A systems development life cycle (SDLC) describes the different phases involved in developing and maintaining an information system, starting with feasibility studies and going up to the maintenance of the application after it has been designed and developed.
In this article, we will discuss the system development lifecycle, including its different phases in building a product and its importance for businesses.
SDLC can apply to both technical and non-technical systems. In most cases, a system describes an IT technology such as hardware and software. An SDLC takes into account the needs of all stakeholders, including the software developers, programmers, DevOps engineers, project managers, and end users.
SDLC is best suited for planning, implementation, and maintenance of the software solution, making it an ideal tool for developing information systems, software engineering, systems engineering, and DevOps test automation from the ground level. Because SDLCs are standardized, they provide a balance between costs, quality, and time to meet business demands such as urgency, complexity, and tight budgets.
Let’s dive into the complete system development life cycle and explore the importance of SDLC for software product development.
Table of Content
What is the system development life cycle (SDLC)?
The SDLC is a systematic approach to ensure the software is built perfectly and efficiently while matching the end-user’s expectations. It helps manage software projects to keep up with the latest design and development trends to ensure project continuity within the shortest possible time. The SDLC is a comprehensive process used to build software efficiently and effectively.
In simple words, SDLC is a systematic approach that offers a well-crafted structure for a dedicated web developer to design, develop, and deliver top-notch and highly scalable software based on customer needs and requirements.
The main objective of the system development lifecycle is to make the product process fast and cost-efficient with a quicker turnaround time.
System Development Lifecycle – 7 Phases You Should Know
1. Planning and Analysis
The very first step of the system development life cycle is to gather project needs and requirements with quality and precision. At this stage, you need to evaluate the product’s feasibility, revenue potential, cost of production, and end-user needs.
Furthermore, leveraging the feature prioritization framework is important to determine which features are most important, which are least important, and which should be built first.
You can then update or evaluate the software according to its value, the costs, and the timeline for building. You can further define software projects based on goals, stakeholder needs, and user requirements.
2. Define Requirements
It’s important to define your clear set of requirements to proceed with the development team. This process includes the development of several important documents: a software requirement specification (SRS) or product specification, a Requirement Traceability Matrix document, and a Use Case document.
Here you need to discuss every detail and specification of the product more effectively. After analyzing requirements, the development team will examine them in light of the software’s design and code.
Additionally, investigate whether these requirements can be incorporated into the software system, including its validity. Ensure that every detail is easy to understand for everyone in the team. Therefore, you must develop and design hardware, operating systems, programming languages, security, etc.
3. Systems design
You and your team define in detail how the system you’re developing will operate during its design phase. The design must be intuitive, easy-to-use, and user-friendly and deliver the best possible user experiences across all sites and channels.
Furthermore, it is important to identify any key components and define the system’s structure. To develop a project, you must establish the infrastructure. You and your team members will have an opportunity to succeed if you create a high-quality design with a minimalistic approach during this phase.
4. Development
The development stage involves the phase of building software functionality and making it functional. At this phase, we get the first chance to evaluate the system as it evolves and it helps identify any potential flaws in the process. Any error that is discovered during the development phase will also be addressed through troubleshooting.
To achieve the desired outcome, you can consider innovative approaches by examining the area of concern and thinking of ways to ease the concerns. In addition, focus on writing well-optimized and quality coding to ensure high-end system functionality.
5. Systems testing and integration
It is essential to test a project during product development and before its formal release to ensure its quality and effectiveness. Systems testing and integration are important stages of system development since they allow you to perform quality control by testing your components against expectations and determining whether they can integrate with incoming software.
To improve the quality of your plans and execution, you may need to update them. The testing and integration phases of development are often iterative, as a company may perform numerous rounds of testing and assessment. In this way, we can assess the response to earlier concerns and check whether the new approach needs to be enhanced.
6. Implementation
Here you will have the opportunity to introduce the developed system to the end users. The release of a product for external sale may have a commercial purpose, or it could be the implementation of an internally developed system within an organization.
The process is done to a certain level, such as performing internal or closed beta testing, which allows you to grant access to a smaller population than you intend to serve.
7. Maintenance
Providing the system with a living and breathing environment is not the end of the SDLC. The project teams will then carry out a maintenance phase where the system will be assessed to minimize the costs of operation and maintenance by collecting feedback, detecting errors, and enhancing performance.
As part of system maintenance, a dedicated web developer might also track and monitor the system’s security, eliminate potential risks, assemble a list of functionality that needs updating, adapt the system to changes in the environment and new business demands, and so on.
Different Types of System Development Lifecycle Models
The following are the main types of SDLC models, which are included but not limited to:
1. Waterfall Model
The Waterfall Model is one of the oldest and most famous software development methods popular for product development that leverage rigid phases: When one phase ends, the next begins.
Rather than allowing dedicated developers to return to previous steps, the waterfall model enables them to progress only forward (thus the metaphor of the water falling down and not being able to go back up).
This waterfall methodologies involve five phases: project requirements, design, implementation, verification, and maintenance. Here you need to understand each phase to ensure the success of your project.
2. Agile Model
The agile model is an iterative approach to designing, developing, and delivering a software product with a faster time to market. Software development teams break up large projects into smaller parts and deliver the finished parts regularly rather than providing a large project when it is completed.
This model is generally used for software development because it involves incremental, but rapid, cycles, referred to as “sprints ”. Each sprint delivers a new change in scope and direction, resulting in a flexible and faster project. Projects can diverge from original specifications when agile since fewer planning phases are needed.
3. Iterative Model
Iterative and incremental development is an SDLC development model that combines iterative design and incremental build models for product development. Iterative software development includes building software products with a step-by-step, allowing you to identify and fix defects in earlier stages, which reduces the downward flow into further processes.
One of the biggest disadvantages of this model is that if left unchecked, it can eat up resources faster than before. The iterative software development process allows for early identification and correction of defects, preventing them from affecting other processes in the future.
4. V-Shaped Model
The V-model is an SDLC model, a graphical representation of a systems development lifecycle. It is used to produce rigorous development lifecycle models and project management models. The V-model falls into three broad categories, the German V-Modell, a general testing model, and the US government standard.
This model is considered the best extension of the waterfall model, as it includes various tests at each stage of development. Just like the case with a waterfall, this process can run into obstructions like never before.
5. Big Bang Model
The Big Bang Model is one of the easiest SDLC models that focuses on all the possible resources during product development and coding without making any prior requirements. There is no guarantee that any required changes will require a complete revamp of the software product.
In this model, you must understand and implement things as they come along the way. Software developers can run all modules separately and remove defective ones to detect the cause of the issue.
6. Spiral Model
One of the most flexible of the SDLC models is the spiral model. The repetitive aspect of this model is similar to that of the iterative model. This model also undergoes the phases of planning, designing, building, and testing constantly, improving gradually as it advances.
This SDLC is best suited for small projects as it throws most of its resources at development, which lacks the detailed requirements definition stage compared to the other methods.
Benefits of System Development Lifecycle
System Development Lifecycle is a proven development methodology for developing, testing, and launching high-quality, feature-rich, and scalable software products with a quicker time to market. The following are the top benefits of the software development life cycle (SDLC):
1. Improved risk management
The SDLC allows dedicated web developers to determine and manage risks in the development process so they won’t cause any further problems.
2. Enhanced project management
The SDLC offers a comprehensive view of the project, including but not limited to high resources, costs, and project deadlines, and helps the leader and project manager assign a reasonable budget.
3. Improved quality assurance
One of the greatest benefits of SDLC includes rigorous testing and validation during each stage of development.
4. Increased collaboration
The SDLC is a proven development methodology that fosters communication between different team members and departments clearly defining roles and responsibilities for each.
5. Improved transparency
The SDLC is a reliable system development lifecycle that offers high-end transparency and visibility across software development phases.
6. Streamlined product delivery
The SDLC allows software developers to design, develop, and deliver high-quality digital products that address the specific needs of modern customers.
7. Deliver consistent results
The SDLC is a meticulous process that includes detailed guidelines to drive more predictable and consistent results than ever before.
Drawbacks of System Development Lifecycle
Although the System Development Lifecycle provides several benefits for businesses, there are a few drawbacks of SDLC including but not limited to:
1. Time and cost
When it comes to building large, most complex projects, System Development Lifecycle may not be the best fit as it requires a lot of time and cost. That’s because you need to specify all details in advance, including project planning and documentation.
2. Upfront investment
In the system development life cycle (SDLC), organizations require a lot of upfront investment, including high resources, time, and money.
3. Less flexibility
SDLC is not that much flexible, especially when it comes to changing requirements during product development.
4. Process
Sometimes, the System Development Lifecycle seems way more detailed in the process as compared to the end product.
5. Testing
During SDLC testing, the development team finds it overwhelming and time-consuming to test the product at the end of the development process.
Conclusion
it can be concluded that the software development lifecycle is a development strategy for designing, developing, testing, deploying, launching, and maintaining software applications in a standardized manner.
The software development lifecycle (SDLC) is a fast and cost-efficient development process to design & develop high-quality software with precision and quality.
The main goal of the System Development Lifecycle is to streamline workflows, reduce project risks, and expedite the production process. The SDLC must be designed to match and meet the requirements of a new project before it can be executed. If you want to decide which SDLC methodology is best, or if you want to use a combination of methods, try to identify the best approach to execute the SDLC.
We, at Crest Infosystems, follow the proven System Development Lifecycle methodologies to design and develop high-quality, more efficient software products with a quicker time to market. Get in touch with our software experts today
