Cloud implementation - design and develop
This unit is a summary of the design and develop phases of a cloud implementation of finance and operations apps.
Deploy a development and test environment
The development and test environment includes the core finance and operations apps functionality. Additionally, development tools such as Visual Studio agent will also be installed to assist in the management and version control of developed items within the development sprint cycles. The development and test environment will also be used during the development sprint cycle to allow functionality to be tested by the developers and subject matter experts (SMEs). The development and test environment will have the daily build deployed to it overnight to ensure that the most up-to-date set of configuration and customizations are available for testing each day. The development and test environment will also be the environment on which overall solution testing is conducted when all development sprints have been completed and final requirements sign-off has been completed.
Define test cases and create test scripts
All requirements must be tested. The test scripts should be created regardless of whether the requirement is addressed by using a standard Microsoft Dynamics configuration or a customization. Also, if any plug-in independent software vendor (ISV) solutions exist, they should be tested to ensure compatibility with the customer’s configuration, as should any integration to internal or external systems, data migrations, or uploads. As the test scripts are produced, if any potential issues with the design are identified, the development team should update the design accordingly to better meet the requirement. This means that the ‘Create test scripts’ activity must be started before development begins. As with the design process, the Agile mantra focusing on software delivery over documentation should be followed, and test scripts should be complete with respect to what they validate. These test scripts are not intended to prove any elements of performance or scalability unless the requirement specifically dictates that certain thresholds should be met. Performance and scalability testing will take place separately if the customer has specified that it is necessary.
Sign-off functional design documents (FDD)
For any gaps, functional design documents (FDD) should be completed. These documents should contain the requirements, functional principles, and end-user experience required for a specific function. Functional design should include any security implications.
Sign-off technical design documents (TDD)
Each functional design document should result in a technical design document (TDD). A TDD should include the planned technical execution of a functional design.
Analyze code
Customization analysis offer finance and operations apps customers an automated tool to validate the customer’s model files against finance and operations apps best-practice rules for tables, classes, forms, and enums. It then generates reports that list all issues that were identified. Make sure that you evaluate your customizations using customization analysis and file bugs for the issues that were identified.
Identify a release candidate and sign-off
Identify the release candidate that you want to use for your production environment. After you have the release candidate, upload it to the Lifecycle Services Asset library and tag it as a release candidate. Use asset libraries to upload all deployment packages that are ready for a production environment.
Revise milestone dates
After development and testing, there might be an impact to your planned milestone dates. At this time, update them to make sure that all parties are in agreement.