Development

QBurst's software development methodology has evolved from our experience delivering 500+ projects. Each one of those projects was different and solved a unique problem. One thing we have learnt from experience is that software development does not have much in common with manufacturing, which is a repeatable production process. Following a recipe will not ensure success. Software development is a creative process and involves trial-and-error. However, chances of failure can be reduced by following proven best practices such as code reviews, unit testing, and continuous integration. And last but not the least, software development requires the right kind of people and tools.

Agile Development

Our development methodology is based on agile principles and techniques. Historically, companies have followed the waterfall model, which is a phased approach where requirements analysis is done upfront, followed by high-level design, low-level design, coding, testing, and finally user-acceptance. However, waterfall model has its drawbacks; the main problem being its inflexibility. Very often, requirements may not be clear upfront or may change during the course of a project. In agile development, business and development teams work together closely. The product is developed incrementally in iterations. Working software is produced early and new features are frequently released. End-users get to use the software while new features are still being developed.

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

We are uncovering better ways of developing
software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on
the right, we value the items on the left more.


The default agile methodology we follow is Scrum, but based on project and client needs, we often come up with a custom process.

Methodology Logo

Below is description of each stage:

  • Project Initiation
    We start the project by documenting the business owner's wish-list. A wish-list is a set of use cases that the business or product owner wants implemented. During the initiation phase, the use cases are documented at a high-level (or at least use-case titles are written down). A high-level effort estimate is added to each use case. The list of use cases is then prioritized for implementation. This results in the creation of the Product Backlog.
  • Product Backlog
    The Product Backlog must be maintained and refined on a continuous basis throughout the project life-cycle. New requirements are added as and when they are unearthed. Existing use cases may be broken down into finer-grained use cases. Estimates may change as new facts come to light. Priorities may also end-up changing.
  • Sprints
    The product is developed in an incremental fashion in multiple sprints. A sprint is the basic unit of development in Scrum. It is "timeboxed" and the average duration is two weeks, though sprints of one week to a month are common. A planning meeting is conducted prior to the start of a sprint. In this meeting, the product owner and developers work together to come up with the sprint backlog, i.e., the list of requirements that would be completed during the sprint.

    During a sprint, short daily project status meetings occur in which both product owner and developers participate. These are called daily scrums. In these meetings, each developer says what they had worked on the previous day, what they plan to do for the day, and if they have encountered an impediment.

    At the end of a sprint, a working software increment must be produced. The sprint deadline is never extended. If a requirement cannot be completed, it gets moved back to the product backlog. Also, during a sprint, requirements are never changed. Thus the developers are shielded from requirement changes allowing them to work uninterruptedly. A review meeting is conducted at the end of the sprint and completed work is presented to stakeholders.

To summarize, our development methodology is based on working in close collaboration with customers, frequent releases of working software, and rapid iterations.

Client Testimonials

As a small startup company, we were looking for a development partner we could trust with our big ideas and limited resources. From the first days of our project, the QBurst team has demonstrated the highest levels of interest, commitment, creativity and flexibility. QBurst has been the perfect partner for us at this early stage of product development.
Jim Idelson
President, DesigNET International
The web development team I worked with at QBurst was tremendous. The process started with sharing goals and objectives with my design team. They took my vision and created the envy of my industry. Together we created a fully optimized home for our company in a highly advanced open source platform that will please Google' spiders and certainly the websites visitor. Thank you Suresh Nair, Renjith and the entire QBurst team!
Tom Gilmour
Principal, ICN Metro
QBurst is a valued development resource for DeSilva Gates Construction. They' ve developed several web applications that have improved our internal business processes which have resulted in improved performance in our construction operations. QBurst has also been attentive to our needs by having programmers overlap with our business hours and by supplying resources on special needs development projects timely.
Gavin O'Connor
IT Manager, DeSilva Gates Construction
I first contacted QBurst on a recommendation from a colleague. That first job was just to restore a personal blog. QBurst handled it quickly and easily, with great communication and at a very reasonable price. I used them again on another small job with similar results. Now, over a year later, I am using QBurst for all of my web design and web programming. I usually have between two and four projects with the QBurst team at any given time. I get fast, on budget completion, and excellent communication throughout the project lifecycle. Their production is of superior quality and I trust them completely - even with my most important client projects. I wholeheartedly recommend the QBurst team for any web design or production requirements - there is no other company I would even consider using.
G. Harry Brooks
President, Search First Marketing, LLC.
Our experience with the QBurst team has been one of incredible synergy and genuine trust from Day One. Every aspect of customer service from account management and technical expertise to practical web solutions and database development approaches has been above and beyond anything we ever thought possible. The QBurst team members assigned to our account are not only our right arms, they are our left arms, our backs and shoulders and pretty much everything in between. Our success is their success. We are indebted to them now and always.
Mayra Ruiz
Social Media Strategist, Founder Ruiz Mcpherson Communications
QBurst gave us a plug and play solution for QA and automated testing. The team works extremely effectively and is flexible to our exact needs. The Qburst team is friendly and professional, and extremely detail oriented. They know what to look for. They have also been very flexible on hours and times. So while we have some resources working during our time, we have others working overnight. That means our developers can code in the day, submit it for QA, and wake up with the QA review in their inboxes.
Haroon Mokhtarzada
Co-Founder and CEO Webs.com
We recently finished our first iPad Project with QBurst. The QBurst team’s technical expertise, customer focused and flexible approach was truly commendable. Throughout the course of the project, QBurst delivery focus has centered around the benefits of the solution to the customer's business and their iterative development methodology in order to mitigate risks, has been one of the best that we have witnessed on projects. The key to our successful interactions has been QBurst's onsite Project Manager's ability to understand our needs through regular meetings and effectively translating these requirements to the Tech team...
Damanvir Singh
IS/IT Manager - Gulf AstraZeneca Gulf FZ LLC
QBurst provided competitive intelligence and market research for various business functions at Network Solutions. Their analysts have extensive domain knowledge in the web-services space, provide rapid turn-arounds, and generate actionable outputs that are uniquely tailored to our business needs.
Jason Hunter
Manager, Marketing Strategy,
Network Solutions