Systems Development

Life Cycle
Understanding How it Works
Axia College of University of Phoenix
Christopher C. Bewley
1/30/2009
 I will be explaining a little more in-depth of how the Systems Development Life Cycle

(SDLC) operates. The SDLC process is a Systems Development Methodology (SDM) “which is

basically the process most businesses go through to develop and maintain an Information

System.” (Ross A. Malaga, (2005) Information Systems Technology, Published by Prentice Hall.

Page 285. Copyright 2005 Pearson Education) The SDLC contains seven major phases; I am

going to start on the first which is, Planning.

Planning is the step taken to find out if the current system can be updated or if there needs to

be a new system created. To help make that decision four feasibility analyses will need to be

completed, technical, economic, operational, and schedule. The technical analysis will determine

what technologies are present and what can be created to solve the aroused issue. The economic

analysis will find out if the company can afford the new or upgraded Information System (IS)

and if it will benefit the company at all. The operational analysis will determine the reaction that

humans will have with this new system. (Likes, Dislikes, and Employee Cooperation) The

schedule analysis will determine whether or not the proposed completion time is realistic. All

these steps must be completed in order to move on to the next step.

The second step of the SDLC is System Analysis. The System Analysis step is where the

systems analyst in the IT development team determines the exact problems then details an exact

IS solution to the problem as well as a to-do list for future reference in the SDLC. This step must

be completed after the planning and before moving on, to ensure quality in the product being

designed.

The third step of the SDLC is Systems Design. Once the Systems Development Team

understands the requirements needed in order to solve the issues at hand the systems design

phase can start. The Systems Design phase is meant to describe how the Systems Development
team will create this new system. They will examine what functions it will have and what parts it

could contain. There are two main steps in Systems Design; Logical Design and Physical

Design. A Logical Systems Design is mainly a rough draft of what the functions of the new

and/or upgraded IS should do. A Physical Systems Design is a document that describes the steps

the Systems Development Team will go through to meet the requirements of that functionality.

The fourth step of the SDLC is Development. The Development phase can only start after the

first three steps have been completed. Once the Systems Development Team gathers a clear

understanding of the design of the system they can begin building it. Let’s say the option of

purchasing a new system altogether is chosen then the new system must still meet the needs and

requirements of the Systems Design details. This is the phase where Programmers, Network

Engineers, and Database Developers will come into position. Development functions will start

occurring one after the other until all the functions are met and maintained.

The fifth step of the SDLC is Testing. The Testing phase is only applicable once the system is

built. This phase is where the creators test their own work to ensure the new IS runs as the

system design wants it to and make sure it is working properly.

The sixth step of the SDLC is Implementation. The Implementation phase is where an

installation team installs all the needed components for the new IS. This is where any important

information is transferred from the old system into the new system. This phase is crucial for most

business because employees will have to work with a system that they are not used to, this might

cause frustration. To avoid this there is four ways of implementing a new IS to a company. Direct

Cutover occurs when an old system is being taken out of the equation and a new one put in.

Parallel Conversion is the gradual movement from an old system to a new system. Pilot Testing

is testing one area of an organization and if testing proves a positive effect then the whole
organization moves into using this new IS. Stage Conversion occurs when one part of the system

is applied and operates properly then another part is installed until the whole system is in place.

The seventh and final step of the SDLC is Maintenance. The Maintenance phase is intended

to take care of the undetected errors in the Testing phase that only show up after the system is

being used. Maintenance mainly consists of correcting errors, backing up and recovering data,

supporting end users and enhancing the system.

Hopefully, by now I have presented everyone with a very clear understanding of the Systems

Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and how each step works together as a domino effect. There

are more options than this in creating an IS. If anyone still has questions I might suggest they

conduct a little more research.

Reference: (Ross A. Malaga, (2005) Information Systems Technology, Published by Prentice

Hall. Pp. 285-296. Copyright 2005 Pearson Education)