Running head: SDLC VALUE PAPER

SDLC Value Paper X.X. Xarris BSA/376 March XX, 20xx Professor B. Andrews

SDLC VALUE PAPER

SDLC Value Paper A systems development life cycle (SDLC) is more or less the life of a business. An SDLC is one of the key elements that support an organizations information system. According to Satinzer etal, 2009, the life of an information system, it is first conceived as an idea; then it is designed, built, and deployed during a development project; and finally it is put into production and used to support the business. There are numerous approaches used during the life cycle development. One approach is a more definitive method with risks that are relatively low, this approach is predictive. Meanwhile, on the other hand another approach that is more undefined, with risks that are much higher technically, because there is no well-defined understanding of what the user needs are, this approach is known as adaptive.

There are many employees (project manager, system analyst, developer), as well as others (customers, investors, and even suppliers) who have a stake in and are involved in the SDLC process, their roles differ largely as well.

The role of the Project Manager is central to the entire SDLC process, this individual is involved closely, and is very much needed, and without management being heavily involved it is likely the process will fall apart. Project managers ensure that there are no resource shortages, such as staff, budgetary requirements, and other necessary elements that may hinder the project. Management plays a pivotal role in the initiation process, once a determination is made; next decision to follow is which approach to take to develop the actual system.

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Development of a system varies in size, and may last 30 days for smaller projects and can extend for a year or even more for larger scale system developments. System Analysts who are accustomed to current trends can easily influence the design and analysis phases during the system development life cycle. Analyst along with the project manager and other members of the team are very organized, goal directed problem solvers.

System or Business Analyst provides various services during the SDLC process; this individual must have a keen awareness of current market needs and developments of different systems such as unified Process (UP), Extreme Programming (XP), and Scrum. In addition to their familiarity; analysts also require specific tools that enable them to meet the needs of the system from the onset until the project is completed and nearly 100% error free. The specific tools, and techniques that system analyst use at clearly at their disposal for the completion of the SDLC, one such tool that analyst use to create system models is Microsoft Visio.

The birth of any SDLC consists of several different activities, phases, and models, such as the waterfall model. Traditionally the phases of an SDLC consist of the planning stage, the analysis phase, design, implementation, and maintenance. The planning phase is more or less the business part of the software application, here is where the project gets its foundation, and is perhaps considered the most crucial part of the entire project. During the analysis phase is where the requirements to produce the application start, prudence is exercised at this stage because if managers decide not to take the necessary precautions that take place during the requirement and analysis stage will end up causing the project to have little to no value, at best a very costly mistake. The design phase is when the software application takes root, and the foundation of a

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programming structure is apparent. Next, is the implementation phase, at which point the software application goes on to production for client use. Finally, is the maintenance phase; equally as important as the planning stage, here is where any user issues are addressed and remedied.

Once and SDLC is developed, it is found that each and every phase is just as important as the next, from initiation to the needed coding activities that produce the software application, and the testing requirements that guarantee the software application is of the highest quality before being released, finally ending with disposition or termination phase; this is after the system has reached its maximum life expectancy or usefulness.

The System designer plays one of the most critical roles in the SDLC process, because here is where the quality of the entire system lies. This phase has the most profound effect on all other phases up to maintenance; here is where the specifications and internal details are designed.

In summary, an SDLC is perhaps most often times seen as a very rigid process and very hard to work with, even still it could work well if during the initial stage all possibilities and alternatives were well defined, and every phase is planned to a fault, then and only then would the SDLC process succeed.

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References

Satzinger, J. W., Jackson, R. B., & Burd, S. D. (2009). Systems analysis and design in a changing world (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Course Technology/Cengage Bahety, P. (2009, February 13). System Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Disha Institute of Management And Technology MIS & DSS. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/openid_LBKHWDSE/d/19697970-Sdlc Include a minimum of 2 references relevant to the assignment, in addition to the textbook. The software development life cycle for database applications. (2000, Spring). SDLC, 1(1c), . http://www.shellmethod.com/refs/SDLC.pdf