Lifecycle
Overview
Planning
The Planning phase focuses on the scope of the project based on stakeholder requirements. The outputs can include items such as project plans, schedules, and cost estimates. This SDLC phase overlaps with the Portfolio Delivery (PD) “Planning phase” and the EAS teams are involved in understanding the requirements and assisting in defining a timeline for the project. This team also define their roles and responsibilities and determine the impact on new or existing software assets and what team resources may be needed to deliver the solution. More details on the Portfolio Delivery “Planning” phase and artefacts.
Design
In the Design phase of software development, the focus is on transforming the requirements gathered during the Requirements Analysis phase into a detailed blueprint for building the software. This phase involves creating architectural designs, system models, and detailed specifications that guide the development process. Key activities include:
- System Architecture Design: Defining the overall structure of the software, including the major components and their interactions.
- Feature Design: Specifying the functionalities and behaviors of each component, including data models, interface designs, and algorithms.
- UX Design: Creating wireframes, mockups, and prototypes to visualize the user interface and ensure it meets user requirements and usability standards.
- Security: Documenting the technical requirements for hardware, software, network, and security.
The Design phase is part of the Portfolio Delivery execution phase. The EAS teams assist in clarifying system functionality and high level technical designs. Input is also provided into requirements – functional and non-functional. Estimates can also be further refined at this point to assist in planning timelines.
Development & System Test
The EAS teams produce the lower-level technical designs and break the requirements into technical user stories with acceptance criteria. These stories are estimated with a greater degree of accuracy and prioritised in the teams backlog. Once elaborated, stories can be picked up by the development and testing team to be built and system tested. Testing will focus on automation with manual testing the least preferred option. During this phase, the team creates the User Interface (UI), business logic, data structures, and other components that make the software. They also generate any documentation needed to support the project. This phase is part of the Portfolio Delivery execution phase.
Useful standards and practice relevant to this phase include
Integration Testing
The integration testing phase is a crucial stage that helps ensure the software meets the required standards. During this phase, the various components of the solution are tested to ensure that they work as expected and conform to the specifications set out in the earlier phases. Any issues found during this testing phase are passed back to the development teams to be rectified, and a new version of the software is produced. As in the previous phase, automation testing will be a strong focus over manual testing. This phase is part of the Portfolio Delivery execution phase.
Useful standards and practice relevant to this phase include
Release & Deployment
The release phase includes activities associated with the team packaging, managing, and deploying releases across different environments. One the solution has been built, packaged and has been rigorously tested in each testing phase, the development team moves the software via automated deployment processes into the production environment. At this stage the software is ready to go live. This phase is part of the Portfolio Delivery execution phase.
Useful standards and practice relevant to this phase include
Operation & Monitoring
Once the software is in its production environment the IT owner and team are responsible for tracking performance metrics and regularly managing and supporting the software. In addition, the solutions are monitored for performance, user experience, new security vulnerabilities, and more. By investing time in this phase, enterprises identify issues that may occur during the run and take the necessary actions to achieve optimal performance. This phase is part of the Portfolio Delivery execution phase.
Early Consulting
In the Initiation and Feasibility stages of the Portfolio Delivery delivery model the EAS teams are involved in providing consulting as needed to improve the understanding of the solution needed. This can include assisting in the UX requirements, conceptual and solution architectures, high level estimates and input into environments needed and requirements. Although not officially a SDLC phase, initial consulting helps the early shaping and design teams bring solutions to life.