Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 19
Approve, Release, and Prepare
I do the very best I know how—the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.
—Abraham Lincoln
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the
beginning.
—Winston Churchill
What happens when a software project ends? How many times have you heard it isn't over until the paperwork is
done? How true that is. There is a lot to consider when completing a project, and how you wrap things up is one
of the greatest factors in determining how much of a professional you and your team are.
In this chapter, we teach you how to handle the paperwork as painlessly as possible. We also discuss how
to get your BI solution signed off on once the contract is fulfilled, how to announce the release, and then how
to release your BI solution, so that your client can finally get the full benefit of all your work. We discuss how to
convert your notes into official dev specs and SDK documents as well as how to train your new users how to use
their fancy new software by drafting a user manual and help files.
Many of the documents discussed in this chapter are a follow-up to the documents introduced in Chapter 3.
The End of the Cycle
As you can see in Figure
19-1
, we have completed all but the last step of our BI solution process, Approve,
Release, and Prepare for Next Version. The cycle is in the form of a circle, indicating that the end of one cycle
is the beginning of the next. During the planning phase and at other times throughout this topic, we discussed
data that we chose not to incorporate into the first cycle of the BI solution. Those items can be used as a wish list
for possible items to incorporate into a future version. Additionally, as time goes on and your client's company
changes, new needs come up that need to be handled. We are never truly finished. And this is a good thing,
because it keeps your team employed!
