How do we work with you

We have a clearly defined process to engage with our clients and deliver outcomes, that allows us us to work with you in partnership

Delivery Model

We utilise our proprietary methodology for the delivery of all important engagements. This methodology, referred to as the myDM, brings together the best features of a number of well-known methodologies, including

IBM’s Rational Unified Process (RUP) for providing predictability to the development process;
Agile methodology for providing a framework for collaborative development; and
PRINCE2 for providing a structured project management method.

The key philosophies behind myDM are:

Partner with the customer and work toward a shared vision

For any engagement to be successful, there needs to be a successful partnership between MCS and the client where the benefits and the risks are appropriately shared. In all our projects, we need to engage with our clients with the aim of developing a strategic partnership to deliver a successful outcome for both parties.

Foster open communication

Open communication is an essential element of a successful partnership. During the engagement, we encourage open and honest communication between MCS and the client at all levels of the project – technical and otherwise.

Manage requirements
In order to deliver successful outcomes, it is important for us collectively to agree on the requirements, and manage the inevitable changes jointly, proactively and effectively. The change management aspects of the project rely heavily on ITIL to provide guidance and recognisable structure.

Visually model software
Visual modelling of the software, from business process, to system requirements through to system design should be undertaken using a visual modelling technique – such as UML, which is our preferred method. This prevents the proliferation of stand-alone documents that are difficult to comprehend

Develop iteratively
Develop all of the artefacts of the project iteratively, acknowledging that the circumstances evolve as the system evolves.

Use component-based architecture
Develop using an object-oriented paradigm, where each component is intuitive and easily related back to the problem domain, promoting extensibility and reuse.

Build often, test often and deploy often
During the development phases, make sure that the system is built, integrated, tested and deployed often, to ensure that problems are identified and addressed early in the project.

Stay agile, adapt to change, control change
Embrace change, and stay agile in all aspects of the project, relying. heavily on ITIL to assist us in this area.

Add value at every step
Evaluate every activity in the process, and every artefact of the project. If an activity does not add value or if an artefact does not enhance the understanding of the project, then it is not worth doing.

Focus On Quality
MCS continually strives to produce artefacts of the highest quality through the use of various activities built into the myDM. Maintain continuous focus on quality through quality audits and reviews.

The overview and the staged delivery is shown in the diagram below, and is in line with the four phases that define all our projects:

The phaes are:

	Inception: The overriding goal of the inception phase is to achieve concurrence among all stakeholders on the lifecycle objectives of the project. It identifies and mitigates/minimises/avoids significant business and requirements risks which must be addressed before the project can proceed.
	Elaboration: The goal of the elaboration phase is to baseline the architecture of the system to provide a stable basis for the bulk of the design. implementation and deployment efforts in the construction and the transition phases. During this phase, architecturally significant and technically risky requirements are identified, and steps will be taken to minimise risks in the following phases – including prototyping parts o the solution.
	Construction: The goal of the construction phase is on clarifying the remaining requirements and completing the development of the system and/or configuring/customising the available solution based upon the baselined architecture. The construction phase is the manufacturing process, where emphasis is placed on managing resources and controlling operations to optimize costs, schedules, and quality. In this sense the management mindset undergoes a transition from the development of intellectual property during inception and elaboration, to the development of deployable products during construction and transition.
	Transition: The focus of the Transition Phase is to ensure that software is available for its end users. The Transition Phase can span several iterations, and includes testing the product in preparation for release, and making minor adjustments based on user feedback. At this point in the lifecycle, user feedback should focus mainly on fine tuning the product, configuring, installing and usability issues, all the major structural issues should have been worked out much earlier in the project lifecycle.