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Chapter 4 • Development Life Cycle 91

SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE
The process of developing new information systems is often called the system development life
cycle. It basically includes a systematic process of planning, designing, and creating an informa-
tion system for organizations. Even though the process of developing a system for individual or
personal use can be simple, the task can become very complex when the system has to support
thousands of business processes for several hundred users both inside and outside an organiza-
tion. For complex systems development projects (e.g., ERP), it is often better to have a structured
methodology to avoid mishaps and coordinate the design and development tasks properly among
the members of a large systems development team.
SDLC uses a systems approach for problem solving that basically states that complex prob-
lems need to be broken up into smaller manageable problems using a systems’ hierarchy, and then
developing a solution for each problem within the hierarchy. It provides a structured top-down
problem identification and bottom-up solution process for managing complex problems. The struc-
tured or phased approach is designed to catch problems at an early stage before they become a
major risk to the system implementation process. The SDLC process requires both technical and
nontechnical problem-solving skills; therefore, the development team must understand technology,
as well as the organization’s business processes, culture, and people (or potential end users of this
system). For example, a component of an HR system must capture organizational policy on health
care benefits and retirement and the process of deducting the premiums from the payroll checks.
Every organization will have some variations that need to be accurately captured and processed by
the new system. Capturing these processes and then implementing them in a new system can be dif-
ficult for a person with an IT background only; therefore, the development team must be composed
of people with a wide variety of IT and business skills for the project to be successful.

Traditional SDLC
In the early days of systems development, very few of these projects were successful in the first
attempt. There were many reasons for the early failures, chief among them being lack of experi-
ence. This led to the systems approach, which we described earlier, and a structured SDLC
methodology. The SDLC consists of tasks that are divided into phases or stages as shown in
Figure 4-1. Please read systems analysis and design books for complete details on SDLC.

Investigate Analyze

Maintain Process
SDLC

Design

Implement

FIGURE 4-1 Traditional SDLC Methodology