 Although many Web content management systems contain out-of-the-box functionality, most Web sites require some degree of custom Web development built on top of the standard Web CMS. Following are some tips for ensuring your custom Web development project stays on track and within budget.
Examples of custom web development might be a shopping cart, an online event management system, a customized customer extranet or a specialized reporting system.
Business Requirements
Before even discussing your project with a technology vendor, be sure to have your business requirements documented. The contents of this document should describe, at a business level, your objectives for the custom web development, any phases for implementation, the people who will be using it, and the efficiency gains expected. Another way to describe the business requirements are the who, what, when, where and why of your project.
Technology Requirements
You don’t have to be a tech wizard to have a successful project launched, but you should be able to ask some basic questions and compare answers between vendors. Some of those questions should be:
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Where will my custom development project be hosted and what is the Service Level Agreement?
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What programming language will be used and why?
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Are there any security requirements I should be aware of?
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Are there any short-term or long-term costs associated with running the technology?
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If the custom development is built on a WCMS then how will upgrades to the WCMS be affected?
Experience
Talk with prospective vendors about the past experience of the Project Manager and Technical Team. Have they completed custom development projects like this in the past? Can you see their work? Can you talk with them? Can you have references of other clients they have completed work for? Also, you will want to have weekly or semi-weekly check-ins with your project manager to ensure the project stays on track. The project manager should provide ample documentation and screen shots along the way.
Quality Assurance
Become part of the quality assurance process early on in the project. You don’t want the project manager to hand off the development a day before it is to go live. Schedule a soft launch where the custom development is live for a handful of users to test out, have them report their experience back to you, and be prepared to make some minor tweaks.
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