The SDLC, or Software Development Life Cycle, is a model that specifies what must be done at each stage of the software creation process. Following a software development life cycle ensures development teams complete all essential steps for releasing quality software. 

Understanding the SDLC term and what the software development life cycle means, helps organizations streamline development and consistently release secure, functional software. This guide covers everything you need about the software development life cycle. 

What Is SDLC? 

The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a structured process that guides software from initial conception through development, deployment, and ongoing maintenance. It ensures efficiency, consistency, and quality by defining distinct SDLC phases, each producing key deliverables necessary for the next stage. SDLC models serve as blueprints for managing complex software projects, allowing teams to tailor frameworks to fit specific methodologies and project needs.

Key benefits of utilizing SDLC methodologies include: 

• Improved quality control and testing 
• Enhanced collaboration between teams 
• Streamlined requirements gathering 
• More accurate budget and timeline estimates 
• Reduced risk throughout development 
• Increased customer satisfaction 

Well-defined SDLC processes allow organizations to release software faster with fewer defects. Understanding the software development life cycle helps managers improve development times, cut costs, and boost customer satisfaction. 

What are the Phases of SDLC? 

While variations exist, most SDLC models contain these core phases:

1. Planning

Every new project begins with planning. In this initial phase, the team defines the software’s scope and purpose. 

Key planning activities include: 

• Identifying customer needs 
• Defining requirements and specifications 
• Estimating timelines and costs 
• Assessing risks 
• Obtaining resources 
• Outlining tasks and responsibilities 

Thorough planning lays the groundwork for development teams to stay on track throughout the project.

2. Designing

The next SDLC phase is the designing phase. The team creates a software design plan outlining the architecture, interfaces, and components. This SDLC phase determines how the software is about to function, appear, and interact. 

Typical design phase deliverables include: 

• Interface designs and prototypes 
• Database models 
• Hardware and software specifications 
• Coding standards and frameworks 

The design process transforms requirements into a detailed software blueprint.

3. Building

With a solid design plan in place, developers start building the software in the construction SDLC phase. Coding and configuration take place during this step. 

The building stage involves: 

• Creating new code and interfaces 
• Integrating modules and components 
• Testing units, classes, and functions 
• Conducting code reviews 
• Updating SDLC documentation 

The development team brings the software design to life during this critical phase.

4. Testing

Before releasing the software, the team verifies and validates it works as expected. Rigorous testing identifies defects and code issues. 

Testing activities include: 

• Functional testing with test cases 
• User acceptance testing 
• Load and performance testing 
• Security testing 
• Debugging and fixing defects 

Testing ensures the software functions correctly and securely at scale.

5. Deploying

Once the software passes all tests, it’s ready for deployment. During this SDLC stage, the application is installed and configured in production. 

The deployment process involves: 

• Training end users 
• Transitioning the software into production 
• Migrating data 
• Cutting over to the new system 

A smooth deployment introduces the solution to users with minimal disruption. 

6. Maintaining

Even after deployment, development teams continue maintaining and enhancing the software. Updates and patches fix issues and add new capabilities. 

Post-deployment maintenance activities include: 

• Providing technical support 
• Managing configuration changes 
• Monitoring performance 
• Addressing security vulnerabilities 
• Adding new features 
• Optimizing speed and scalability 

Proper maintenance ensures long-term software success after the initial release. 

The Key Players in the SDLC: Roles and Responsibilities Explained 

Delivering quality software requires careful coordination between many roles. Here are the key players and their responsibilities in the SDLC process: 

• Project Managers oversee the entire project lifecycle. They plan tasks, set timelines, and manage resources. 
• Business Analysts document requirements based on input from clients and stakeholders. 
• Software Architects design the software framework and infrastructure. 
• Developers write, debug, and review the source code. 
• QA Testers verify the software works by identifying bugs and defects. 
• Release Engineers automate and facilitate the build, test, and deployment processes. 
• Security Professionals perform risk assessments and ensure the software is secure. 
• Product Managers drive the business objectives and prioritize features. 
• Technical Writers create user documentation and training materials. 

With clear roles and responsibilities assigned to qualified specialists, development teams can deliver software efficiently. 

Selecting the Right SDLC Methodology

While the SDLC provides an overarching framework, teams must choose a specific methodology for each project. Common SDLC methodologies or models include: 

• Waterfall – Sequential linear stages. 
• Agile – Iterative cycles and incremental delivery. 
• DevOps – Integration of development and operations. 
• Rapid application development (RAD) – Fast-paced adaptive development. 

Factors like requirements, team culture, and project size influence the ideal methodology. Most modern teams implement agile frameworks like Scrum to accelerate delivery. 

Regardless of the specific model, utilizing the software development life cycle sets projects up for success. A structured SDLC methodology leads to higher-quality software built securely within budget and schedule. 

The Importance of Documentation 

Comprehensive SDLC documentation provides a roadmap for development teams to build, test, and maintain software applications. Robust documentation at every stage of the SDLC improves process efficiency and product quality. 

Document types commonly created during the software lifecycle include: 

• Requirements Documents – Outline the business and user needs the software must meet. They are created during planning and inform all downstream processes. 
• Technical Specifications – Provide technical implementation details for designers and developers. Specs evolve throughout the lifecycle as the software takes shape. 
• Test Plans – Define the testing scope, scenarios, cases, and expected results. Rigorous test documentation contributes to software stability and security. 
• User Manuals – Explain how end users complete tasks with the software. Well-written manuals improve the customer experience. 
• Maintenance Plans – Help sustain software after deployment. They guide change management and new feature development. 

Thorough documentation enables stakeholders to make informed decisions at each stage of the SDLC. It provides continuity when team members change and tribal knowledge is lost. Investing in robust documentation pays dividends in higher quality software that better fits customer needs. 

Choosing the Right Software Development Tools 

Specialized tools optimize workflows during coding, testing, and deployment. Selecting the best tools for the job accelerates software development and delivery. 

Here are key tool categories to consider across the SDLC: 

• Source Code Management – Track changes and enable collaboration between developers.
• IDEs – Integrated development environments for writing, running, and debugging code.
• Build Tools – Automate compiling source code and managing dependencies. 
• CI/CD Tools – Automate builds, tests, and releases. 
• Application Monitoring – Monitor performance and detect issues in production. 
• Test Automation – Automate repetitive test cases. 

Choosing the right mix of trusted development tools for each project enables teams to deliver higher-quality software faster. 

Outsourcing and Offshoring SDLC Work 

Organizations sometimes outsource or offshore parts of the SDLC to access specialized expertise or reduce costs. However, outsourcing software development introduces risks around quality, security, and intellectual property. 

Best Practices for Outsourcing SDLC

Here are some best practices for outsourcing SDLC to work successfully: 

• Perform due diligence to select reputable partners that follow secure SDLC methodologies. 
• Specify requirements and validate capabilities through prototypes or samples. 
• Use source code repositories and tools that prevent unauthorized access or leaks. 
• Schedule frequent inspections and mandate compliance with internal standards. 
• Retain full rights and ownership of intellectual property. 
• Build relationships at the executive level for effective collaboration. 
• Designate internal team members to manage and monitor outsourced work. 

With careful vendor selection, requirements gathering, and oversight, companies can safely outsource aspects of the software development lifecycle. However, organizations must weigh cost savings against potential risks. 

Conclusion 

Following a structured software development life cycle allows organizations to create higher-quality applications efficiently. Breaking projects into planned phases reduces risk and sets clear milestones. Careful documentation provides continuity across teams and stages. Utilizing the right tools optimizes development, testing, and deployment.  

While outsourcing can provide cost savings, it requires close management to minimize risks. With a solid understanding of SDLC best practices, companies can deliver innovative software, like employee recognition software and other solutions that exceed customer expectations.

Project management software is an online collaborative app used by businesses of every size in any industry for project planning, resource availability analysis, and scheduling. If you’re working on a project, you can log in and get informed on what has been already done, what you should be doing, and when. The most important benefit of Project Management software is that it keeps organizations from wasting time on updating spreadsheets. It also saves the time spent participating in weekly update meetings.  

In the past, organizations only needed to have a whiteboard, a marker, and an idea of a manager to run projects. With the innovations in technology, how projects get managed has evolved. Organizations now want to do less manually yet gain more. They want efficient and affordable automation tools.

Project Management software can be integrated with association management systems, too. The AMS provides organizations with an excellent platform to manage data. This way, an organization doesn’t have to jump from system to system to get things done. With the technical features of PMS and AMS, organizations can continuously look after the progress of projects. As a result, projects can get completed efficiently while producing quality results. 

In this article, you’ll understand the reasons why organizations need Project Management software (PMS). Following are the benefits of Project Management:

1. Effective Customer Communication  

Maintaining regular and effective customer communication and experience during a project life cycle is important. There’s always a likelihood of friction creeping into projects. This happens mostly if multiple teams work remotely from different locations. A good example is in situations where a conference call gets delayed. Sometimes a conference room is not available for a meeting. This can leave people wondering if the meeting is necessary in the first place. That’s where Project Management software comes in. 

It ensures that collaboration with clients gets streamlined through timely communication. It also helps to ensure faster approvals and transparent project tracking. A PMS enables access to project dashboards, helping clients to track progress. They can also give prompt approvals and make decisions without delays. 

2. Risk Management

Identifying potential risks during the project planning stage helps to eliminate them. But, sometimes people forget until it’s too late. Project Management software, though not a replacement for a good project manager, helps in sorting that out. It helps in planning and tracking project risks in good time. 

Apart from tracking tasks, a PMS gives a complete overview of the project. As a result, you’re able to identify potential obstacles and risks. That way, they can be evaded with ease. 

3. Better Scheduling

Tracking milestones in a project can get very problematic. That’s because every team member wants to know what needs to be completed and by when. The right Project Management software helps to employ clear and easy-to-follow Gantt charts of timelines. The software also allows project managers to update the Gantt chart. This is important in situations where things change at a moment’s notice. 

Collaborative software enables virtual managers to give instructions in an accessible way. They can display individual tasks and let everyone know where they stand. As a result, a poor organization can never be an excuse for missed deadlines.

4. Document Sharing and Access 

Easy control over documents is one of the best benefits of Project Management tools. Project management software allows you to track modifications or submissions. This is aside from the fact that documents can’t get misplaced or lost. It brings about more accountability and transparency. You can tell who changed what in a certain document. It’s also practical. That’s because employees can find documents without trawling through shared drives. It also brings convenience when users are waiting for an updated file version. 

5. Improved Resource Management 

Resource management is critical to every project team. It doesn’t matter that you’re part of an agency or you’re a freelance contractor. Whether you’re in creative marketing or you offer professional services. Whatever you do, you’ll have to track and allocate resources like skilled and unskilled labor. There are also facility budgets, billable and nonbillable clocked time, and a lot more. 

Your team member’s time, capacity, and schedule are some of the most important resources. PMS helps with time management using features for building work calendars. Some features help with tracking the time spent on tasks. These features can also analyze where resources are going. 

6. Easy Collaboration 

Team members are usually assigned individual roles that are part of the project. It’s sometimes hard to track a project’s status to be able to collaborate with colleagues. With the use of a PMS, teams, and managers can collaborate on tasks in real-time and with little effort. That is made easy by discussing tasks, timelines, dependencies, and outstanding tasks. Project management software enables managers to keep everyone together. This way, they’re sure that each member knows what to work on. The software allows them to generate task lists with priorities. Apart from better collaboration, this also reduces re-work. Team members can concentrate on continuous and fast-paced service delivery. 

7. Improved Process Standardization

Operational business processes become more sophisticated as the team grows. That means that employees who were not present as things developed may have it tough catching up. With the adoption of PMS, there will be no such thing as my way or their way. It’s the entire team’s way. 

Workflows and views can get customized. But, naming conventions, populating forms, and everything else becomes standardized. This way processes are teachable whenever someone new comes on board. The software provides various types of documentation and file management systems. This means that you can build, store, and search databases of workflow standards. 

High-level software includes features like customizable project request forms. The features ensure that the right step is taken. That may mean updating dependent task deadlines or requesting more information about tasks. 

Comidor Project Management Software

Failure to have the right Project Management software exposes the organization to chaotic situations. Teams are likely to struggle with unclear goals, projects crossing the budget, and deadlines. But all of this is significantly changing with the involvement of the current Project Management system. So choose wisely. Because successful project management depends on the best Project Management system that will lead your company to meet all your goals with ease!

Comidor Project Management is an enterprise-grade application that helps you streamline projects, manage people and bring your team, projects, sales, and reports in one place. This powerful and feature-rich project management tool is equipped with high-quality task management functionality, real-time collaboration and enterprise document management capabilities, as well as automatic, advanced reports.

Author bio:
Dan has had hands-on experience in digital marketing since 2007. He has been building teams and coaching others to foster innovation and solve real-time problems. Dan also enjoys photography and traveling. 

In today’s business environments, project management is essential for the success of any organization over a wide range of products and industries. Everything from building projects to software development to music and film releases, project management plays an integral part. A project manager must be able to research, plan, organize, maintain, and manage the time, budget, and resources necessary to reach a project’s goals and project milestones to completion. It also falls within the scope of the project manager to avoid risks that might derail the project. 

Automation for Project Managers

Project managers now have at their disposal many tools that can help them manage tasks they didn’t have even a few years ago.

Today’s project managers have access to various technologies on a computer or through smartphone apps, including those which use artificial intelligence. These technologies help project managers perform repetitive tasks without having to dedicate more time and resources to them. The result is a systematic way to keep projects organised, and on track.

Regular emails and communication, for example, can be completely automated. Project meetings can be scheduled with notifications sent out to participants regularly with an email follow-up tool.  Other project management tools can help managers keep track of mileage and overhead expenses by scanning and keeping a running total of receipts, and orders. Automation can also track deliverables such as product procurement statuses and also keep customers, team members, and stakeholders abreast of the project. Moreover, they can inform them of roadblocks and other issues that need tackling.

The following are the five necessary steps in project management:

1. Defining a Project 

The first milestone of project management is to recognize that a project is worth doing and determining the overall project goal. When proposing a project, the stakeholders and the project manager should have a clear idea of:

• The goals and what the project will accomplish
• Determine expectations of customers, management and stakeholders
• Determine the Project Scope

Much of this stage will be between the project manager, stakeholders, and initial members of the project team. This can include brainstorming meetings, conference calls, and emails.

2. Planning a Project 

The next part of project management is to refine further the project scope and how it will be accomplished in terms of necessary tasks, project phases or project milestones, and the activities that are necessary to meet these goals. This is the time in which project managers will:

• Set budgetary considerations in terms of goals, resources, and cost to deliver on time, on budget, and agreed-upon specifications
• Determine the resources necessary to complete the project
• Estimate what it will cost to purchase equipment, materials, as well as hiring and training personnel to work on the project and bring it to a successful conclusion
• Outline considerations such as permits, contracts, the infrastructure needed, risks, and potential issues that could delay your project and estimate the time necessary to address them

There are several software solutions to send out project documents and other necessary communication to appropriate team members. 

3. Procurement of Resources 

Once project managers have approved the budget and allocated the funds, they place the plan into a visual environment such as Comidor. Then, they show to the project team what tasks they need to perform, who and when they are due.

When this part of a project is automated, it can speed the process of approval. Automation can also give everyone involved a clear picture of their role within a project and the processes needed to complete them in a logical and organized way. 

4. Project Execution & Implementation

After launch, it falls to the project manager to keep track of tasks, budgets, and expenses.  The project manager informs the team members, stakeholders, and customers abreast of what’s happening during the life of the project.  Automating these processes makes these tasks more manageable for the project manager.  

For example, you can create email templates to answer questions that arise most often.  Microsoft Excel can calculate costs and track progress in the project. Kanban boards and Gantt charts can be created to help project managers and teams plan, prioritize, and schedule project elements and project milestones. These automated tools usually drag and drop so that different aspects of a project can change as circumstances change.

A project manager can also create task lists for individuals and team members to assign tasks, due dates, and updates. Also, a project manager can track the time spent on specific project elements that can affect budgets and schedules.

If issues do arise, a ticket-based tracking tool can alert team members, customers, and stakeholders about the project progress. 

During this phase, project managers primarily monitor the schedule and other quality assurance (QA) aspects of the project.  If there is a need for any changes, these aspects can be sent out to keep stakeholders, teams, managers, and executives informed about the progress of the project.

5. Closing Down a Project 

According to the Project Management Institute’s Global Standard, as outlined in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide, a project comes to a successful conclusion when it meets criteria set out in the initial planning stages. What’s more, it should meet quality controls set out by the project manager and the stakeholders.

The final project milestone, the closing process is a set of tasks performed which complete all activities attached to a project. It’s at this time that a project manager will determine whether the project succeeded or not. Part of this process includes: 

• Conducting a post-project review, including successes, failures, and lessons learned
• Release all relevant project documentation to stakeholders, teams, and customers
• Closeout any procurements

If no further change orders or addendums are required, then the last step can be done. This last step refers to obtaining acceptance by the customer or stakeholder to release the project manager and team. 

These processes can be automated and made available to create a final report by the project manager. Then, the project manager can send out these reports to everyone connected to the project.  This information can also be analyzed and as a reference for any additional projects.

Author Bio:

Micheal Habiger is an experienced content writer and marketer with 6 years of experience. Currently a senior marketing specialist at FollowUpFred.

Who to involve, in what, why and how in order to gather all the needed information to identify, analyze and evaluate the business Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities to achieve its objectives?

Who: Anyone who is related somehow with the business, internal and external individuals, Senior Executives, Employees, Customers and Partners should participate

In What: in events and actions used together information to fill in the SWOT matrix such as Brainstorming, Meetings, Surveys, Reports, Research

Why: anyone based on his/her role, interests, skills, knowledge, professional profile and background can contribute offering specified and reliable information, confirming results and making conclusions

How: involving each individual in the most appropriate techniques in order to maximize his/her contribution in the whole process providing crucial and reliable information and enhancing the collaboration feeling

Populating SWOT Matrix using Comidor Tools

SWOT Analysis requires being realistic and rigorous to reveal useful information and get ready to face new challenges and exploit new opportunities. Comidor offers tools that can be used to reveal critical internal and external factors for business success and can also support decision making on assessing these factors.

• Topics

This communication tool can be used for brainstorming as internal and external users, as quests, can create and participate in a topic of discussion. This discussion can be on Enterprise, Department, or Team level for enhancing teamwork online. For example, the causes of poor performance on KPIs can be discussed among employees, supervisors and HR representatives.

• Video Conferencing

This communication functionality of Comidor can be used by senior executives for structured meetings to assess the significance of the identified factors, set priorities and define strategies.

• Form Management

Form Management tool enables us to design online questionnaires for employees’ self-assessment, keep track of the employees answers and export helpful advanced statistics.

• Email Campaigns

This feature allows business to conduct survey on customers satisfaction sending them the questionnaires created through CRM Form Management via email.

• Document management system (DMS)
  

Documents gathered by research on external business environment can be managed and shared using Comidor’s DMS.

• Balanced Scorecard

This Comidor application allow us to quantify business efficiency and track our success or failure.

• Sales Funnel Chart

This chart is a part of the Business Intelligence tools that Comidor offers and can help us to understand our weaknesses in sales process.

• Competition management

Comparing our sales success versus our competitors and presenting won versus lost deals competition management tool can reveal existing market threats and others that may arise.

Utilizing SWOT Matrix using Comidor

SWOT Analysis is neither the first nor the last step of the iterative process of strategic planning. The Business Workflow and Case Management Comidor apps can automate and eventually facilitate this process ensuring agile collaboration. Example of cases that should be managed after population of SWOT Matrix could be:

• • How to manage the weaknesses so as not to consist a barrier into the opportunities
  • How and which of the strengths can help the business to face the revealed threats
  • How to minimize, eliminate or convert the weaknesses to strengths, if it is possible

This is our approach on how the best cloud CRM Project Management software can be used as decision making tool…We hope that we have inspired you

In the business world there is no single way to achieve your goals and meet your needs. In light of that we present an approach that may fit to the way you work and may remind or inspire you to utilize technology for your benefit.

Why SWOT & Why Comidor?

SWOT analysis enables anyone, from individuals to large organizations, to identify its Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to achieve a specific goal or objective. The true value of SWOT analysis is that the SWOT matrix/diagram offers gathered information facilitating the development of successful strategies and decision – making.

There are useful SWOT Analysis software solutions which provide templates, pre-filled lists and tutorials helping you to design and create your SWOT diagram. However software is just a tool serving its intended purpose. Therefore even application that has not been developed for SWOT but has the potentials to support it, can be used for it.

Comidor is an Enterprise Collaboration system which combines basic with advanced integrated functionalities of Business Processes, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Project Management (PM), and Business Intelligence that can be used to gather the needed information to populate the SWOT matrix. An excellent cloud crm project management software which really facilitates teamwork online.

The role of Mission, Vision and Values

First of all, business should have clearly defined what is offering to whom and which is the desired situation or destination for its future. Effective mission and vision statements let business to set realistic and measurable goals and KPIs for which it is going to perform SWOT Analysis.

Values that can help the process of SWOT are honesty and openness which enhance enterprise collaboration. These values create the proper working environment and atmosphere that allows employees, customers and other stakeholders to reveal real weaknesses and threats that can be proved crucial for the business existence and success. Comidor can enhance:

• collaboration providing communication tools such as emails, internal messages, chat and videoconference
• transparency and trust among managers, employees and other stakeholders using Comidor as guests via sharing of files, documents and folders and provision of public access rights to information, data, reports and statistics.

The purpose of SWOT is for business to take action developing strategies always in alignment with the mission, vision, and values. Comidor enables business to do that by:

• creating and managing Projects, Tasks, Workflows, Specific Cases, and Actions
• creating and updating Comidor wiki pages for the business mission, vision, values, goals, productivity measurements and objectives that can be accessed by anyone. These wiki pages may act as reminders to keep the business effort aligned.

Conclusion

SWOT Analysis followed by an action plan is vital for the business efficiency and effectiveness and Comidor can support:

• the open and honest working environment required for SWOT and
• the development of the action plan afterwards.

But, how Comidor can be used to gather the needed information to fill in the SWOT matrix?

Who to involve, in what, why and how? The answer @the sequel