Business Analyst and the SDLC

This is an advanced article for people looking to enhance their knowledge base about a Business Analyst’s work. It covers what the involvement of the Business Analyst in the SDLC.

For the uninitiated, SDLC is the System Development Life Cycle, meaning the life cycle of the development of a system. It is basically the step by step detailing of all the processes that take place in the development of a system. A business Analyst is closely involved with the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC).

To begin with, a brief overview of the SDLC steps is given below for the people who are new to the field of IT and Engineering and to refresh and jog the memory of those already in the know.

SDLC contains of the following steps:

·         Project Planning and Feasibility Study – This is where the project is planned in advance with timelines and results expected. A feasibility study is done prior to that to determine if the system is indeed feasible.

·         System Analysis and Requirement definition – This is where the Business Analyst in consultation with the client of the project, who will be the end user of the system, defines the requirements clearly and a thorough analysis is done.

·         System Design – This is the phase of the SDLC where the system is designed as per the requirements.

·         System Development – Here, the system coding and development is done by the technical team working on the project, comprising of the software engineers and programmers.

·         System Implementation – Here, the system is actually implemented, meaning the developers actually put together their creations in the previous phases. This phase could generally be called the actual creation of the software.

·         System Integration and Testing – Here the software developed and implemented, is actually tested to see if it is working fine before it is actually integrated.

·         System Acceptance and Installation - Here, the software developed and created is actually checked if it will be work in live conditions and be beneficial to the client’s company, for which it is designed for.

·         System Maintenance – The software developed, and then should be maintained well. Any problems arising are then fixed appropriately to maintain the developed software well. Proper and timely monitoring of the software will ensure reliable, efficient software.

The Business Analyst is involved at all stages of the SDLC.  The Business Analyst works closely with the client, who is the end user of the project, and defines the requirements after thorough study of the existing system, and after gauging the feasibility of the intended new system. The remaining phases also require the involvement of the Business Analyst since he is the bridge between the client and the technical team of software developers and programmers which are working on the project. The Business Analyst should be well versed in both – the business of the client so as to understand what his needs are from the intended system, and the IT part as well so as to solve the technical queries and problems that the technical team may face while developing the project.