Question

Discuss the purpose of the Systems Development Life Cycle, and apply it to a personal or professional situation and discuss how it applies. Detail the steps in the cycle.

Answer 1

Ans) The basic system development life cycleis the process used to identify, investigate, design, information systems.

- To assist in accomplishing the goal of choosing and maintaining the best systems, the information system process usually consists of six principle phases:
1. Initiation phase
2. Analysis phase
3. Design phase
4. Implementation phase
5. Operations/maturity phase
6. Evaluation phase
taken as a whole, these phases make up what is typically called the information system life cycle.

1) Initiation phase:
is the method through which organizations make decisions to invest in particular information systems. This leading effort is necessary to understand what is involved in replacing existing information systems and in selecting new ones. It supports an integrated approach to acquiring new products and ensures a clear identification of the project scope as a starting point. Goals are:
a budget
a schedule
identification of system integration requirements
statement of the problem as understood at this point are outlined

2) Analysis phase:
- to provide an information system that meets user requirements, the health information manager must identify how an automated system can support the performance of the user tasks. Understanding the environment in which user tasks are performed is an essential part of the analysis phase and provides the context to identify user needs formally. The analysis phase lays the foundation and provides the map for system design and implementation. This is a detailed activity that includes the review of current practices, play and processes, in the associated functional requirements so that appropriate decisions can be made.

3) Design phase:
- On the basis of the findings or requirements that are identified in the analysis phase in on a design to proceed, system design encompasses activities related to specifying the details of a new system or upgrades and additions to an existing system. Typically, this includes making decisions about the logical and physical design of the system. Through the use of structured design tools such as computer aided software engineering (CASE) programs, a systems blueprint is developed.

4) Implementation phase:
- It involves making the system operational in the organization - implementation characteristically covers a wide range of tasks including the following:
system testing
user training and retraining
site preparation
managing organization change and system impact

5) Operations/maturity phase:
- As the use of information systems increases in healthcare facilities, personnel (clinical and administrative) who use the systems grow dependent on them to do their jobs. These systems need to be reliable and available, often 24/7. Tom Payne, M.D., noted that causes for systems outages at the University of Washington clinical areas have been highly variable, including construction mishaps serving cables, the air-conditioning system failures, users mistakenly plugging two ends of a network cable into adjacent wall ports, and denial of service attacks.

6) Evaluation phase:
- It is important in any system development effort - frequently, systems are developed and implemented but never evaluated to determine whether the original goals for implementation are met. Foregoing the evaluation stage may mean that potential system benefits are not realized - to achieve maximum benefits relaxation, all systems should be evaluated against predeveloped criteria and needs requirements.

Organization as a whole has a life cycle of its own.
Organization-wide information system process stages:
Initiation - organization begins to automate information functions
Expansion - growth of information automation; usually unplanned
Control - organization tries to manage IT growth and resources
Integration - organization attempts to apply organizational standards, policies, procedures
Data administration - integrated databases are developed
Maturity - growth of applications focused on strategic importance
Identifying an organization's point in the life cycle helps explain the existence of certain policies and strategic decisions.

- Information systems become obsolete for several reasons. A system may be obsolete because it uses older technology that cannot meet current information processing demands. The use of older technology in itself does not necessarily mean that the information system is obsolete. Rather, it is whether technology meets required needs that determines obsolescence. Systems can also become obsolete because they cannot handle an increase in the volume of data or cannot handle more sophisticated data management tasks. Systems frequently become obsolete because they do not support the strategic objectives of the organization.