Phase It Till You Make It!

It's astounding the number of companies individuals who believe that just because their cousin's friend's brother's uncle knew a guy who created a really cool site with overused animated gifs and flash widgets in no time at all, that we can replicate Facebook, YouTube or StumbleUpon in 2 months. Building a custom software application takes months, sometimes years, to fully develop and perfect. Even software giant Microsoft, who's been doing it for decades, still can't get it right, but they continue to move forward. One option that clients often fail to overlook is a phased approach. True, it's not as glamorous as the hard launch, but it does open the door to a couple of nice options:

1. Shorter Timeline - If you need an immediate facelift then a phased approach would allow you to put out an initial design while development continues.
2. Beta Testing - Allow users to find system bugs for free as opposed to having highly skilled and often high cost professionals to complete mundane tasks.
3. Revenue - If your company is dependant upon revenues generated from the site, it allows you to begin or continue earning revenue; hopefully if you've chosen the right developer you'll most likely see an increase in revenue.
4. Budget - Often a client's budget will only allow for a portion of their project to be completed initially, but once revenues begin to increase, additional features can be developed and implemented.

Even in larger projects that require a firm deadline we will strategize, design, develop, implement and test in phases; rinse, wash, repeat. The idea is simple, if you're looking to develop an enterprise class solution don't expect it to happen overnight; Multi-billion dollar sites often take years to fully develop. I'm not implying that deadlines are unnecessary; I am simply stating that for best-in-class results you should consider "phasing it till you make it!"