In today’s world of technology, computers are at the core of production of goods and

services. Computers have contributed so much to the development of the economy of

the world. What is at the root of this contribution from computers? Computer systems.
Useful computer systems and designs have made it is for individuals companies and
organizations to reach the realization of their dreams and milestones. This academic
writing will outline something that is done to make a very useful system which
contributes to the attainment of individual or collective goals. It will outline the steps
of development a system, which is known as System Development Life Cycle
(SDLC).
What is a system? Simply put, “a set of connected things or devices which operate
together” (Cambridge, 2008). So, what about a computer system? It is “a set of
computer equipment and programs used together for a particular purpose”
(Cambridge, 2008 ). From this definition we can see that a system is basically a set of
interrelated components that collects, processes, stores, and provides as output the
information needed to complete required task(s). A computer application or program
which is a computer software that executes on a computing device to carry out a
specific set of functions is at the root of a computer system. To have such a computer
program work well in a computer system, we bring in the System Development Life
Circle (SDLC).
According to Satzinger, Jackson and Burd (2012), to manage a project with analysis,
design and other development activities, there is need for a project management
framework which acts as a guide in coordinating all the work of the project team. In
system development, that frame work is the SDLC. From this preamble information
we can say SDLC is a framework which identifies all the activities required to build,
launch, and maintain an information system. It normally includes all the activities that
are part of system analysis, system designs, programming, testing, and the
maintenance of the system as well as other project management processes that are
required to successfully launch and deploy the new information system.
Even though there are many ways to the SDLC and many different types of projects
that have different needs, there is a core set of processes that is always followed when
undertaking a System Development Life Circle. It is used by most analysts to develop
an information system.SDLC includes activities such as, requirements, design,
implementation, testing, deployment, operation and maintenance.
SDLC has phases as it is a systematic process which plainly states what is required to
implement a new or modify an already established information system. These phases
are planning, Analysis, Design, Implementation and Maintenance. The most preferred
way to develop a system is agile development, which emphasizes more on developing
an information system which is flexible to accommodate new requirements at any
time during development (Cohn, 2010).
Most information systems are developed to solve organizational problems, which are
usually very complex, which makes it difficult to plan and execute a development
project. That is where the feasibility or planning phase comes in. Feasibility is
basically the possible way to do something easily or conveniently or the likelihood of
something happen. So under this phase a problem has to be identified first. Once the
problem has been identified, define the scope of the existing system, define the new
system and it’s objectives. How do the objectives relate to the intended purpose of the
already existing system or the benefits of the new systems? Is the system project
attainable or feasible? A system analyst should outline the challenges or threats of the
system. Once the system proposal is accepted, the system analyst should produce a
schedule for the undertaking of the suggested system.
The next phase is to understand the business need and processing the needs-analysis
and specification. This means that a system analyst should do an in-depth fact-finding
to understand requirements, understand and document the detailed work flow. This
will require a system analyst to gather, analyze, and validate information. The system
analyst will also be require to examine the information needs of users, and find out
ways to make the system user friendly.
The analysis phase is so important to successfully develop a system. A Software
Requirement Specification (SRS) document is needed to specify software, hardware,
functional, and network requirements of the system. Green (2014), says that the SRS
should answers questions like these: What will be the network hardware topology be?
What operating system to be used? How will the database be managed? How secure
will be the system? These are just a few questions that should be handled at the end of
the analysis phase of the SDLC.
Bridging the gap between requirement and actual implementation is design. System
design define, organize and structure the components of the final solution to serve as a
blue print for the construction. The design requirements vary depending on the
targeted environment. Some applications never connect to the Internet, some connect
from time to time either to retrieve or update information, and some need to be always
connected to the Internet.
To come up with a suitable design, analysts first partition or divide the entire system
into its major components because an information system is too complex to design all
at once. The broad design of the overall system structure is called the architectural
design, general design or conceptual design. When it comes to the designing of a
specific program details on a system, that design is called detail design. So to come up
with a good design, an analyst should have the architectural design, and low-level
detail designs for specific program(s) (Brooks, 2010). Finally under this phase is the
preparation of the design document that will be used in the implementation phase.
After identifying the problem, the feasibility or planning is done, the analysis, system
design, are all done, it is time now to put into practicality what has been obtained in
the previous phases. The phase were we put all information from previous phases into
use is called the implementation phase. The source code is generated through the
coding or programming process. This is done to ensure that there are no errors and if
errors are detected, are corrected. This phase can be done first in a testing
environment not on the actual production database or system in order not to lose any
data. Finally, once all has been tested and errors corrected, the system is integrated
into the existing system or launched if its a new system, and the new system is finally
said to have been installed.
The analyst is now happy to see the system up and running, but that’s not the end.
There is need for the maintenance and support services of the system. The phase
which handles all activities which are done to support users, implementation of the
changes to the system from time to time is called the maintenance phase. This phase
includes other activities like, handling logs of the system and resolve any problem that
the system might experience as it runs.
Finally, what can be concluded then? In order to develop a system that is suitable for
each particular need, the SDLC phases are fundamental to ensure that. SDLC helps in
systematic development of the information system. Planning, analysis, design,
implementation and maintenance have been highlight in this writing to be of much
importance in systems analysis and designs.
References.
Brooks, F. (2010) The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist. London:
Addison-Wesley.
Cambridge (2008) Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Cohn, M. (2010) Succeeding With Agile Software Development. New York:
Addison-Wesley.
Green. B (2014) OO Systems and Design-Essentials of Design [online]. Accessed 8
April, 2019. Available
at:https://youtu.be/bnbwNe-w2U4?list=PL6XklZATqYx9dj72MKG6wLYjljeB2odra
Satzinger, J., Jackson, R., and Burd, S. (2012) Systems Analysis and Design In a
Changing World. 6th ed. United States of America: Joe Sabatino.