Software Development Life Cycle (Sdlc)

INTRODUCTION

As an aspiring project manager, it is important to know and understand the traditional Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Along the same lines, it is also important to be familiar with other methods of design and development, such as some of the agile methods (which are a form of SDLC as well). Knowing and understanding SDLCs does not mean you need to be an expert. The more knowledge you have on the process, the better you can make decisions and choose what is best for you, a project, your team, or your organization. As a new project manager, knowledge and experience will be your friend. This is something you can gain overnight.

THE SDLC AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

One of the first things a project manager has to do with an approved project is to come up with a plan. Creating a project plan and then executing that plan until project completion is the bread and butter of project management. Setting timelines, budgets, resources, and requirements are all part of this process (smartworks 2007). Understanding SDLC is very important for accomplishing this step. Having a framework to follow, to successfully develop software is needed to estimate and plan a project. At the same time is SDLC still relevant? I would say yes…but, agile methods are gaining more popularity and probably the better choice except for extremely large scale and critical projects. But to understand where software development is going, it is important to understand why and where it has been. Again, this does not mean you must be an expert when it comes to SDLC. SDLC was designed for structure and predictability. It is a long, linear process that is not very flexible and does not adapt well to change. Agile methods on the other hand use shorter iterations that can create working functionality in a project in a few weeks. Traditional SDLC may not have any coding done for several months. As a project manager, it is important to be familiar with both.

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