System Development Methodology (SDM) is primarily being used for the development of IT-projects. SDM is a waterfall method. This means that a phase only starts when a previous phase has been closed. This counts for all phases, except the first one.
The method As stated before, SDM is a method based on phases. Before every phase everything will be placed on record for that phase. The documents that are made before every phase are called milestonedocuments. In these documents is recorded what has to be done in that phase and who has to do that.
The method uses 7 phases which successively are being executed. The phases are: 1. Problem definition 2. Definition study 3. Design 4. Building system 5. Testing system 6. Testing acceptance 7. Implementation
Phase 1: Problem definition In this phase will be recorded which problem has to be solved by this project. What is the problem what needs to be solved for the users of the software? And which problem has to be solved for the management? This is important because there can be a huge difference between these two parties.
Phase 2: Definition study In this phase information will be recorded about the organization where the software will be used. Also information about the projectteam, the team that will produce the software. Other things that will be recorded are the responsibilities of the project and which milestones will be produced.
Phase 3: Design In this phase the design for the product will be made. In the definition study stands what the software must do, in the design how things must be done. By most projects, this phase will be subdivided in two subphases: - basic design: In this design stands the basic form of the software. With this design it's possible to see how the different parts of the software will work together. - specific design: In this design stands what every component does and how it does that specific task.
Phase 4: Building system In this phase the design is converted to a working program or programs. In old systems, the programmers had to type everything. In new languages, the programmers can convert the design in code. This means that they don't have to type everything. An advantage of this method is that, if the design has been tested correctly. If the design isn't correct and this method will be used, the code is incorrect too.
Phase 5: Testing system In this phase the program will be tested by the development team. They will test if the program works perfectly. Bugs that are found in this phase, will be fixed. At the ending of this phase, the program should work properly.
Phase 6: Testing acceptance In this phase the end-users will test the system. They will test to see if the program does what they want it to do. They will not test every possible scenario, but they will test to see if the program does what they want and that it works in an easy way. Bugs that are found in this phase will be reported to the development team so that they can fix these bugs.
Phase 7: Implementation The final version of the software will be implemented by the organization. Also, in this phase the end-users will be trained to use the program.