Amazon The systems development life cycle is a means by which the life cycle of software can be understood. There are a number of different conceptions of the systems development life cycle, such as the waterfall, the build and fix, rapid prototyping and more. The concept has been around for over a decade, so doubtless Amazon already is quite aware of it, and utilizes it. The benefits of understanding this life cycle include that it allows for more effective project planning -- knowing what will need to be done when, based on life cycle analysis. Systems design can also take into account the expected life cycle of the system in question, while resources can be made available at the right times for things like implementation, integration, testing and installation (Kay, 2002). This is especially the case when there are resource requirements that the firm needs to acquire.

This process would be beneficial for all of Amazon's projects, and they probably already use it. Basically, what the life cycle does is that it allows the organization to think ahead for what its resource needs, based on a couple of key concepts. The first is how long a system should last -- the length of its life cycle -- and how much of that system will need to be replaced upon obsolescence. So this is something that Amazon needs to understand quite well.

2. Business continuity planning "involves developing...

For Amazon, the first step would be to envision the different types of existential threats to the business. These can include such things as natural disasters, to issues affecting the personnel of the business, to economic disasters. The physical threats are arguably the most important, but there are also major cyber threats as well.
Amazon's business continuity plan should lean heavily on duplication, especially of data and of server capabilities. Such duplication can allow the company to continue with its operations should any one facility be out of commission for any length of time. Duplication of data, with segregation, is not necessarily the easiest thing, but it would allow Amazon to turn the switch back on almost immediately after an issue arises. The design of such a restart could allow Amazon to continue with only some of its data in the short run, but the long-run plan has to include business continuity in the long run as well.

3. None of these technologies means much to Amazon's competitiveness. Amazon is one of the most technologically advanced companies in the world, so realistically these relatively old, standard technologies have little…