other patterns. Different projects may emphasize different parts of the SDLC or approach the SDLC phases in different ways, but all projects have elements of these four phases. For now, there are two important points to understand about the SDLC. First, you should get a general sense of the phases and steps that IS projects move through and some of the techniques that produce certain deliverables. In this section, we provide an overview of the phases, steps, and some of the techniques that are used to accomplish the steps. Second, it is important to understand that the SDLC is a process of gradual refinement. The deliverables produced in the analysis phase provide a general idea what the new system will do. These deliverables are used as input to the design phase, which then refines them to produce a set of deliverables that describes in much more detailed terms exactly how the system should be built. These deliverables in turn are used in the implementation phase to guide the creation of the actual system. Each phase refines and elaborates on the work done previously.
Planning The planning phase is the fundamental process of understanding why an information system should be built and determining how the project team will go about building it. It has two steps:
1. During project initiation, the system’s business value to the organization is identified—how will it lower costs or increase revenues? Most ideas for new systems come from outside the IS area (from the marketing department, accounting department, etc.) in the form of a system request. A system request presents a brief summary of a business need, and it explains how a system that supports the need will create business value. The IS department works together with the person or department generating the request (called the project sponsor) to conduct a feasibility analysis. The feasibility analysis examines key aspects of the proposed project: ■ The technical feasibility (Can we build it?) ■ The economic feasibility (Will it provide business value?) ■ The organizational feasibility (If we build it, will it be used?) The system request and feasibility analysis are presented to an information systems approval committee (sometimes called a steering committee), which decides whether the project should be undertaken. 2. Once the project is approved, it enters project management. During project management, the project manager creates a work plan, staffs the project, and puts techniques in place to help the project team control and direct the project through the entire SDLC. The deliverable for project management is a project plan that describes how the project team will go about developing the system.
Analysis The analysis phase answers the questions of who will use the system, what the system will do, and where and when it will be used. (See Figure 1-3.) During this phase, the project team investigates any current system(s), identifies improvement