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Technology Consulting
Technology is always changing. So how will you know if you should build a custom solution or choose an out-of-the-box platform? Our years of experience can help you make that decision. Our knowledge of available platforms and modules can help you weigh short-term development costs versus long-term scalability needs to find the most cost-effective solution for the long haul.
In some cases, we can even help you estimate the development cost to outsource the project.
Business Process Analysis
While some inefficiencies within your company call for a technical solution, not all of them do. Although technology is an easy culprit, most problems are attributed to people or processes. Generally, it is more cost-effective to change a process than create a new technology solution. Our analysis can help you determine where efficiency can be gained and whether business processes are fully optimized.
Test Case Creation
Whether you choose to test your new system or site in-house or out-source the QA, Caffeine Consulting can write test cases allowing any tester to easily look for holes in the system. Test cases are an important tool to ensure your system QA is well-planned and thorough. If Caffeine Consulting writes your software requirements, we can easily write test cases for your system because we will already be experts on the inner workings of your site or software.
Methodology
While final deliverables vary from project-to-project, our overall requirements methodology for requirements gathering is consistent throughout all our projects.
Define the Business Goals. We work with business leaders to clearly define the outcomes they set for their project. During this phase, we discuss how your current objectives develop your future vision for your company. These goals set the direction for all the granular requirements and offer a way to measure the eventual success of the project.
Document the User Requirements. During this phase, we investigate and document all user needs for your system. Our user requirements methodology is heavily fueled with User Cases for most projects, and these step-by-step user scenarios are easy to read and understand from both a business and technical perspective.
Specify the Functional Requirements. Once we have a comprehensive picture of your business and user needs, we begin specifying the functional requirements that provide detailed information for developers building your system. Functional requirements explain scenarios such as what should be shown on a given screen and which actions should trigger errors. Key deliverables in this phase include creating site maps and wireframes for websites showing specific elements that should appear on each screen.
Blog
Stay tuned for tips and insights into creating successful software requirements!
Careers
We are always on the lookout for kindred, caffeinated souls who share our passion for defining requirements. Working with us requires excellent written and verbal communication skills with clients-no exceptions. If you enjoy interacting with clients and have a background in Software Business Analysis, Product Management or have otherwise worked with clients to define technology solutions to meet their needs, please fill out the form below.
Clients
At Caffeine Consulting, we love our clients. Our current roster includes a variety of large and small companies ranging from low to high-tech.
Business Process Creation
Communication breakdown: it can happen at any time to any company, and everyone has their own way of doing it. Whether old or new, small or large, sometimes the old way of doing business for a company no longer works, meaning only one thing: It’s time to put some processes in place.
For many start-up companies, ‘processes’ is a very dirty word. Most business process models are built for giant companies but suck the life out of a start-up environment. At Caffeine Consulting, we have experience with many different levels of business growth and can advise you on the best way to inject nimble, lightweight processes into your company while retaining the benefits of being a quick-to-market start-up.
Product Strategy
Our product strategy service can aid business leaders in thinking through early product concepts and defining clear business goals. The objective of this process is to ensure a stable base for the project requirements. All software requirements should support your specific business goals as well as provide you with a way to track your project success after launch.
Requirements Definition
Software Requirements Definition is our specialty. We create a Software Requirements Specification (SRS) for your project as a blueprint for developers. Depending on the project objectives, the SRS could include any combination of User Cases, Wireframe Diagrams, Site Maps, Data Models, Data Flow Diagrams, Requirements Traceability Matrices and Technical Specifications. We can create custom definitions according to the high-level requirements of the project to provide your team with the information they need at the least possible expense. Working with your developers, we listen to what works best for them. Keeping the user in mind throughout the entire process, we ensure the final system is what they truly need according to your business goals.
Quality
The quality of your software specifications is crucial. A solid requirements foundation equates to saving time and money during Development and QA of your site or software. We maintain a high level of quality through four key practices:
Structured requirements gathering methodology. We establish very detailed steps on every project to ensure small details find the light of day and make it into the hands of your developers.
Peer review. Two heads are better than one. At Caffeine Consulting, all our consultants work together to look for gaps in each other’s work and bring a fresh perspective to the project.
Regular solicitation of feedback from YOU. No one knows your project better than you. When creating all project schedules, we establish key milestones to collect your feedback. Depending on your availability to the project, give us feedback as frequently as you like. Your guidance and approval throughout the requirements documentation process will equal a higher-quality end result.
Our availability during Development and QA. Because quality is not only measured through project requirements, we are also available after the requirements have been handed off to developers. We can meet with your Development and QA teams to walk through the project requirements as Development begins. As questions inevitably arise during Development, and we can also help answer any questions regarding system functionality.
Tools and Deliverables
Since our approach to requirements is to stay clear, concise and thorough, our approach to tools and deliverables is no different. Our goal is to provide you with easy-to-read documents in a format you can steadily take ownership of and even eventually edit yourself. To this end, we deliver much of our documentation in MS Word or Excel format. Additionally, we use free, easy-to-download tools to create site and mind maps as well as Adobe Fireworks to produce wireframe diagrams. When designs are ready for your approval, we output JPEG files for easy consumption. MS Visio is often used for process flows and other similar diagrams. Widely-available tools provide universal formats and ensure smoother hand-offs.
Deliverables will vary from project-to-project. Common examples include site maps, robust user cases with integrated functional requirements and wireframe diagrams. However, your project type and scope may call for other deliverables such as business cases, financial models, data maps, data models, state diagrams, process flows or requirement traceability matrices. The possibilities are endless and we will advise you at the onset of the project which deliverables will most benefit your project and your bottom line.
Our Approach
Each company and project is unique. Since one size does not fit all in the requirements world, our goal is to evaluate your project and deliver the most cost-effective solution.
Caffeine Consulting begins all projects by assessing the type of project and the needs of the team envisioning the concept. A clean vision of your project and team helps us craft a distinct solution that will work best for your individual company.
Once a clear direction is established, we utilize industry best practices to ensure your new or improved system is clearly and concisely defined.
Caffeine Culture
The Caffeine Culture isn’t something we invented. Our software development process is fueled by caffeine, passion and clear direction–and our culture embodies all three.
We believe writing software specifications is a science. And just like a specific scientific formula, we recognize your team’s needs and type of project are unique ingredients. Our extensive background in requirements gathering methodologies allows us to find the custom solution that is right for your company.
Every project is a new challenge and a new opportunity. At Caffeine Consulting, we are wired on our experiences and aim to infuse that energy into your projects. We believe in keeping enthusiasm alive throughout the development process in order to maintain the project momentum. Our vibrant energy can bring new vitality to your project and achieve an end result everyone can be proud of.
That’s Caffeine in a nutshell.
Project Inquiry
Contact
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Address
- 1704 1/2 South Congress Avenue, Suite F
- Austin, TX 78704
- Phone: (512) 828-7348
Driving Directions
From North Austin:
- Follow Mopac to the exit for W Lake Hills/
Rollingwood/RM-2244. - Exit and drive east onto Barton Springs (1.9 miles).
- Turn right onto Congress (0.9 miles).
From South Austin:
- Follow Hwy 71/Ben White to Congress Ave.
- Drive north on Congress Ave (1.9 miles).
(We are located upstairs from Mi Casa at the corner of S. Congress and Milton.)
Services
From the initial vision of your project to requirements definition to choosing a technology to build with, Caffeine Consulting can help you through the process. We also offer business process analysis and business process creation services to optimize your internal company modes of hand-offs, deliverables and communications.
Caffeine Consulting specializes in:
1. Product Strategy Consulting
About
At Caffeine Consulting, new ideas give us the extra jolt we need in the morning. We see the marketplace in a new light. Above all, we love helping ideas become the products or web sites on which your business thrives. At Caffeine Consulting, we listen to your ideas (regardless of how developed they are) and help you build your concepts into highly detailed software specifications for in-house or outsourced developers. We look for the holes, ask the right questions and define your project in ways that save you time and money during software development.
Both founders of Caffeine Consulting share over 20 years of technological experience in each phase of software development. Our software and website expertise enables us to identify patterns and similarities in projects that help you choose the most effective and efficient way to develop your concept. We are wired on defining software requirements and handle the details for you. At Caffeine Consulting, we inject the energy need to take an idea to market.
Our mission is to wake up the software development process by helping companies large and small develop well-planned, clear, realistic, strategically-sound and user-centric software requirements. And we have plenty of steam to do it.
clients_hold
Mockingbird Games
Mockingbird lets people make games. We believe people can have as much fun making games as they do playing them. With a very shallow learning curve — comparable to a casual puzzle or strategy game — players can create their own games in minutes. Players can personalize their games with their own photos or music, or by purchasing additional content from us or our partners. All aspects of their game can be adjusted in real-time giving players the opportunity to explore their games and experiment with different types of gameplay. Once satisfied with their game, players can e-mail it to their friends or embed it anywhere on the web.
Triton Financial
Triton Financial is a value-added investment company that concentrates on high-yield investing –– from targeted venture capital and growth equity plays to opportunistic real estate investments.
@ttenunit
@ttenunit was founded as a hybrid venture management firm by Christian Hunter and Tom Adams. Its purpose is to leverage their learned expertise in direct marketing and consumer sales by investing both money and effort in small consumer-facing startups.
Intergral Wave Technologies
IWT is all about extreme integration: making products smaller, more functional, and (digitally-speaking) very, very smart. Take our first wave of black boxes: incredibly small, fully-integrated POL converters that, because we’ve integrated every power conversion and management need into one complete system-level solution, are causing customers to high-five and pop open the champagne.
Project Inquiry
Is your project ready for some Caffeine? Tell us about it! Submit a project inquiry to get started.