System Development Life Cycle
System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is number of logical steps taken to develop a software product. In early years, software was developed by programmers to automate a procedure or even solve a problem. As the time changed software became quiet large and complex to manage by a single programmers or even a team for that matter.
Today, SDLC has number of models: waterfall, fountain, spiral build and fix, rapid prototyping, incremental, and synchronize and stabilize. Waterfall, the best known, is a sequence of stages in which the output of each stage becomes the input for the next.
Rti.org breaks down SDLC in seven stages: Concept, Requirements, Design, Implementation, Release, Operation and Maintenance, and Decommission.
In concept stage is the first stage when the project begins. This phase gives the overview of the project. This helps in setting up basic structure, and evaluates risks related with the project.
Requirement stage is when objectives are set. Each objective will be developed in one or more requirements. These requirements define the necessary functions of the project. Each of these definition is known as requirement.
Design stage is where project is produced after series of interviews and workshops, etc. This stage describes the desired project in detail.
Implementation stage is where the system is built according to the specifications from the previous stages. That includes writing codes, testing, configuration and integration.
Release stage is the stage when the product is released to the customer or the user. This stage also includes installation, testing and configuring of the system.
Operation and Maintenance stage, as the name suggests operates and maintains the system while in production. This stages polishes the control procedures and improves system to operate overtime.
Decommission stage is when a particular system is put to rest. In this stage system completes its life cycle and completes its usefulness.
In my opinion, Accountants should demand the integration of the accounting and the cash cycle into the SDLC. Accounting is a crucial role in every business these days. If accounting is involved then I believe it would be much better to keep track of the cash cycle at every stage. This will not only help management keep track of the project, it will also help them to know where they stand in terms of the budget. This is extremely important because I am sure every company sets up a budget for the whole project. This is a good way to break down the cost for every stage. For example if project is over or under budget, then necessary steps can be taken right away to bring it back on track. Surprisingly, I did not see lot of articles that talked about accounting project controls. But I still believe accounting plays a vital role in SDLC.
1) http://www.elucidata.com/refs/sdlc.pdf
2) http://www.rti.org/page.cfm?nav=556
4) http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=71151
1 comment:
The number of models in the systems Development Life cycles and the seven stages (from setting the objectives up to the completion stage) are clearly explained by Sonny.
I like his idea about the application of the System Development Life Cycle in the integration of Accounting and cash cycles.
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