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Elkera personnel have exceptional experience developing software for dynamic enterprise publishing systems, particularly using XML technologies. Elkera operates under a strict development methodology that is designed to deliver software that meets or exceeds customer expectations, on time and within budget.
Elkera develops software for any kind of application but has particular expertise in the development of Windows desktop and web applications for dynamic enterprise publishing systems. Particular areas of Elkera's software development expertise include:
- XML authoring application development
- XML transformation and processing systems
- XML rendering applications to print and the web
- automated, database driven or static web sites for XML and non XML content.
Elkera's expertise in these areas enables it to develop highly innovative solutions quickly and cost effectively.
Elkera applies a holistic, iterative and incremental development methodology1 to its software development projects that seeks to align customer and developer perspectives. Central to this is Elkera's management of the requirements development process.
Requirements definition is the most difficult and the most important part of a software project. Few customers can fully define their requirements in advance of actual development. This is largely due to the difficulty for both the developer and customer to completely visualise a complex, working system that does not yet exist. Even if a system can be fully conceived at the outset, the customer may need to make adjustments as new insights are obtained, particularly after experience with the working software. Frequently, the customer will need to respond to changing business demands during the life time of the project. A customer's perception of its needs may change once development cost estimates are prepared. To take account of these factors, features and development priorities must be managed and adjusted within the constraints of the project budget.
Elkera's software development methodology recognises these factors and incorporates them into the development process. Elkera's domain knowledge enables it to apply a structured framework under which requirements gathering can be undertaken progressively and repeatedly during the project (the iterative approach). It ensures that there is a high level design architecture that will permit the effective coordination of iterative requirements and design activities to avoid unnecessary disruption to the project (the holistic approach). Finally, Under Elkera's methodology, development is carried out in stages that allow the customer to work with parts of the software and provide feedback to the development team at the earliest opportunity (the incremental approach).
Elkera's expertise and methodology ensures that:
- the customer obtains a product that fully meets its expectations and needs;
- the customer achieves maximum certainty about project schedule and price while retaining the flexibility to modify or adapt the system during planning and development as new insights are gained and as the business environment evolves;
- the customer obtains value for money;
- the customer receives a product that meets or exceeds commercial quality criteria; and
- project risks are minimised and fairly apportioned between the customer and the developer.
1. See Use Cases: Requirements in Context, Second Edition by Daryl Kulak and Eamonn Guinney, Addison-Wesley, 2003
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