Archives of Tomorrow offers support for every part of the software development lifecycle: analysis, design, implementation, evaluation, and maintenance. We can also help you find out which stage is applicable to you with our Wayfinding service.
Analysis
What do you need to get started?
Analysis covers risk assessment, requirements gathering, and scaling needs. This step helps you assess and prioritize the work needed to accomplish your goals while considering existing constraints (e.g. team size, resources). The result of this service will be a definition of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in the form of a Product Requirements Document (PRD).
Design
How do I actually do this? What makes sense for me?
Design can offer a more specific solution ranging from software architecture to interface design to entity-relationship diagrams. This phase can result in a range of deliverables, from ready-to-go specification to a running prototype. This will also include an estimate of human and monetary cost for development and maintenance.
Implementation
Software that meets your needs and all the knowledge you need to keep it running
Implementation involves delivering custom software products. We can provide frontend, backend, integration, and infrastructure expertise. By the end of the contract, you’ll have working software, system documentation, and a test suite. The goal is to leave you with enough confidence and information to extend and modify the software as you see fit after the contract has ended.
Evaluation
Making sense of what’s available and what’s needed
Evaluation works with existing software systems and figures out how you can improve them. We’ve worked with a lot of legacy systems, and we’ve had to get comfortable with making changes. The result of this phase is to make sure you have that expertise as well. The deliverables can include documentation (a structured approach to capturing institutional knowledge), testing, and runbooks (a set of instructions for performing operational tasks).
Maintenance
I get knocked down, I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down
Maintenance provides extra capacity for your development team. The result of this phase is that you can improve infrastructure without giving up feature development. Some examples of maintenance are software upgrades, migrations, and automation.
Wayfinding
When you don’t know which stage you’re at
Wayfinding is our way to help you figure out how to not be overwhelmed. If you don’t know where your problem fits (or even what your problem is), this is a great place to start. The outcome includes an overarching assessment of your problem domain and potential paths forward.
Learn more about our Wayfinding Strategy Workshop service.
Contact us
To learn more about these services, contact us!