SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE

DEFINITION:
System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is the overall process of developing information systems through a
multistep process from investigation of initial requirements through analysis, design, development,
implementation and maintenance.

Seven stages in systems development  Development

 Problem Definition  Implementation
 Feasibility Study  Maintenance
 Analysis
 Design

1) PROBLEM DEFINITION

The purpose of this stage is to verify that a problem or deficiency really exists with the present system, or
to pass judgment on the new requirement. This stage involves the description of the existing system and
its shortcomings.

Methods of Fact finding/ data collection

 Observation: looking at how things are done in the organization and taking notes
 Review of literature: Reading the documentation or books in the organization
 Questionnaire: writing questions and giving them to the respondent to answer at their own time
 Interview: can either be oral or written, the respondent is given questions to answer immediately in
the presence of the data collector

2) FEASIBILITY STUDY

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The term feasibility study is also used to refer to the resulting document. These results of this study are
used to make a decision whether to proceed with the project, or table it. If it indeed leads to a project
being approved, it will — before the real work of the proposed project starts — be used to ascertain the
likelihood of the project's success.
 Feasible: Able to be carried out or done; possible and reasonable
 The feasibility study is concerned with three aspects: technical, social and economic aspect of
developing a new system
 It is done to find out if a plan will work.
Technical feasibility: Deals with the question of whether the proposed system will achieve its objectives; in
other words, will it work? Advances in technology may mean that a system that was not feasible a couple
of years ago are now a possibility.

Social feasibility
 It is concerned with the effect on employees and customers of the introduction of a new system.
 Will it result in redundancies, or a need for retraining or relocation of some of the workforce?
 Will some jobs be 'deskilled', and will current employees be able to perform effectively any new tasks
introduced by the new system? It is essential that user cooperation is secured before changes are
introduced. Equally, the effect on customer service has to be considered

Economic feasibility
 It considers whether the new system will be cost effective. There are two types of cost involved:
Development costs and Running costs
 The benefits may also be of two types: Direct economic benefits such as reduced costs and benefits
that are hard to quantify such as improved management information or better customer service

The feasibility report (terms of reference)

It is a document which contains the following:

 Objectives: what the new system must achieve; for example, cost reductions, better service to customers

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 Better management information, ability to handle increased volumes of business.
 Constraints: any restrictions on cost, equipment to be used, areas of business which are to be left '
unchanged and so on.
 Timescale: when a solution is required.
 Reports or output that is required.
 Problems that have been identified with the current system.
 Suggested solutions considered by management.
A list of some of the alternative solutions considered and why these alternatives were rejected.

3) ANALYSIS
Is the separation of the current system into parts to determine how it works? (Input, process, output,
Systems flowcharts, data flow diagrams). This includes the identification of a proposed solution to the
problems identified in the current system.

Included in the analysis phase are:

 Objectives: what the new system must achieve; for example, cost reductions, better service to customers
 Better management information, ability to handle increased volumes of business.
 Constraints: any restrictions on cost, equipment to be used, areas of business which are to be left '
unchanged and so on.
 Timescale: when a solution is required.
 Reports or output that is required.
 Problems that have been identified with the current system.
 Suggested solutions considered by management.
A list of some of the alternative solutions considered and why these alternatives were rejected

4) SYSTEM DESIGN
This is the stage where a plan of the new system is created. In the plan the following items must be
included
 Outputs and output formats  Inputs and input formats

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 Data preparation  File design.
 Code design.  Hardware and software requirements

5) SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
The new system is then developed using appropriate software following the plan in system design. After
the development of the system it has to be checked if it will respond well to the purpose it has been
created for hence the need for testing the new system

Testing
Now that the system has been developed, we want to know if it works properly: which means we have to
test it. There are three types of testing that can be carried out:
Normal data testing: the system is fed with data that is expected in system to see if it will be accepted by
the system.
Abnormal data testing: The system is fed with data that is not expected to be in the system to see if will
reject it. If it accepts it, then there will be something wrong that has to be rectified.
Extreme data testing: The system is fed with data at the end of the set ranges or testing data that is at the
boundaries of the set ranges i.e. the lower and upper bounds of the set data to see if the system can
accept it.

6) IMPLEMENTATION

This is whereby the system has been created and is ready to be used by the company therefore it is to be
put into place. The ways in to which the system can be put into use are referred to as Implementation
strategies or types of changeovers.

Implementation Strategies or Types of changeovers

When a new system needs to be implemented in an organization, there are three different ways to adopt
this new system: The Instant/Direct adoption, phased adoption, Pilot and parallel adoption.

Parallel running (Parallel Adoption): During changeover, a new system and an existing system run side by
side. If the new system is works well, the existing system will stop running and will be replaced by the
new one i.e. The old and the new system are running parallel, so all the users can get used to the new
system, and meanwhile do their work using the old system.

Phased adoption/Phased Changeover: This is whereby part of the system is implemented in the whole
business meaning that the adoption will happen in several stages, so after each stage the system is a little
nearer to be fully adopted.

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Pilot changeover: Here the whole system is implemented in part of the business i.e. if the company has got
5 branches then the whole system is implemented in one of the branches and if it works well it is adopted
to these other branches and if not that branch revert to the old system.

Instant Changeover/ Direct Changeover): There is a switch between using the old system and using the
new system happens at one single date, the so called instant changeover of the system. Everybody starts
to use the new system at the same date and the old system will not be used anymore from that moment
on.

7) MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT

System undergoes various changes once it is delivered to the client. Software development should be
flexible enough to inculcate required changes with time and according to changing business needs hence
the need for maintenance. NB: The software should be developed in order to accommodate changes that
could happen during the post implementation period.

User support

Ways on how the user can be helped with the system and these are:

1. Telephoning:
2. Online help:

3. Use of user manual: