The process of customizing software to fit a set of requirements established by a specific business can introduce a number of complex design issues. But these issues can be systematically handled by introducing the use of a well-structured database as a performance monitor for every aspect and feature of the software application you are developing.
If you are involved in the business of providing software customization services to other business owners you might want to consider this technique. It will give you the opportunity to control your budget and still meet all of the design and development issues facing you while still advancing and completing your projects.
The idea is to populate a number of tables and appropriate record layouts with the features and performance values related to the standard, off-the-shelf, programs. Then you will be able to tie these tables into the newly required features and customized requests.
This now gives you a static structure of any number of comparison points that you can use as inputs to scripted intermediaries for subsequent design testing.
Now you can isolate each new feature and performance value. The customization requirements can be identified and you or your team can conduct dynamic performance tests to evaluate the fitness of the newly modified script.
Each modification can populate their corresponding record set dynamically and can be used to measure the accommodations needed to pass as a successful performance match.
The crucial point to all of this is that databases can be used to house design data along with business data. Then, by choosing to use scripting technologies to overcome difficulties encountered during software development you are choosing a path of activity that gives you the best chance to succeed.
By using scripting technologies as apposed to fixed and ridged program designs you are again helping your design and development efforts. This makes it easier to connect a database to your project. Your connection now becomes a data-assistant and allows naturally occurring software interfaces to emerge.
This in turn provides you with dynamic monitoring that you can use to control the flow of your project, simplify the complexity, and assure yourself of the addition of each new customized feature.
The best news about this design technique is that many aspects of your effort can be carried into your next projects with minimal tweaking required.
