Mastering Software Delivery: Models And Best Practices

Software delivery is the art of delivering value to customers quickly and safely. How you optimize the software delivery pipeline is a great question you should answer in any software development project.

Let’s dive into software delivery models and best practices to streamline software delivery while ensuring the software’s quality!

What Is Software Delivery?

Software delivery is the comprehensive process of bringing software to the market, from conceptualization, design, development, testing, and deployment to installation of software products for end-users or customers.

While the concept of software delivery is generally well-understood, different opinions may exist regarding the specifics of the process. In some cases, software delivery refers to a specific part of the software development life cycle (SDLC), concentrating on the deployment and release of the software to end-users or customers.

Why does software delivery matter?

Efficient software delivery means faster time-to-market. In the fast-paced world of technology, time-to-market is a critical factor that can significantly impact the success and competitiveness of a software product.

In recent years, transformations in software development, including the adoption of agile, DevOps, and CI/CD practices, have substantially reshaped software delivery, cutting down time to introduce a feature from weeks or months to minutes. This allows businesses to stay highly responsive to evolving market demands and deliver value to their customers more swiftly.

Software Delivery Models

A software delivery model, or software delivery lifecycle, software delivery pipeline, or software delivery process, refers to the overarching strategy or a structured framework that outlines the processes and steps involved in software delivery.

Today’s software development company like LTS Group has developed various software delivery methods. While some companies choose a single software delivery approach, many opt for a hybrid approach, combining various software delivery models for optimal impacts.

Let’s dig into two common models:

• Waterfall software delivery
• Agile software delivery

In short, while waterfall is known for its structured and detailed planning, agile is recognized for its adaptability and ability to respond to change.

Waterfall software delivery

The waterfall approach is a linear and sequential model for software development. In this model, each phase must be completed before the next one begins.

Waterfall delivery pipeline

In a typical waterfall delivery pipeline, each phase follows a linear sequence, and the output of one phase becomes the input for the next. For example:

• A business analyst compiles a comprehensive business requirements document.
• Technologists add a technical requirements document to compile the project’s specifications.
• Coders take the specifications as standards and develop software modules and features.
• Coders integrate code to form the software.
• Testers perform software testing to ensure the software is bug-free and efficient.
• The software is finally released to the market.

Pros and cons of the waterfall approach in software delivery

Pros:

• Clear and well-defined requirements at the start.
• Easy to manage due to its sequential nature.
• Suitable for projects with stable and unchanging requirements.

Cons:

• Inflexible to changes or evolving requirements.
• Customer feedback is often received only at the end.
• Lengthy delivery times, which may lead to a slower time-to-market.

Agile software delivery

Agile is an iterative and flexible approach to software delivery. Agile software development companies prioritize collaboration, customer feedback, and the ability to respond to changing requirements throughout the development process.

In today’s software development, Agile has largely replaced the traditional waterfall methodology due to its adaptability and flexibility. Agile, coupled with complementary models like DevOps and methodologies such as CI/CD, facilitate continuous software delivery.

The synergy of agile, DevOps, and CI/CD

Continuous delivery is of paramount importance in the software development landscape. It allows organizations to release software updates frequently, ensuring that new features and enhancements reach end-users rapidly.

Agile, DevOps, and CI/CD, among other components, work together to achieve software delivery automation and continuous delivery. Agile development produces shippable increments quickly, while DevOps automates deployment and operations, and CI/CD automates testing and deployment processes, ensuring smooth, rapid, and reliable software delivery to end-users.

Agile delivery pipeline

A? typical software delivery pipeline using agile methodology often follows these steps:

• Project initiation: Stakeholders define project-related items such as project goals, project scope, development team structure, budget, and timeline.
• Backlog creation: A product owner writes user stories to compile a product backlog.
• Sprint execution: The development team selects items from the backlog to implement in a sprint. Each sprint is a time-boxed period, usually 2-4 weeks, during which the team works on the selected features.
• Daily stand-ups: The development team holds daily stand-up meetings for progress assessment and adjustments.
• Feedback and iteration: Upon completing a sprint, the team reviews their work, refines backlogs, and the cycle continues until the entire product is developed.
• Delivery: After multiple sprints, features are progressively delivered to users. This iterative process ensures that user requirements are met as the product evolves.

Pros and cons of the agile approach in software delivery

Pros:

• Flexibility: Agile embraces changing requirements, even late in the development process. This flexibility allows for a more dynamic response to evolving customer needs.
• Faster time-to-market: Agile’s iterative nature means that functional software can be delivered in shorter time frames, enabling quicker releases and faster time-to-market.
• Product-market fit enablement: Agile promotes ongoing user feedback, ensuring that the software aligns with actual user requirements and expectations.
• Risk reduction: Agile’s incremental approach minimizes project risk. It identifies issues early, enabling teams to adapt and make improvements swiftly.

Cons:

• Resource intensive: agile requires active participation from stakeholders, which can be demanding in terms of time and resources.
• Lack of predictability: The flexible nature of Agile can make it challenging to predict exact release dates or project completion times.

Software Delivery Best Practices

How can you streamline your software delivery pipeline and software delivery management while ensuring the software quality?

• Define clear requirements: Ensure the unambiguous articulation of requirements to avoid scope issues and miscommunication during software development.
• Build expert teams: Incorporate consummate professionals for agile delivery, capable of quick, effective, and independent problem-solving.
• Enhance communication: Foster a culture of seamless teamwork, emphasizing transparency and clear communication among team members, stakeholders, and clients.
• Prioritize quality assurance: Implement robust testing and QA processes to identify and rectify issues early in the development lifecycle, enhancing software quality.
• Implement version control: Utilize version control systems to streamline code management, improve code traceability, and enable effective collaboration among developers.
• Embrace continuous integration: Incorporate Continuous Integration (CI) practices to automate code integration and validation, ensuring codebase integrity throughout the development process.
• Enforce security measures: Prioritize security and compliance by implementing security best practices, regular audits, and compliance checks.
• Engage user feedback: Actively gather and incorporate user feedback to drive product improvements and align the software with user expectations, ultimately enhancing user satisfaction and adoption.

Frequently Asked Questions About Software Delivery

1. What is good software delivery?

Good software delivery is a strategic process that involves more than just delivering code. It encompasses efficient project management, clear communication, continuous integration, automated testing, and prompt deployment. A successful software delivery ensures that the delivered software aligns with end-users’ expectations and business needs.

For instance, a good software delivery process would involve the timely delivery of feature updates for a mobile app, ensuring minimal disruption for users.

2. What is a software delivery team?

A software delivery team is a cross-functional group of professionals working collaboratively to bring software from development to end-users. This team typically includes developers, quality assurance specialists, project managers, and infrastructure experts.

For instance, in an e-commerce software project, the software delivery team would consist of developers building the website, testers ensuring the site’s functionality, and project managers coordinating the release process.

3. Can software delivery be automated?

Yes, software delivery can be significantly automated. Automation tools and practices, such as CI/CD pipelines, automate tasks like code testing, integration, and deployment. These automated processes ensure that software updates can be delivered swiftly and reliably.

For example, in a web-based SaaS platform, a CI/CD pipeline can automatically test new features and deploy them to the production environment, minimizing human intervention and reducing the risk of errors.

Timely Deliver Working-Software With LTS Group

LTS Group, an agile offshore development company based in Hanoi, Vietnam, excels in end-to-end software development and testing services for over 7 years. Our team of 300+ skilled professionals specializes in a wide range of technology stacks, making us a trusted offshore development center for 60+ clients across various global industries.

Ready to streamline your software delivery? Contact us now!