Q3, an offshore product development company, has signed a contract with a customer in Northern Europe to develop a product to integrate their international Freight handling and customs applications with shippers like leading logistics and freight handling companies.

Through the Freight Handling Solution, lead logistics providers are able to allocate loads to their preferred partners through a single, web based interface. The transport providers update the Lead Logistics Provider with their acceptance or rejection of each load. Then through the Freight Management Solution they can provide complete check point data for every shipment. The Lead Logistics Providers are able to assess and evaluate their partners through a suite of comprehensive KPI programs. It also allows lead logistics providers to have a greater visibility to accurate and genuine on-time delivery performance.

Q3 Technologies, an Offshore Outsourcing Company, offers to develop a competitive advantage by using technology in a more productive or effective way than your competitors. These solutions can become an efficient method for both industry leaders and small companies to reduce expenses and retain a competitive advantage. Q3 provides total flexibility in terms of outsourced  product development – the process is essentially “Client Driven”.

Q3 is a leading provider of comprehensive and user-friendly logistics software solutions. We develop Logistic & Transportation software for companies of all sizes within the Industry.

Software Development companies develop unmatched software while making use of advance technologies, which is affordable. Outsourced Software development Companies has changed over a period. They are nowadays focusing on qualitative, timely delivered and cost-effective development services. Software development companies have grown largely over the past couple of years with major IT giants establishing their base. The number of software development companies in India has increased to a number no one could have ever imagined.

Software companies are providing all kinds of IT solutions under one roof apart from outsourcing their services globally. This growth has led to a huge competition between software development companies. Every company is working to outdo each other to climb the ladder of success. This has increased the demand for software developers. Skilled developers are being paid highly by multinationals. The key is to possess good IT knowledge and skills. Apart from good manpower, software companies need to pay attention to the budget planning and project management that is to maintain right balance between quality and cost. Technical skills and business skills are also equally important. Also, attention has to be paid to services in terms of innovation, skills, cost, time, and quality. Knowledge management and team management are of equal importance.

In India, there are a number of software development companies, who can provide with all kinds of software solutions with best quality and prices. Offshore software development companies in India are skillful in distinguished technologies and are competent of delivering outstanding results in cost effective manner. With so much potential, knowledge base, enthusiasm and willingness, it is not a difficult task to meet the escalating demands of the lucrative software development field. Software Development Company in India has a bright future, as it is the best option for offshore clients who are in search for alternative source with comparative inexpensive labor but upgraded technology. Software Development Company follows the entire software development life cycle. This is executed with the help of the expert professional staff including the software architects, project managers and the quality analysts, which contributes toward the growth of the company in the market.

A Software Developer is a person who analyzes the problem and gathers the information about a particular program. Based on the analysis, the programmer makes error free software that meets all the requirement of the company. The developer is also responsible for developing software within the fixed period in any offshore software development services. He should do proper documentation of the program so that it will be easier for a newcomer to easily understand the code and modify it according to required needs.

Software developers create things that matter to individuals, team, organizations, countries, and civilization. Software developers have the honor of delivering the stuff of pure intellectual effort that can heal, serve, entertain, connect, and liberate, freeing the human spirit to pursue those activities that are purely and uniquely human. Developers manage their time differently. Some developers prefer to work alone for hours while others like to discuss with one or two teammates throughout the day. Some work best in the morning and others in the evening. Programmers are rarely very productive when working for eight consecutive hours. Occasional rest breaks in between the working hours help to achieve the focus.

Software developers’ job is tough because individuals and organizations depend on the objects software developers create; they have an obligation to deliver software of quality in a manner that applies scarce human and computing resources intentionally and wisely. As professionals, software developers also have a moral responsibility. Software development is a human activity, not only because it emanates from the human intellect, but also requires the cooperative activity of others to make it real. As professionals, software developers constantly seek better ways to deliver quality software that matters, simply because their tasks are too complex to squander their time and energy. This is why software developers look at successful projects, analyze why they were successful, and similarly look at failed projects so that software developers may learn from their mistakes. Software developers have a relatively limited toolbox. They are expected to be able to use the development environment including compiler and debugger for the language(s) they have chosen as well as a handful of the common tools that every member of a development team is expected to know how to use. These tools are typically integrated into one platform that functions as both a compiler and debugger. This is typically the same tool that was used to learn the language so learning a development environment is not typically a big challenge. In some organizations, a basic familiarity with the automated testing tools is also required. This includes unit level testing tools designed to test basic code assumptions as well as tools designed to perform system level tests. Generally, others primarily operate testing tools; however, developers may need to activate scripts written by others to verify that their changes have not adversely affected the build.

An issue tracking software comprises of software packages that maintains and manages any problems that arises in an outsourced software development organization. An issue tracking system contains a site that has all details concerning each of their customers. An issue tracking system also contains a file that has information on features and designs of a system, which is available on the help desk.

Issue tracking software is helpful for many reasons. When it comes to running a business and keeping track of large amounts of data, things can sometimes go wrong to the point of your not knowing how to fix them. However, with an issue tracking software, problems with your project or database will be dealt with and solved immediately.

Issue tracking software installs a help desk right into your computer so that when something happens to your system database or the information system things can be controlled. Having someone at your aide can be of immense help, especially if computer maintenance is not where your strength lies. There is the feature of reporting the issue either over e-mail or by phone. This ensures that the help you receive will be intelligible and benefits your specific problem in a timely manner.

Issue tracking software does more than helping you to solve Issues. It lets you keep track of the status of the project like how far the project has reached in the execution stage. It helps you to assess your team’s Issue tracking efforts and you will be able to assess the important project metrics, such as testing, project progress, and more. Issue tracker software also lets new team members get up to speed quickly. They can see how far the software application is developed, what issues are open and closed, and who is assigned to each issue. A good Issue tracking software application should let you arrange the issues by categories too. You can easily track who is assigned what in the team. Issue tracker software can be a great management tool.

One of the important uses of Issue tracking software is to create a knowledge base so that team members and eventually the support staff can see the procedures used to solve issues. The new issue will be similar to one that has already been fixed, so by just looking at older issues, the new ones can be solved. Issue tracking software helps in generating reports. This is an imperative management tool and saves the time that managers spend on compiling information for reports so that they can actually spend more time in managing and less time in pushing paper. It can also be used in the employee appraisal process.

In an offshore software development company, Issue tracking especially for large projects is a very complex process. A planned approach to software development with a detailed and automated process for addressing those issues that come up during development and even after the development when the application is in maintenance mode. Issue tracking software helps you manage issues by increasing the productivity, reducing downtime, more satisfied customers and greater communications between all the team members and other teams.

Q3 Technologies will be exhibiting at the IndiaSoft Meet to be held on 10 – 12 March 2010, at Jaipur, India.

IndiaSoft 2010 is the country’s first IT event which provides the IT companies an excellent platform to showcase their IT products and services. IndiaSoft helps the participants to understand about technology, market development and dynamics about the industry. This meet will be visited by IT buyers from Latin America, Africa, CIS, Asean, North America, Europe, Japan, Middle East region.

India Soft is covering various areas of outsourcing and globalization. At IndiaSoft conference we get to meet industry leaders, executives, and practitioners who are leveraging global services to tackle economic challenges and to strategically grow their business. The Conference will provide the opportunity to network with global speakers and panelists including top enterprise executives, global sourcing providers and industry and business analysts.

Q3 technologies is also looking forward to an active participation in the exhibition. We will be displaying our IT products & services to make useful business alliance with the customer from all over the world. This year IndiaSoft focuses on commercialization of new and emerging technologies. IndiaSoft provides an opportunity to Exhibitors as well as Buyers globally looking for outsourcing IT services & solutions including KPO, BPO, Banking, Finance, Insurance, Telecommunications, Media & Entertainment, Bio Informatics, Engineering Design, Travel, Hotel, Hospitality, Logistics, and much more…under one roof. There will be around 100 Indian IT Tier II and III companies displaying their IT services and around buyers from 70 countries for business networking. This year the exhibition will emphasize on commercialization of new and emerging technologies.

Companies gain new customers from participating in exhibitions like IndiaSoft. Q3 technologies got many new customers last year from this event and we are hoping to get many more this year too by having a successful show at the event.

Dot Net Nuke is an open source application. Dot Net Nuke is a Web Application Framework which consists of its own Content Management System.  Dot Net Nuke is a free Application from Microsoft which is yet another benefit. It is written using Windows ASP.NET Framework and VB.net. It is mostly used for the Creation, Distribution and management of Websites, Intranet and Extranet and can Customized through Modules and Skins. Dot Net Nuke is made with a Motive to provide Administrators, Designers, Web developers and People of other niches with ease of management and use. User Interface provided by DNN makes it even easier for everyone to manage other things which can be really difficult at times. Every element of your Dot Net Nuke website can have specific security settings applied to allow or deny users from seeing, editing, or administering the different parts of your site. Easily keep your website up to date. Simply login from anywhere in the world and add the content you require.

Q3 Technologies confirms its participation at CeBIT 2010, to be held in Hannover, Germany from 2^nd – 6^th March 2010.

Germany is a significant market for Q3 technologies as this will be Q3’s fourth year in a row at CeBIT. Q3 is committed to providing the German market with superior Software products and services. At CeBIT, Q3 Technologies would be showcasing its expertise across a gamut of innovative solutions built around cutting edge technologies in Microsoft .Net, Java, Cloud and other open source platforms.

CeBIT provides an opportunity for companies to come together and present their strategies and products. The key target groups are users from industry, the wholesale/retail sector, skilled trades, banks, the services sector, government agencies, science and all users interested in technology.

Ramana Rao, VP of Engineering Q3 Technologies shared his opinion on Scrum and Agile development methods used by Indian software companies. “I think Scrum and Agile development methods have started making their mark in India. As a matter of fact, many companies have started moving away from the traditional Waterfall model. The change is imminent as customers start getting unequivocal in their demand of “quickly watch things working”. Companies will be successful as long as they are able to manage shorter learning curves, impose strict quality guidelines within constantly dwindling development iteration’s and at the same time reduce rework.”

Ramana also talked about the new Project Management approaches in India that have gained popularity in recent times. He mentioned “CMMi benchmarks stipulated by Software Engineering Institute (SEI) will continue to provide a significant and solid process and management foundation and will help companies to improvise on their project planning, execution, monitoring and delivery mechanisms.  In the context, it is pertinent to note that, of recent, best practices stated by PMI (Project Management Institute) are gaining a lot of popularity in the Indian IT Industry circles. The good thing is that both of the above approaches share a lot in common and  chances of conflict are none or minimal.”

Q3 Technologies will also be exhibiting at the IndiaSoft Meet to be held on 10 – 12 March 2010, at Jaipur, India. This meet will be visited by IT buyers from Latin America, Africa, CIS, Asean, North America, Europe, Japan, Middle East region.

In simple words, Software Testing can be defined as the process of validating and verifying that a software application meets the stated requirements. In any organization, whether offshore product development or outsourced software development, Software Testing is a method of identifying faults in the product before it is released. This includes defects in the software code and its execution, as well as any potential gap between what the code is supposed to do and what it actually does. Software Testing can be implemented at any time in the development process. However, most of the test effort occurs after the requirements have been defined and the coding process has been completed.

Software testing is a process that ensures that the new software that will be released will work. Software testing helps the developers to find out whether there are technical problems in particular software before it is released. Software testing also ensures that the software that is being released by its manufacturer has passed standard quality tests. Software testing helps to avoid the hassles and cost that may be caused by faulty software’s that have been released in the market. When software that has not gone through software testing is sold in the market, it is likely to have technical issues that can arise from the software usage. This may have costly result particularly when software is used in applications that are crucial in the operation of business organizations.

There are mainly two types of software testing used by all software testing companies in India and across the globe, Manual testing and Automated testing. Manual software testing generally involves manual interaction with application, and observing the outcomes very carefully. In addition to this, a manual testing allows the tester to execute random testing in comparison to automated testing. However, automated testing is different from manual testing. Automated testing provides you with the facility to run automation against code that changes regularly to identify regressions in a sensible manner. Automated testing provides you the ability to run automation in mainstream scenarios. The latest techniques in software testing increase the quality of software products in a number of ways:

1) reduces the cost of software development and testing.

2) reduces the time spent on the development of new software products.

3) Improves the software performance. The benefits of using software testing tools directs to increase in team motivation and decrease in the time of testing the application.

Also, learn about Issue tracking software used for software testing.

Agile methodology is an approach to project management. It helps team respond to the unpredictability of building software through incremental, iterative work cadences, known as sprints. Agile software development is a framework utilized for software development projects. It was born out of frustration within traditional project management activities. An Agile methodology minimizes risk in software development.

Some of the principles behind the Agile manifesto are:

• Customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software.

• Working software is delivered frequently.

• Working software is the principal measure of progress.

• Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers.

• Simplicity.

• Self-organizing teams.

• Regular adaptation to changing circumstances.

Agile software development is a framework for software engineering that promotes development processes throughout the life-cycle of the project. Agile allows your team to identify the most critical features of the software that can be completed within a short time frame and it delivers a complete build with this set of limited features as the first iteration. Once that is done, you can move those features to production or continue on to the next iteration. Agile projects are released to production months where Waterfall projects normally span a year or more before they are released to production.

Agile methods emphasize real time communication, preferably face-to-face, over written documents. Most agile teams are located in a bullpen and include all the people necessary to finish the software. At a minimum, this includes programmers and the people who define the product such as product managers, business analysts, or actual customers. The bullpen may also include testers, interface designers, technical writers, and management. Agile software development focuses on keeping code simple, testing often, and delivering functional bits of the application as soon as they’re ready. The goal of agile software development is to build upon small client-approved parts as the project progresses, as opposed to delivering one large application at the end of the project.

Advantages of Agile

• Agile methodology has an adaptive team which is able to respond to the changing requirements.

• The team does not have to invest time and effort in delivering the product.

• Face to face communication and continuous inputs from customer representative.

• The documentation is the crisp and to the point to save time.

• The end result is the high quality software in least possible time duration and satisfied customer.

Scrum is a simple Agile method for software development. Scrum is one model of the Agile movement and represents a typical shift from “waterfall,” a traditional project management approach that, until recently, has dominated software development. Scrum assumes that the software development process is complicated and unpredictable and treats it as a controlled black box instead of a theoretical, fully-defined process.

Characteristics of a good Scrum tool are:

1) It must not have a fixed process flow. The team must be able to tweak the process to fit their culture and organization.

2) It must be simple enough to enable not get in the way. The team must drive the project rather than the tool.

3) It must produce status and progress reports that are customizable and accessible to the business. Feedback is the process that keeps Scrum / Agile on track in a world of changing priorities.

4) The process must have a business value driven approach. In other words the project management tool must drive business value and make business value delivery clear to the team and stakeholders.

Another characteristic of Scrum is that the software development process isn’t treated as a linear process. Scrum, however, doesn’t prescribe a sequence in which the activities must be implemented. A project can start with any activity, and can change between activities at any time. This increases the project’s flexibility and productivity.

To manage these processes with flexibility, Scrum supplies techniques and controls to manage this unpredictable process. The Scrum method is deliberately designed as a framework that can be applied to existing processes. A key principle of Scrum is its recognition that during a project the customers can change their minds about what they want and that unpredicted challenges cannot be easily addressed in a traditional predictive or planned manner. As such, Scrum adopts an empirical approach—accepting that the problem cannot be fully understood or defined, focusing instead on maximizing the team’s ability to deliver quickly and respond to emerging requirements.