Infrastructure

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To be able to work successfully with the USoft Approach, you need to invest in an effective infrastructure. This is an IT landscape of connected environments.

A popular infrastructure is DTAP (Development, Test, Acceptance Test, Production). In DTAP, one or more computers are dedicated to developing specifications and implementations. From this Development environment, materials are first transferred to Test and Acceptance Test environments using the same delivery path as is being prepared to release these materials into Production at a later stage.

For more information about the difference between Test and Acceptance Test, please go to The TEST task type.

Work in Development is typically started in the Rapid Analysis subphase of the PLAN phase, and continues into the DEFINE phase.

Work in Test and Acceptance Test is part of the DEFINE phase.

Work in Production is part of the DELIVER phase.

To work according to the "Deliver in short cycles" principle, you need to set up a well-organised infrastructure of environments. Otherwise, it is too difficult to create deliverables in the DEFINE phase frequently with the level of quality that is required to avoid extra overhead later (in the DELIVER phase).

Do not confuse acceptance testing in the Acceptance Test environment with the Acceptance subphase, in which tasks are carried out to make sure that the organisation actually uses production deliverables correctly and successfully. Acceptance tests are part of the DEFINE phase. Tasks that ensure production acceptance are part of the DELIVER phase.

You can set up delivery paths from the Development environment to other environments in a number of ways. In large projects, a sequential approach is often appropriate:

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In smaller projects, it is often appropriate to deliver all the materials to a folder structure on a file system and distribute them to other environments from there:

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A good infrastructure makes it possible to transfer deliverables to additional. secondary environments created for a specific purpose, for example, Training, Sales Demo or Beta environments.

 

See Also

Introducing the USoft Approach

Principles of the USoft Approach

Phases and subphases in the USoft Approach

Balancing work between phases

The PLAN Phase

The DEFINE Phase

The DELIVER Phase