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ability to design work groups in manner that is fit with the system. What we see here in
this report is the presentation of a module that will help us in designing an in house work
selecting systems development projects which are uniquely common to each and every
system. The issue is to take the position that organizations can benefit from following a
formal process for identifying and selecting projects. To do this and in order to achieve
this objective, the report first overviews the system development life cycle (SDLC)
delineated. Advantages and disadvantages associated with each of the models will be
identified.
System Development Life Cycle
by a linear sequence of steps that progress from start to finish without revisiting any
previous step. The SDLC model is one of the oldest systems development models and is
still probably the most commonly used (Walsham, 1993). The SDLC model is basically a
project management tool that is used to plan, execute, and control systems development
projects (Whitten & Bentley, 1998). System development life cycles are usually
discussed in terms of the conventional development using the waterfall model or the
prototyping development spiral model. It is important to understand that these are just
models; they do not represent the total system (Whitten & Bentley, 1998). Models reflect
the structure of the organization, its management style, the relative importance it attaches
to quality, timeliness, cost and benefit, its experience and its general ability levels, and
many other factors. There should not be any standard life cycle because companies are
1. Planning
2. Analysis
3. Design
4. Implementation
5. Support
Waterfall Model
The Waterfall Model represents a traditional type of SDLC. It builds upon the
basic steps associated with SDLC and uses a ―top-down‖ development cycle in
completing the system. Walsham (1993) delineated the steps in the Waterfall Model,
1. An initial evaluation of the existing system is conducted and deficiencies are then
identified. This can be done by interviewing users of the system and consulting
2. The new system requirements are then defined. In particular, the deficiencies in
the existing system must be addressed with specific proposals for improvement.
3. The proposed system is designed. Plans are developed and delineated concerning
4. The new system is developed and the new components and programs are obtained
and installed.
5. Users of the system are then trained in its use, and all aspects of performance are
6. The system is put into use. This can be done in various ways. The new system can
be phased in, according to application or location, and the old system gradually
replaced. In some cases, it may be more cost-effective to shut down the old
7. Once the new system is up and running for awhile, it should be exhaustively
8. Users of the system should be kept up-to-date concerning the latest modifications
and procedures.
associated with a step, an effort is made to go back to the previous step or the specific
step in which the problem occurred, and ―fix‖ the problem by completing the step once
more. The Waterfall Model was given its name based of the visual appearance of the
schedule associated with the model. Figure 1 provides a visual depiction of the model‘s
development schedule.
relation to the Waterfall Model. One advantage is that the models rely on the creation of
a System Specification Document (SSD) that allows for the cost and schedule of the
system to be known once the SSD is created. As well, the model provides extensive
documentation for companies that need such documentation and it has a long history of
include that change to contract and costs must be renegotiated if such changes are made
once construction has been initiated. As well, users must wait until the end of the project,
or until at least a major portion of it is complete, before observing the results. Finally, the
early phases of the project often take much longer due to the time necessary to generate
the detail necessary in the SSD. According to Kay (2002), another major problem
associated with the Waterfall Model is that it assumes that the only role for users is in
specifying requirements, and that all requirements can be specified in advance. However,
as explained by Kay, requirements emerge and change throughout the process and during
later maintenance phases, leading to the need for ongoing feedback and iterative
With the growing recognition that information systems (IS) play a major role in
insuring the success of virtually all organizations in business, government, and defense,
awareness has also increased that such success is dependent on the availability and
complexity (Whitten & Bentley, 1998). Consequently, the SDLC model has become the
survivability (i.e., end products that survive) (Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering
Institute, 2002).
(2002), survivability is the capability of a system to fulfill its mission in a timely manner,
survivability moves beyond the realm of security and fault tolerance with a focus on
essential services remains critical, even when systems are penetrated and/or experience
failures and rapid recovery of full services when conditions improve (CMSEI, 2002).
critical component is on insuring three key capabilities of IS: resistance, recognition, and
recovery. Therefore, as outlined by CMSEI, IS a requirement for development and
implementation are those which help to insure that the final product has the following
3. Recovery: the capability of the system to maintain essential services and assets
during attack, limits the extent of damage, and restores full services following
attack.
CMSEI (2002) has developed an ISD approach, the Survivable Systems Analysis
(SSA) method (formerly the Survivable Network Analysis method) that focuses on the
requirements for the current or new system, structure and properties of the system
objectives and failure consequences) essential services (i.e., services that must be
maintained during attack) and essential assets (i.e., assets whose integrity,
recovery.
SDLC has been used extensively, it has a number of associated problems. According to
CTG, SLDC has been criticized due to rigid design and inflexible procedure.
Consequently, as addressed by CTG, SDLC fails to account for the fact that real projects
rarely follow the sequential flow that the model proposes. Because the SDLC model is a
sequential process, any variations in its process create problems for the developer. As
well, as identified by CTG, most ISD projects experience a great deal of uncertainty
about requirements and goals in the beginning phase of the project, and it is therefore
difficult for customers to identify these criteria on a detailed level. The SDLC model does
not accommodate this natural uncertainty very well. The end result is that
implementation of the SDLC model can be a long, painstaking process that fails to
provide a working version of the system until late in the process. Thus, such criticisms
led to alternative SDLC processes that offered faster results, require less up-front
Prototyping Model
One such model is that which is known as the Prototyping model. According to
the CTG (1998), the Prototyping model was developed as a means to compensate for
some of the problems identified as associated with other SDLC model. The Prototyping
model is based on the assumption that it is often difficult to know all of IS requirements
during the beginning phases of a project. Through the application of the Prototyping
model in ISD, the developer builds a framework of the proposed system and presents it to
the customer for consideration as part of the development process. The customer in turn
provides feedback to the developer, who goes back to refine the prototype to incorporate
the additional information. This collaborative process continues until the prototype is
developed into a system that can be implemented. As reported by the CTG, the
Prototyping model is probably the most imitated ISD. Variations of the model include:
According to the CTG (1998), overall criticisms of the Prototyping model have
development, the design of the system can sometimes suffer because the system
implementation activities. According to the CTG (1998), the exploratory model is most
often used in fields such as astronomy or artificial intelligence because much of the
research in these areas is based on guesswork, estimation, and hypothesis. The steps in
modification, and system test and system implementation when modifications and testing
Exploratory model include that it is very much limited to use very high-level languages,
such as LISP; cost effectiveness is difficult to measure or predict; and the final product is
often inefficient.
Spiral Model
the best features of the SDLC and Prototyping models, while introducing a new
component risk-assessment. The term ―spiral‖ is used to describe the process that is
followed as the development of the system takes place. Similar to the Prototyping model,
an initial version of the system is developed, and then repetitively modified based on
input received from customer evaluations. However, within the Spiral model, the
development of each version of the system is carefully designed using the steps involved
in the SDLC model. Each version of the development system is evaluated to assess
associated risk and to determine if the ISD process should continue. The steps
implemented within the Spiral model include planning; risk assessment; engineering;
and, customer evaluation. Figure 3 provides a visual depiction of the spiral model.
Figure 3: Spiral Model
**Hughes (2002)
According to the CTG (1998), few criticisms have as of yet been directed at the
Spiral model due to its relative newness. There has been an indication that the risk
assessment component of the Spiral model provides both developers and customers with
FAST Methodology
single person may assume several roles, a single role may require several people to
eight phases:
1. The Survey Phase establishes the project context, scope, budget, staffing,
and schedule.
2. The Study Phase identifies and analyzes both the business and technical
that might solve the problem and fulfill the business requirements. The
6. The Design Phase specifies the technical requirements for the target
solution.
There are two ways that FAST projects are most frequently initiated. They are
either planned or unplanned. The driving force for most projects is some combination
Bentley, 1998).
PIECES Framework
According to Whitten and Bentley (1998), there are many potential problems or
opportunities that could arise during the feasibility stage of a FAST project. As identified
problem. It is identified as PIECES because each of the letters represents one of six
categories:
A typical approach to SDLC is to have many phases. These phases are established
to provide an effective tool for controlling projects under development. The SDLC
provides a straightforward review mechanism that enables the user to monitor and assess
reevaluate, reschedule, or terminate the development project. The SDLC approach also
includes frequent reporting to top management. Problems that are found are discussed
and resolved by the project team (Whitten, Bentley & Barlow, 1994).
developed without well-defined requirements. This could also lead to documents being
developed in-house when off-the-shelf solutions may be available. Also, when using a
formal SDLC, the system is tested before production use whereas a failure to do so could
empowered group to represent users, and inadequate training plans (Ahituv, 1982).
Ideally, as developers, we would prefer to spend most of our time on new and exciting
framework that describes best practices for the wireless industry. These best practices do
not prescribe the development process one must use, or the tools to use - but instead
describe the tasks, procedures, ownership, and handshakes between process step owners.
be familiar. Depending on the development lifecycle process you have adopted, there are
The requirements process step is where the development team works closely with the
business stakeholders to identify what the requirements and their relative priorities are.
The design process step is where the specifications are written to provide direction on
The build process step includes the coding and various levels of testing the code to
The IT operations and support department typically handle the service management
phase.
The deployment process step includes all the planning required to roll the application out
to production.
The operate process step includes all the tasks to ensure that the application remains
needs of the end users, and will identify new requirements that should be considered by
development.
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