Systems development life cycle

Systems Development Life Cycle methodology

The University of Waterloo Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) methodology adopted for implementing Information Systems products consists of five phases.

Phase Description of phase Possible deliverables
Analysis and requirements Phase defines project goals into defined functions and operations by determining requirements and analyzing end-user information needs. Project initiation processes have already been put into place, or are in progress (business cases, feasibility studies, cost/benefit analysis, risk management, high level planning).
  • Feasibility study (analysis)
  • Current business practices
  • Fit/gap document
  • Requirements document
Design and development Phase translates requirements and business needs into a design of desired/required features and operations and code/develop the design(s).
  • Development strategy
  • Standards and procedures
  • Design specifications and sign offs
  • Development/testing and sign offs
Test Phase tests the development pieces and test the integration of all of the development pieces together to check for errors, bugs, missing requirements and interoperability.
  • Go live readiness risk assessment
  • Test strategy
  • Test scripts, plans or scenarios
  • User acceptance, integration testing
Implementation Phase puts software into production (deployed) and runs the actual business process(es).
  • Cut-over or implementation plan
  • Contingency plan
  • New business processes
  • Quality assurance & migration of development, system/software
  • Training and user documentation
Maintenance Phase handles what happens during the rest of the software’s life (changes, corrections, additions, enhancements, infrastructure enhancements, etc).
  • Maintenance plan
  • Procedures for issues reporting
  • Support strategy