Fairdeal Software Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

How long has FDSC been in business?

FDSC has been in offshore software development business for over a decade.

What technical experience does FDSC have? Does FDSC have the needed experience for my project?

We believe that any kind of technical expertise can be hired provided you have good leadership, project management and human resource skills. FDSC has expertise in all these areas. Resources are hired (if not already on board) based on the technical requirements of each project.  Take a look at the following to get a feel of what we can do for you 

• Skill Summary  
• Case Studies 
• Whitepapers

What does a typical project startup phase look like?
A typical project startup phase will include a lot of Planning, Process Definition, Requirement Analysis and Team Development. The project start up phase can be anywhere from a week to months depending on the size of the project. This is a very essential phase of the project in which not just the technical requirements are understood but we try to find answers to the questions like

• What are the businesses needs which will get met from the development effort? 
• What are the processes being used at customers end? 
• Are all those processes required offshore?
• What sort of process customization is required? 
• Who are the end users of the product / application? 
• At what stage of development would they be involved? 
• What are the project success criteria?
• Etc…
  
  

What does FDSC’s commitment to a long term partnership look like?

We believe in long term relationships / partnerships with our customers. There are customers whom we have worked for over 5 years.

What project sizes does the FDSC handle best?

FDSC has experience in handling medium to large projects. We have handled custom software development, product development from scratch as well as product enhancement and maintenance projects.

How well does the FDSC’s staff speak, read and write English?

India has a large English speaking population so that works to our advantage. In addition to that we have well defined communication processes to effectively handle project needs.

Can I visit my team any time I want?

Yes.

Can I interview and select the team members myself?

Yes. We encourage our customers to work closely with us during team development and choose the people they are going to work with. This creates a comfort feeling for our customers. They know the people working on their project.

What are the credentials and experience of FDSC’s management team?

Take a look at our company and executive profiles.

Can FDSC provide both local and offshore resources?

Yes. We can send resources on business as well on Work visas like H1 (customer needs to file for work visas).

How does FDSC learn about my business and integrate with my existing team?

During the project start up phase we spend the required time in understanding customer needs not just from the technical standpoint but from the business standpoint as well. Take a look at what we try and cover under the project startup phase .

What pricing structure does FDSC offer and how does it compare with the competition?

FDSC offers flexible pricing structure. For most of the software development projects it is either effort based pricing / time and material or Project based pricing / fixed bid.

FDSC offers you programmers at competitive rates. Price is important, but certainly not the only criteria that you should look at. Our programmers are skilled and can deliver quality.

How do I communicate with my team at your location?

FDSC believes clear and concise communication play a very vital role in success of outsourced projects. Due to the nature of the business model, its sometimes get very tricky to assimilate all project knowledge or communicate about issues, status etc die to disparate nature of the team and client. We have spent huge amounts to create systems or service, to minimize and eliminate such communicate gaps. Take a look at communication process.

How does FDSC handle any concerns I may have about the performance of a specific team member?

We take following steps to avoid such a situation

• Encourage our customers to choose people on the team
• Feedback is sought on a regular basis
• Understand both customer and team/resource perspectives on a regular basis

In spite of the above if a situation arise in case where you are not happy with a particular resource we will replace the team member.

Can I contact my team anytime during my regular work day?

We can setup up the team's working hours to overlap with customer's time zone. We have a web based system in which issues can be logged. In case of emergency and if the team is working in a time zone greatly different than yours you could reach the team lead / project manager any time in your regular work day.

Can FDSC provide me with help defining and managing my engineering process?

Yes. We have certified and trained internal auditors who can help in setting up and customizing the engineering processes. As part of the project start up phase we try to figure out what processes are actually required on the project, what processes are being used at customer's end and align the processes for the project accordingly.

What does FDSC do to ensure the fastest time to market?

• Try to follow a lifecycle which works best for the project like Agile.
• Try and deliver end to end functionality at the earliest.
• Get one workflow to work at the earliest.
• Get end users to test at the earliest.

What physical security, data security and intellectual property protection methods does FDSC provide?

FDSC and its project team usually sign an NDA with the customer to help intellectual property rights protection and follows standard procedures for physical and data security. If the situation demands then a dedicated facility with diskless nodes can be provided for additional physical and data security.

What information do we need to arrive at an estimate?

Most of the estimation techniques detailed requirements to be in place. The more detailed the requirements the better the sizing estimates which in turn are going to effect the time and cost estimates. The kind of information which is required is

• Number of input screens
• Number of reports
• Number of users using the system
• External systems to which the application would be required to connect to
• Unique entities in the system
• Workflows
• How are the users going to be using the system?
• What information would they seek?
• Formulae / calculations required
• Technology
• Performance, Usability, Availability, Reliability, Throughput etc… requirements from the system
• Etc…

Take at look at :  How does FDSC arrive at estimates?

 

Does FDSC meet the requirements of any process standards organizations?

FDSC follows ISO 9001:2000 and SEI CMM level 4 processes.

What software development lifecycles can FDSC support?

Most commonly used are Agile, Iterative and Incremental methods. Take a look and the software development lifecycles for more information.

How will the FDSC handle architecture, UI and other design issues?

We always work towards catching issues as early in the development cycle as possible.The earlier the issues are found they would save time and cost during the later phases of development. This is done with having effective

• Communication Process
• Review Process
• Intermittent Deliveries
• Quality Assurance and Control
• Product verification and validation

Can FDSC provide maintenance and support for completed projects?

80% of the software projects in the IT industry and maintenance projects. FDSC has experience in building as well as enhancing and maintain software products.

What kinds of tools can be used to streamline projects and make them run as efficiently as possible?

Some of the tools used for effective and efficient streamlining of projects are:

• XPlanner
• Trac
• Cruise Control
• Web Ex

What kinds of project artifacts does FDSC provide?

Take a look at the project documentation section of our web site.

How does FDSC arrive at estimates?

Rough order of Magnitude estimates (ROM)

• Wide Confidence Range of -25% to +75%
• Usually given at the initial stages to arrive at a Project Go / No Go
• Project Sizing techniques used at this stage to arrive at this stage are usually PERT, Direct Estimation, Three point estimation and Derived estimation techniques.

Detailed Estimates Fall into Two Categories Based on Accuracy

• Budgetary (Confidence Level of -10% to +25%)
• Defined (Confidence Level of -5% to +10%)

These estimates are usually given when the requirements have been clearly defined. The estimation techniques used at this stage are FP , use cases etc..

When the scope is fluid or flexibility is required we recommend our customers to go in for Time and Material based pricing

How do I track the status of my project?

• Status review meetings
• Status Reports
• Web Based Tools