Summary of Managing the Systems Development Life Cycle.

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Summary

This chapter dealt with managing the SDLC. It began with a review of the key phases of a modern SDLC. The first of these involves strategic systems planning, which derives input from the strategic business plan, the diverse needs and concerns of the user community, and the organization’s existing legacy system.

The chapter then reviewed the project initiation phase of the SDLC. This includes systems analysis and conceptualization of alternative designs. To ensure a correct systems solution, management must gather and weigh relevant information

regarding the various systems alternatives under consideration. Systems evaluation and final selection are accomplished through a detailed feasibility study and careful cost-benefit analysis of these alternative solutions. Because success at this stage depends, in large part, on an accurate identification of prospective costs and benefits, we devoted special attention to the principle of one-time and recurring costs associated with systems and to the various tangible and intangible benefits they can be expected to yield. The chapter concluded with a review of the accountant’s role in managing the SDLC.

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