You may ask yourself, “what exactly is the SDLC, and how does it relate to me as a customer?” Read on to learn what goes into each software release and how your feedback and concerns shape our new development goals.

The first step of each development cycle is to determine the requirements for the upcoming release. We review open bugs and customer issues, consult customer feedback for new feature implementations, and set the expectations for upcoming efforts. Devoting adequate time and commitment to proper requirement specification is critical to ensuring quality and timely releases, and most importantly it helps us ensure we’re always serving the best interests of our customers.

The next step is the actual development and coding. For each new feature, bug-fix or research item that is committed for a release, our engineers budget their time and efforts to ensure that we are able to complete every aspect of the release in a timely fashion.

The third step we take before releasing any updates or new software is to perform thorough Quality Assurance (QA) testing. Once the development work has been completed, it is passed to our test team to ensure that all requirements are met satisfactorily and that no new issues are introduced. If at any point issues are discovered, the code is sent back to our engineers for review and correction. Depending on the complexity and scope of the release, this may occur multiple times as QA reviews each updated build.

The final step in this process is the actual release. Once adequate testing has been conducted and no new issues are detected, it is determined that the software has reached release quality and can be submitted to the web. For updates to the ShareFile website, update packages are delivered to our Network Operations (Ops) team, who conduct tiered updates to ensure minimal interruption of service. When dealing with releases for Power Tools, links on our websites are updated with new installers and updates are submitted to relevant ‘app stores’.

Once updates are made available to the public, our support and account management teams reach out to customers to inform them of any relevant changes, particularly in cases where they are awaiting bug-fixes or new features. We want to ensure that the efforts we take are meeting the expectations and needs of our clients, because we will continue to hold true to the core values of Customer Centricity, remaining Data Driven and ensuring Responsible Growth in all things we do.

Using ShareFile for your business? Tell us about your favorite feature release in the comments below.

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Sarah: Can you tell me a little about your job role and how it’s changed since you originally joined the ShareFile team?

Peter: I started at ShareFile as Director of Technology, managing development and technical operations. It was a pretty small operation – for the first few months, there was only one other engineer. We slowly added more developers, but since the Citrix acquisition our department has grown quickly. We now have thirty engineers devoted to ShareFile. I spend a lot less time working on development myself now, and I spend a lot more interacting with other teams like product management and customer support to determine how we can improve the ShareFile service.

Sarah: How has ShareFile development changed since the Citrix acquisition? Are there any new challenges for the development department now that ShareFile is part of a larger company?

Peter: We have access to so many more resources now, which makes it possible for us to take on more new projects than ever. In addition to growing our team, we work with many more really smart, talented people within other Citrix groups who have helped us out with new ideas and support. With a larger team, we are learning to specialize. A small team meant that everyone worked on a variety of product features and in many roles. Now that we have more people, each person can become an expert on a few things. It’s a better way to dedicate resources, but it can be a tough adjustment.

Sarah: What are you focusing on in development right now?

Peter: We want to make the ShareFile product even easier to work with right from the first time you use it. In line with Citrix’s mobile strategy, we recently refreshed the user interface of our mobile apps recently, and we learned a lot from that experience about simplifying the interface while still including all of functionality our users need. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to apply some of those lessons to the ShareFile web application.

Thanks, Peter! Check out the development team’s handiwork at the ShareFile web site.

The post ShareFile Growth From a Development Perspective: An Interview With Peter Hebert appeared first on ShareFile Blog.