how quality will be measured and assured throughout development. Build & Deployment design focuses on compiling and deploying the source code to production servers.
Governance Design helps plan ongoing maintenance, updates, and support. It also helps with risk identification, assessment and mitigation.
A tech team strategy that works
Most startups and medium-sized organizations cannot afford a professional CIO/CTO. They struggle to hire and retain a high-quality in-house tech team or get their fingers burned by locking to a single vendor. Having spent several years helping such organizations, here is the most suitable approach I have seen so far.
Onboard a Head IT with 18+ years of experience and sound program management skills. Fortunately, our IT outsourcing industry has created many professionals in the 40+ years category who seek to do something more meaningful in the next phase of their careers. Naukri & LinkedIn are the best places to find them, but we must apply a deep filter to get the right fit. It takes 6 months, but it is worth it.
Build a lean in-house tech team with experience in Project Management, Applications, Data, Infra & Security.
Develop a positive relationship with a few vendors with niche skills who can turn around projects quickly and hand them off to the in-house team.
Ensure that there is no single point of failure. More than one party should have a detailed understanding of each part of your system.
With the co-sourcing model in place, startups and medium-sized organizations can achieve better results with their IT investments.
I hope you found this newsletter helpful. If you have any questions, please drop me a line at satish@tsiconsulting.in