FOUNDATION evaluation: starting two software projects consistently

Two fictional software teams need to start different .NET projects inside the same organisation. This scenario sets out a proposed FOUNDATION demonstration using disposable repositories and sample requirements. It is an evaluation plan, with no completed customer deployment or measured saving implied.

Establish what a useful starting point must contain

One team needs a small internal reporting application. The other needs a data-preparation service. Their domain work differs, but both require a clear repository structure, configuration conventions, build process and instructions that another engineer can follow.

Before generating either project, the customer names its approved toolchain and essential delivery controls. AIC maps those requirements to the selected FOUNDATION template version. The evaluation record should state what the template supplies, what needs customer configuration and what the application team will implement later.

Generate and inspect both solutions

FOUNDATION provides versioned project templates, solution structure, configuration patterns, engineering guidance and delivery scaffolding. Generate the two examples in the approved environment, then ask their engineers to explain the layout, the intended dependencies and the route from a change in source code to a build.

The useful comparison is between two distinct applications created from a consistent starting structure. The customer should be able to see which conventions are shared and where each solution can develop its own functionality. Record any changes needed for the organisation’s repository, package access and build environment.

The template and package distribution should follow the route intended for normal engineering use. FOUNDATION is generated into the customer’s approved environment and has no hosted application-data dependency. Customer access controls still govern the repositories, workstations and build services used in the evaluation.

Put the delivery scaffolding to work

Configure the supplied pipeline foundations for the agreed Azure DevOps environment. Run an initial build, make a small application change and inspect the next build’s result. Introduce a deliberately failing sample check to confirm that the team can locate the failure and understand the action required.

Keep the demonstration limited to the controls the customer has actually configured. Pipeline scaffolding provides a repeatable starting point; the team must still choose its release rules, credentials, infrastructure and approval responsibilities. Record these decisions with the example project so the next engineer can see how it is meant to be delivered.

Check handover and controlled change

Give one example repository to an engineer who did not create it. Ask them to follow the guidance, restore its dependencies, build it and identify where a simple requirement belongs. Their questions expose missing instructions and assumptions that the original author may no longer notice.

Retain the template version used for each project. If a later baseline introduces a useful change, review that change against the existing application’s needs before adopting it. The evaluation should establish how baseline evolution will be assessed and documented; a generated project can develop independently after creation.

Where the application needs reusable runtime capability, include selected FOUNDRY packages as a separate decision. FOUNDATION establishes the project and delivery structure. The application’s identity, encryption and other runtime security behaviour remain part of its architecture.

Decide what repeatability is worth

Record project setup effort, configuration changes, build issues and the time needed by the second engineer to work with the repository. Compare the same tasks with the customer’s current project-start process. Include template maintenance and support in the cost discussion so the comparison covers more than the first successful build.

The companion article covers FOUNDATION software project templates. For a demonstration, bring AIC your toolchain and project-start requirements, together with one small application example that will make the result easy to assess.

View the FOUNDATION product page for capabilities, integration scope and the demonstration enquiry route.