Software development lifecycle overview

SDLC

DQ-2 What component of an SDLC is typically overlooked or not emphasized in a project

The final screening stage of the SDLC systems testing process is without a doubt the most overlooked aspect of the development sequence. Once a new system has been running for a while, the system should continue to be evaluated for potential problems. The system must be maintained, and checked for existing and potential problems such as unnecessary delays, vulnerability to crashing if overloaded, to newly released viruses or worms that render the system vulnerable to attacks, or simply to the potential for the system's unintentional misuse by the designated users. How can security be improved? How can the use of the system be simplified for the uninitiated? What new threats are posed to the system inside and outside not in existence when the system was first designed? All of these are important questions. Also, the users of the system should be kept up-to-date concerning the latest modifications and procedures designed to alleviate these problems. ("Define the systems development lifecycle," 2006, VB Definitions)

At the end of the development process, after the system's initial bugs have been worked out, it is only natural that the software development personnel wish to move onto new projects, rather than dwell upon a project that has already been completed. Often the final stage requires the staff to again deal again with laypersons, whose naive questions may seem frustrating to an experienced developer.