Software Development Life Cycle - Essay Example

SDLC involves a process that involves phases that some scholars divide into five while some others divide it into seven. The most common elements of SDLC include the system requirement study, which some scholars divide into system investigation and system analysis; designing; development, which some scholars indicate as programming; testing and maintenance. However, some scholars include the element of evolution of the software as a different stage from maintenance. The requirement study element involves the situation in which the organization that needs the software analyzes the needs that it has to perform certain activities efficiently, different from what they had initially.

The stage of the SDLC involve the owner organization assessing its capability to use the software it is about to develop by assessing whether it has the financial ability and the software or hardware necessary to utilize the product they intend to make (Peters, 2008). The SDLC element of design involves the production of a blueprint of what the client demanded and which meet the initial product description. This stage of development of software produces a prototype that the developer can work on to increase the qualities and the other aspects.

The stage of development or programming is the one at which the developer names conventions in the prototype codes it so that it can be able to meet the requirement of their clients. The element of testing is the stage at which the developer carries out a process of testing the software he or she made, which acts as a verification of the working of the application as the client demanded (Peters, 2008). The stage of maintenance is one in which after the client has approved the software and has started using it, he goes on to determine the parts of the software that may need changes.

The process of evolution is where the organization implements changes to the original software because of changes in the policies that existed during the designing time (Peters, 2008). The SDLC requires the involvement of the different specialists who include the Chief Information Officer of the organization who plans and makes budgetary allocation to the project of developing software. The Contracting Officer is the person who administers or terminates a contract as a representative of the organization and Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative who manages the technical aspects of the contract assists him or her.

The SDLC requires the Information Technology Investment Board that manages and controls the capital planning and investment in the things related to information in the organization. The Information Systems Security Program Manager is an important role player in the SDLC project because he or she introduces an appropriate, structured methodology to help determine, assess and reduce the cases of information insecurity in the software that is made (Langer, 2012). Information System Security Officer is the individual in the organization that plays the role of ensuring the security of information transmitted through the software on the long term.

The Program Manager is the individual who oversees all the project of acquisition of the software and ensures that, in its life cycle, it fulfills the requirements that it was designed to