Posted by admin | December 17th, 2009
There are seven phases addressed in the building of a Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Each phase’s description and purpose are evaluated below:
1. Planning Phase – probably the most important in the development of a project. Planning identifies specific activities and resources needed to complete a project and these are acquired through four types of analysis: (1) technical, (2) economic, (3) operational, and (4) schedule. Once completed, the team can proceed to the analysis phase.
2. Analysis Phase – full problem identification, cost benefit analysis, feasibility study and system requirements; requires the use of many tools and techniques including computer-aided systems engineering (CASE) tools and creation of data flow diagrams (DFDs). Upon determining that the new system can fix the problem at hand, the team can proceed to the designing phase.
3. System Design Phase – detailed description of how the team will build the new system, should list what parts (hardware/software) and processes the new system should contain; this phase may indicate a need to revisit the analysis phase to assess and update the budget and schedule.
4. Development Phase – building of the actual program by coding and programming the applications involved using DFDs and Process Flow Designs (PFDs).
5. Testing Phase – before a company can run any system, the new system must be tested to ensure that it functions correctly with databases and networks.
6. Implementation Phase – Installation of the systems components and moving any needed data from the old system to the new. The new system may be installed with one of four different approaches: direct cutover, parallel conversion, pilot testing, and staged conversion; additionally testing the new system performance.
7. Maintenance Phase– correcting errors, backing up and recovering data, supporting end users, and enhancing the system, processes that must be reviewed and analyzed by a system analyst.
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