Project Quality, Retention, Security, and Compliance policies

How we treat quality, retain outcomes, protect data, and pass compliance (this page was updated on 19 September 2022).

Intro

This document is created to present how we treat a client's project. It aims to clarify what is treated as a project, how it is managed, protected, and stored.

A project is a set of activities and results focused on achieving a specific business goal. BN Digital engages in the process of project development by providing particular services outlined on the official website. BN Digital's contractual obligation is limited to rendering a particular service within the clearly defined Quality of Service requirements for each service provided.

Quality of Services

Quality of Services Policy

BN Digital takes responsibility for performing each of the services:

satisfactorily and professionally,
with the same degree of care as it exercises in performing its functions of a like or similar nature,
utilizing individuals of suitable experience, training and skill,
on time under the provisions stated in the contractual agreement.

BN Digital is responsible for meeting quality requirements stated in a statement of work or any addendum to the signed contractual agreement. Those quality requirements should be quantified and expressed so that a subject matter expert can clearly judge the provided quality. If an aspect of quality is not defined in such a way, BN Digital holds the right to determine the quality on its side, ruled by the internal quantification methodology.

Quality of estimates

Digital products are complex by nature, and estimates provided at a start of a project are based on hundreds of assumptions. Given that, estimates are not commitments or hard promises.

That is why BN Digital works based on an hourly basis, rendering services within the defined Quality of Services. Calendar dates and the number of hours BN Digital puts in the document as estimates could not be treated as obligations.

Design quality considerations

Each design outcome is subject to an individual's unique interpretation of an idea and their own thoughts, feelings, and background.

That is why BN Digital provides no guarantee that the design service outcomes would meet individual tastes. Still, we are committed to delivering the result of the highest quality that meets requirements in given time and budget constraints.

The design artefact could be created in numerous ways, and there would always be room for critique.

That is why BN Digital reserves the right to use its own set of rules and methods for the design service rendering if the opposite is not clearly defined and set in the contractual agreement. This applies to visual styling, naming conventions, third-party modules (within licensing restrictions) usage, etc. Still, bn's professionals are committed to following the internal design best practices.

Engineering quality considerations

Each software piece contains bugs. The aim of fruitful cooperation is to decrease their count and severity, and it is vital to state that it is impossible to eliminate all bugs completely.

That is why BN Digital provides no guarantee that the software development service outcomes have no defects, bugs, or deviations. Still, we are committed to delivering the result of the highest quality that meets requirements in given time and budget constraints.

Software after launch is a living being, and there is almost no evidence that it would live long without the additional care, monitoring, and support.

That is why BN Digital bears no responsibility for the project, and any issues related to the project after its handover or in case the services were not paid (partially or in total) on time.

Any software that runs on hardware infrastructure uses a vast set of pre-built modules and might be connected to third-party services. Software engineers are responsible for the software piece, so infrastructure and third-party functionality changes are subject to additional agreements and adjustments.

That is why BN Digital provides no guarantee that the software development service outcomes would not be affected by the impact caused by third-party vendor operations. Third-party vendor operations include but are not limited to changes in utilized software modules, changes in data transfer protocols, service availability faults, etc.

The software could be written in numerous ways, and there would always be room for critique.

That is why BN Digital reserves the right to use its own set of rules and methods for the software development service rendering if the opposite is not clearly defined and set in the contractual agreement. This applies to code styling, naming conventions, third-party modules (within licensing restrictions) usage, etc. Still, bn's professionals are committed to following the internal engineering best practices.

availability

Environments and availability

We care about the availability of a variety of environments where the system functions. Still, there are some important differences between them to keep in mind.

Live environment

This is the place where real customers interact with the product. BN Digital's engineers have no direct access to it, following the leading data security, privacy, and engineering practices.

The Live environment is always operated and managed by the client side.

BN Digital does not bear the responsibility for:

Availability and operations that happen in this environment.
Any non-functional requirements not met if they occurred by the environment.

Staging environment

This is the place where stakeholders can experience, test, and verify the result safely without impacting real customers. Staging environments could exist both on the client's and the bn's sides.

The best practice is to keep the Staging environment under the control of the client's side, simulating near-live experiences and environments.

For the client's-controlled Staging environment, BN Digital does not bear the responsibility for:

Availability and operations that happen in the Staging environment on the client side.
Any non-functional requirements not met if they occurred by the environment.

For the bn-controlled Staging environment, BN Digital does not bear the responsibility for:

Any non-functional requirements not met if they occurred by the environment.

For the bn-controlled Staging environment, BN Digital is responsible for:

Availability of the environment for a minimum of 16 working hours (client-preferred timezone) while related services are being rendered.
Availability guarantee for the exact time frame, by the client request, if it was requested in 5 business days before the time frame start.
Meeting functional requirements according to the documentation, project phase, and engineering process.

Dev/QA/local environment

This is the place where the internal team tests and verifies the draft results. Engineers deploy outcomes here when they are confident that the software piece works as expected. After the quality assurance team sign-off, BN Digital's engineers deploy outcomes to staging.

Dev/QA/local environments are hosted, managed, and operated by bn's side. Those environments are intended to serve internal bn's needs, so BN Digital bears no responsibility to keep them alive or working correctly.

Retention

Retention policy

BN Digital takes responsibility for hosting BN Digital's service outcomes within the next third-party vendors while it is in the process of service rendering:

Design source files are hosted in the cloud storage within BN Digital's Figma account.
Engineering source code is stored in BN Digital's private GitHub repository.
Any other files are stored in private Google Drive storage.

BN Digital has the right to suspend service outcomes hosting in case of a payment failure (partial or total) or contract/agreement disputes. Still, BN honors the IP rights of a client and does not claim those as a part of a hosting suspension.

After the project handover (specifically for each service), BN Digital takes responsibility for hosting BN Digital's service outcomes for the next duration:

Source code is hosted for 3 months. After that, a related GitHub project with all development deliverables is automatically archived, and all accesses are revoked.
Environment hosted on BN's infrastructure is up for 10 calendar days. After that, a related environment is automatically shut down, and all accesses are revoked.
Executable package (container) is stored in bn's private registry for 1 month. After that, a related container is permanently deleted.
Any kind of secrets (passwords/tokens) are wiped immediately.
Access to Figma file owned by BN's account is maintained for 1 month. After that, a related design file is archived, and any external access is revoked.
Access to any files stored on Google Drive is maintained for 1 month. After that, related files are archived, and any external access is revoked.

A project handover is an event that happens per client request at the end of the engagement process. If a client does not require a project handover event to be handled, the last billed and paid hour of the engagement is counted as a project handover.

other

Security & Ethics

BN Digital is committed to keeping clients' data as secure as BN's own data.

BN Digital and each of BN Digital's employees and contractors treat customers, co-workers, and others in a professional manner with honesty, fairness, dignity and respect.

BN Digital is committed to maintaining equal opportunities, treatment, and attitude toward customers, employees, and applicants of all genders and nationalities.

BN Digital is committed to rendering services in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

BN Digital and each of BN Digital's employees and contractors bear the responsibility to follow BN Digital's all internal policies. Every employee, contractor, and director of BN Digital is required to understand and comply fully with both the rules and approval procedures established by the Corporate Compliance Program.