SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE

CYCLE (SDLC)

 Systems development life cycle (SDLC) - a structured

step-by-step approach for developing information systems
 Typical activities include:
 Determining budgets
 Gathering business requirements
 Designing models
 Writing user documentation
SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE
CYCLE (SDLC)
SDLC PHASE ACTIVITIES
Planning •Define the system to be developed
•Set the project scope
•Develop the project plan
Analysis •Gather business requirements
Design •Design the technical architecture
•Design system models
•Build databases and programs
Implementation •Write user documentation
•Provide training
Maintenance •Build a help desk
•Support system changes
Stages of the Cycle

1. Planning
2. Analysis
3. Design
4. Implementation
5. Maintenance
 The System Development Life
Cycle
What are the phases of the system development cycle?
Phase 2. Analysis
 Conduct preliminary investigation
Phase 1. Planning  Perform detailed analysis activities:
 Review project requests
Phase 3. Design
Study current system  Acquire hardware
 Prioritize project Determine user requirements and software, if
requests necessary
Recommend solution
 Allocate resources  Develop details of
 Identify project system
development team

Phase 5. Support Phase 4. Implementation

 Conduct post-implementation  Develop programs, if necessary
system review  Install and test new system
 Identify errors and enhancements  Train users
 Monitor system performance  Convert to new system
 The System Development Life
Cycle
Who participates in the system development life cycle?
What is a systems analyst?

Responsible for designing and

developing information system

Liaison between users and IT

professionals
Why do we need the SDLC?
 Systems were delivered years late
 They were over budget
 Unreliable
 Difficult to maintain
 Did not do what was required

What does the SDLC do?

 Systems Development Life Cycle was an attempt to
establish a structured approach to systems development.
 For management, each stage of the life cycle was a
milestone with an associated date and set of deliverables.
1. Problem Definition
 The problem definition forms the basis of the requirements
list It records all problems and requirements mentioned by
clients in interviews, or which are subsequently discovered
during analysis of the system.

Problem Definition purpose

 To provide a written statement of the user's current
problems and requirements; to get agreement with the
user.
 To ensure that the right problem is being tackled
 To define the current state of the system
 Objectives & Scope
 Recommended action
2. Feasibility Study
 Feasibility study - is there a practical solution to the problem
outlined in the initial problem definition.
 In particular, the feasibility study examines the technical,
financial and organisational feasibility of the project:
 Can it be done?

 Can we afford it?

 Will the proposed new system fit in with existing

procedures?

 Decision is made whether or not to proceed.

3. Analysis
 Deliverable from the analysis stage is the ‘Specification of
requirements’
 States WHAT the system is to do
 Says nothing about HOW to implement it
 Includes
◦ Data flow diagrams
◦ Data dictionary
◦ Process definitions
◦ E/R model
◦ Entity life histories or state diagrams
 This is an example of how data flows within a restaurant

CUSTOMER KITCHEN

0
Customer Order
Food
ordering
Food Order
system
Receipt

Management
Reports

RESTAURANT
MANAGER

Level 0 Context Diagram

 Customer Order
CUSTOMER 1.0
KITCHEN
Receive and
transform
Customer Food Food Order
Order
Receipt

Goods Inventory
3.0 Sold Data 2.0

Update Update Inventory Data

Goods Inventory
Goods Sold file file
Sold Data

D2 Inventory File
D1 Goods Sold
4.0
File

Produce
Daily Goods Sold Management Daily Inventory Depletion Amounts
Amount Reports

RESTAURANT
LEVEL 1 DIAGRAM Management MANAGER
Reports
 Analysis
 Two primary analysis activities:
1. Gather the business requirements
 Business requirements - the detailed set of knowledge worker
requests that the system must meet in order to be successful
 Joint application development (JAD) - knowledge workers and IT
specialists meet, sometimes for several days, to define or review the
business requirements for the system
2. Prioritize the requirements
 Requirements definition document – prioritizes the business
requirements and places them in a formal comprehensive document
Design
This has two stages:
 Provides several different solutions to the problem
 Selects one solution and specifies it in detail

Design – Alternative solutions

 A very cheap solution which does the job and no more.
 A medium price solution which does the job well and is
convenient for the user;
 A high cost
Design – Selecting a solution
Specification may include:
 Program design (e.g. structure charts) and specification
 Specification of the user man/machine interface
 Specification of the layout of reports and other system
outputs
 File and record specifications
 Hardware specifications, including costs
 Implementation schedule
 Design
 Design phase - build a technical blueprint of how the
proposed system will work
 Two primary design activities:
1. Design the technical architecture
 Technical architecture - defines the hardware, software, and
telecommunications equipment required to run the system
2. Design system models
 Modeling - the activity of drawing a graphical representation of a design
 Graphical user interface (GUI) - the interface to an information system
- the ability to model the information system screens for an entire system
Implementation
 Program listings, test plans and supporting documentation
 Manual of operating procedures
 Manual of clerical procedures
 User manual
 Hardware on which the system will run
 The system must be installed at the clients' site on their
equipment
 Changeover from the old to the new system supervised
 Often a hand-holding period
Implementation

 Two primary implementation activities

1. Write detailed user documentation
 User documentation - highlights how to use the system
2. Provide training for the system users
 Online training - runs over the Internet or off a CD-ROM
 Workshop training - is held in a classroom environment and lead
by an instructor
Maintenance
 Starts as soon as the system is handed over
 Term maintenance often euphemism for finding and
correcting errors
 True maintenance is modifying the system to meet
evolving client requirements
 System developer must start again at the beginning of the
cycle
Maintenance

 Maintenance phase - monitor and support the new

system to ensure it continues to meet the business goals
 Two primary maintenance activities:
1. Build a help desk to support the system users
 Help desk - a group of people who responds to knowledge
workers’ questions
2. Provide an environment to support system changes
Requirements – what are they?
No consensus of opinion as to what is meant by
requirements
 System requirements - the client’s needs and wishes.
 Software requirements - constraints put on the
system development, such as hardware, software and
design methods.
Different types of requirements
 Functional requirements: what the system has to
do what its inputs and outputs are and how these are
linked.
 Non-functional requirements: the attributes of
the system as it performs its job; can be divided into
1. non-functional requirements of the system and
2. non-functional requirements arising from external sources.
 Usability
 Performance
 Reliability
 Security
 Summary
Stage Content Deliverable

1. Problem Definition What is the problem? Problem Definition Report - statement of

problems, scope and objectives
objectives of new system
2. Feasibility Study Is there a feasible Feasibility Study Report - rough cost benefit
solution – quick look analysis
ahead to see if you can - system scope and objectives cost benefit
do something about the analysis
problem
3. Analysis What must be done to Specification of Requirements –logical
solve the problem model of required system
4. Design How should the problem Technical Design Specification –includes
be solved program specifications, hardware
specifications, cost estimates and an
implementation schedule
5. Implementation Do it Working system, includes program listings and
documentation, test plan, hardware, operating
procedures, clerical procedures
6. Maintenance Modify system as Working system - Operational system, modified
necessary and documented as required
A sample ERD for students
SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT
METHODOLOGIES

 Developers have different development methodologies:

 Waterfall methodology
 Rapid application development (RAD)
 Extreme programming (XP)
 Agile methodology
Waterfall Methodology

 Waterfall methodology - a sequential, activity-based

process in which each phase in the SDLC is performed
sequentially from planning through implementation
Rapid Application Development
(RAD)
 Rapid application development (RAD) (also called
rapid prototyping) - emphasizes extensive user
involvement in the rapid and evolutionary construction of
working prototypes of a system to accelerate the systems
development process
 Prototype - a smaller-scale, representation, or working model
of the user’s requirements or a proposed design for an
information system
Rapid Application Development
(RAD)
Extreme Programming (XP)

 Extreme programming (XP) - breaks a project into tiny

phases and developers cannot continue on to the next
phase until the first phase is complete
Agile Methodology

 Agile methodology - a form of XP, aims for customer

satisfaction through early and continuous delivery of
useful software components
OUTSOURCING

 Two primary choices to build IT systems (of great size

and complexity):
1. Insourcing - involves choosing IT specialists within your
organization to develop the system
2. Outsourcing - the delegation of specific work to a third
party for a specified length of time, at a specified cost, and at
a specified level of service
OUTSOURCING
OUTSOURCING

 The main reasons behind the rapid growth of the

outsourcing industry include the following:
 Globalization and the Internet
 Growing economy and low unemployment rate
 Technology and deregulation
Outsourcing Options
The Advantages and
Disadvantages of Outsourcing
 Advantages:
 Focus on unique core competencies
 Exploit the intellect of another organization
 Better predict future costs
 Acquire leading-edge technology
 Reduce costs
 Improve performance accountability
The Advantages and
Disadvantages of Outsourcing
 Disadvantages:
 Reduces technical know-how for future innovation
 Reduces degree of control
 Increases vulnerability of your strategic information
 Increases dependency on other organizations
Business Process Outsourcing
(BPO)
 Business process outsourcing (BPO) is using a
contractual service to completely manage, deliver and
operate one or more (typically IT or call center-intensive)
business processes or functions
Business Process Outsourcing
(BPO)