Systems Development Life Cycle

The Systems Development Life Cycle is a seven-stage process whose purpose is to identify the information technology needs of a business that is cost effective while also meeting the company's current and future needs. The Systems Development Life Cycle begins by identifying the businesses' needs and is broken down into these seven stages: planning, system analysis, system design, development, testing, implementation, and maintenance. The following is a brief description of each phase.

Planning Phase

Once the need for an updated or new system has been identified, the planning stage begins; a systems analyst will create a plan, budget, and schedule for a new system, which management will overview, analyzing the system to determine if it is a good fit for the organization technically, economically, operationally, and whether the schedule is realistic. Once this is done, management will decide whether changes are needed or the system can be built as recommended.

Systems Analysis Phase

System analysis follows the planning stage, because this is when the analyst reviews the plan, studies the organization, and observes business operations in order to have a precise understanding of any existing problems to identify solutions and issue recommendations. Once a clear understanding of the organizations needs are established the system can be designed.

Design Phase

The system design phase is where the new system is detailed: what parts, functions, hardware, and software it should contain. After the system has been designed, the design is unchangeable to prevent going over budget or behind schedule.

Development Phase

Once the system has been designed, the building process or the development phase can begin; the system has to meet the specifications set in the design phase.

Testing Phase

After the development, it is time to test the system to ensure it works correctly prior to implementation. Software, databases, and networks need to pass a rigorous two part testing: verification and validation. Verification involves running simulated tests. Validation testing, which is a part of the implementation phase, ensures the system works properly in the real world environment.

Implementation Phase

The Implementation phase involves installing the components, transferring necessary data, and training employees. Since the implementation phase puts the new system into use, the logical next step is system maintenance.

Maintenance Phase

The maintenance phase includes correcting errors not detected during testing, backup and recovery of data, supporting new users, and making system improvements and upgrades. The maintenance phase reportedly accounts for the largest cost of an information system due to the ongoing upkeep needed.

The Systems Development Life Cycle is an organized approach to designing an information system to meet specific needs of an organization, but it is not foolproof; each step must be examined, utilizing the checks and balances built into the Systems Development Life Cycle process.

References

Malaga, R. A. (2005). Information systems technology. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.