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(Alex)There are four phases of the systems development life cycle (SDLC).  The four phases are planning and selection, analysis, design, and implementation. (Valacich, George, & Hoffer, 2015) While the different phases are generally sequential in nature, a system may move from a later phase to an earlier phase as problems or issues arise during the SDLC.  The analysis, design, and implementation phase have different fundamental purposes.  In the planning phase, the need for a system is established and general expectations are laid out.  The analysis phase has the primary purpose of exploring these expectations and requirements in more detail.  The analysis phase is where the systems analyst conducts interviews with users, management, and other stakeholders to thoroughly determine the requirements, while also researching the current capabilities of the previous system, if there was one.  The analyst generates rough solutions for the problem set, presents them to management, and enters the design phase once a potential solution is accepted by the customer.  The design phase is where the system starts to take shape.  Using the research conducted during the analysis phase, a logical design is developed.  The logical design is essentially the steps and processes that the system should go through, independent of the hardware or software of the system.  It is the blueprint that the physical design is based off of.  With the physical design in hand, the implementation phase begins.  “Construction” begins on the process with coders writing programs, testers testing the solution, and the implementation team installs the system onto new or existing hardware.  This phase also includes training to users, evaluation of user experiences with the system, and ongoing support.  This phase continues until the system no longer meets the needs of the organization, starting the cycle all over again.  While these phases make up three fourths of the SDLC, the fundamental purposes are different in that they each correlate to different steps in the overall design process.  

REFERENCES

Valacich, J. S., George, J. F., & Hoffer, J. A. (2015). Essentials of Systems Analysis and Design. Hoboken, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.