METHODOLOGIES

• compliance with international software development standards and customer in-house standards


• higher quality and efficiency of software development via Rational tools and methodologies


• full compliance with business requirements through visual modeling (UML) and prototype development process


• costs and risks reduction, fully controlled software development

	Iterative development
	For large projects, since it is not possible to define the problem in complete detail from the beginning, the requirements will change in time, because of architectural constraints or a better understanding of the problem. Iteration allows refinement at each stage. Ideally, every stage ends with an executable release, thus reducing risks and allowing regular customer feedback.

	Comprehensive requirements management
	The methodology specifies how to document business and customer requirements, design decisions, functionality and constraints, by designing use cases and scenarios which are very effective in capturing all aspects of the system's functionality.

Visual modeling

By using the Unified Modeling Language (the industry standard) to build a visual, abstract representation of the code, developers are able to see more easily the overall concept. Also, the graphical representation is easier to understand for non-technical persons, which is frequently the case with the customers. Thus, the customer, who knows best what the system should do, can provide greater input.

	Intelligent change management
	Methodologies define methods to track and monitor changes by defining secure workspaces that guarantee that one programmer's changes, which may be small but might affect the system in unpredictable ways, will not have impact on another programmer's own code. To make the monitoring easier, a component-based architecture is preferred.

	Use of component-based architectures
	A component-based architecture ensures separation between different parts of the system, thus allowing software reuse and system extensions.

	Exhaustive quality testing
	This often overlooked aspect of the software development process is in fact indispensable in delivering robust software products. In the Rational Unified Process Methodology, quality assurance is integral and built in the development process.