Your webshop is in production and now is the time to reap the rewards! After going live, however, there is a need for aftercare. For example, certain things may not work quite as expected. Often these are specific scenarios that were not known proactively or scenarios that deviate slightly from how they were originally described. Or sometimes the possible problems have nothing to do with the application, but certain settings or permissions are not 100% correct yet. At PHPro, we would like to continue supporting you, so we offer the ideal formula to optimally support your company after we have delivered the digital applications. How? We would like to explain that in this article.
DRY RUN OF THE GO LIVE FOR PROACTIVE OPTIMIZATION
Digital platforms are often business-critical applications. We take the aftercare of your project very seriously, which is why we prepare the go-live phase extremely well. We do this by first creating 'go live' lists with a division into 'before', 'during' and 'after' going live. Before the 'go live' we therefore first do a 'dry run': we simulate the live run. This often reveals a number of issues that we can proactively optimize. In this way, we are well prepared to steer the go-live of your webshop or digital application in the right direction. With every 'go live', unforeseen issues arise. In the first days and weeks after going live, we provide sufficient time to tackle unforeseen issues. Our support experts are standing by!
A SLA/SUPPORT OR AD HOC PROJECTS: YOU CHOOSE
Thanks to our extensive team, PHPro allows our clients to choose between two options after going live in the longer term. The first option is that we focus on continuous development. This means that we continue to build your application and can respond quickly when issues arise. Another option is support via Service Level Agreement (SLA), in the form of a support contract. This means that we (temporarily) pause in development, but that we continue to follow up and solve production-related questions.
Do you think an SLA is unnecessary, but would still like to continue enjoying our expertise? That's possible, we offer help through our extensive team and are happy to schedule completed projects. Keep in mind that this is in function of the available resources.
SECURITY PATCHES AND UPDATES
Another thing to consider when delivering your project are security patches and updates. Open source software packages or frameworks get support from a global community of developers. At PHPro, we take pride in the fact that we invariably choose packages backed by respected organizations. This allows us to permanently guarantee the security and stability of those packages. It also ensures that we are always quickly aware of critical issues that require resolution.
Security patches focus specifically on minor changes in the implemented technology with a view to resolving security issues. When vulnerabilities are detected in the packages used, we implement these security patches to close security holes or fix vulnerabilities. In this way, we reduce the opportunity for cybercriminals to take advantage of security vulnerabilities.
When there are security patches and updates, we always inform our customers quickly so that we can do the necessary. For our customers with an SLA, we respond quickly: we automatically install security patches within the scheduled support hours. For customers who work without an SLA, we also provide optimal assistance. We inform them as soon as possible and clearly indicate what needs to be done. After approval to install the security patches, we get to work. This is how we reduce the risk of security leaks to a minimum.
DOCUMENTS AND TOOLS AFTER APPLICATION DELIVERY
Of course, the best thing we offer our clients are the quality applications we deliver. However, it doesn't stop there. For a smooth follow-up after the go-live, we also offer the following documents and tools:
- Confluence as a documentation tool: in it, you can always find the most recent version clearly.
- Our analyses: both discovery and detail analyses. By discovery analysis we mean all the preparatory work in which we have identified the goals, needs and scope of the project. In other words: the business goals, functional requirements and technical challenges in designing - in this case - the web shop. By detailed analysis, we mean all the elaborate, detailed requirements that emerged in the discovery analysis. The result is a technical roadmap to guide the development, implementation and testing phases of the project.
- The design: we provide an entire corporate identity guide on how the pages should look. This way, clients can always check if all design elements are still correct.
- We also provide all the several aspects of the technical documentation: the diagrams around the infrastructure, the application architecture and the application structure (WBS). With the diagrams around infrastructure, we mean all components such as servers, network equipment and other technical resources; as well as the interconnections between these components. In the application architecture - the context diagram - you see the main components and interactions of the developed system. Finally, you get the application structure or the WBS: Work Breakdown Structure. This is a structured division of the project into smaller work packages. The different components can be the back-end or front-end development, the shopping cart functionality, the product catalog ... By dividing the work into smaller packages, it is easier to work in a structured way.
- The releases and test scenarios: by releases we mean the specific versions of the webshop software as seen by the end user. With each release, we perform tests to check that no bugs have crept in that have a negative impact on the delivered functionalities. On the other hand, we have the test scenarios. These are all kinds of scenarios to test and validate all functionalities and components of the web shop.
- End-user documentation: in it we explain in smells and colors how the developed application works.
- Scope adjustments: This last section is then divided into two:
- Parking lot: This document contains all the ideas that surfaced during the project, but did not fit within the budget or schedule.
- Change log: Ideas that surfaced during the project for which additional budget was provided.
FANCY ENTRUSTING A PROJECT TO OUR CAPABLE HANDS?
Are you convinced about our expertise and dedication to managing projects from A to Z? Let us know: feel free to contact us and tell us which project you would like to see successfully completed.