Software Development Life Cycle: What It Is And How It Affects Your Project

Software Development Life Cycle: What It Is And How It Affects Your Project

Software development does not happen overnight, in fact, if you have ever worked with an offshore or nearshore company, you may have noticed that there are certain specific processes that go beyond developing a software solution.

However, what you may not know is that this process is called the Software Development Life Cycle or SDLC (for its acronym in English) and it can directly affect how your software project is carried out and how it would develop. .

There are multiple different SDLCs that companies apply depending on the type of project they are working on, however, they generally follow a basic structure that allows them to achieve a better job and overall results.

But, before we get into that, let's see what SDLC really is, and why you should pay attention to the model that your external software development partner is using. 

How SDLC Can Affect Your Project

The Software Development Lifecycle or SDLC refers to the ongoing process that all IT outsourcing services companies must go through to develop a web or mobile solution in the shortest time possible and in the most effective manner.

Companies tend to adapt this model as it allows them to go through all phases of software development (planning, design, creation, development, testing, and delivery) in an organized way that ensures that they will achieve maximum levels of productivity and that they will be able to achieve a great product.

As the name itself says, it is a life cycle, which means that it incorporates all the parts, stages and processes that are involved in software development. Simply put, it is one of the few globally accepted software development methodologies that many companies are familiar with.

SDLC is at the core of any software outsourcing relationship. If your nearshore offshore company does not follow a standard method or cannot find a simple way to create a software solution, you are in the wrong hands.

That, yet the manner in which your IT outsourcingg Service, Consultant handles and follows the cycle will decide the accomplishment of the general project, which, obviously, concerns you.

Types of software development lifecycles

As we said earlier, there is only one type of SDLC, which is generally divided into five or seven phases, which we will see later. However, there are different models or shots of these cycles that companies apply depending on the software solution they are creating.

We are not going to directly address these types, since they depend on the type of company and the project you are developing, however, we will mention the most common, such as:

• The agile model
• Rapid application development.
• The Scrum method

The SCRUM methodology is based on the idea of   using an agile framework to manage projects such as software development effectively and progressively through the use of sprints and the division of work into different sections that can be carried out within a period of specific time.

We are not going to analyze in depth the SCRUM method, however, we will say that it is one of the most adaptable and adaptable work methodologies that follow the Software Development Life Cycle almost perfectly.

SDLC PHASES

As we mentioned earlier, the software development life cycle is generally divided into five or seven phases at most. Each focuses on a different aspect of the overall project and moves from one phase of the process to the next until the software solution is finally complete. These steps are:

1: Meeting Requirements

This is the first step in any software development project, and it is based on gathering all the vital requirements regarding the software solution itself in order to create an action plan.

Offshore or Nearshore organization sets aside the effort to record all the significant data about the extent of the venture. Typically, companies do this in two main ways:

One, by hosting a meeting where the nearshore company's Project Manager and senior members of the software development team sit down to discuss the project with the client.

It is during this meeting that the client simply provides the company with all the relevant information about what they want and what they need to do, and it should be done in a clear and professional manner.

Two, resort to short interviews with the client that help clarify exactly what type of software solution they need and what their specific requirements are for this project.

2: Deep Analysis And Planning

When the IT outsourcingg  supplier has all the data and prerequisites on their side, planningg begins. Now is the time to take all that useful information, analyze it, and come up with a solid and functional plan.

Together, they should take into consideration all of the above points made by the client and perform an in-depth analysis regarding the feasibility of the project, the technical, economic, functional  and operational aspects that might create this method succeed or fail.

Once all these points have been taken care of, they should end up with a suitable action plan that describes in depth how they will be carried out with the project, the different stages that it will go through, the technologies that they will use, etc.

Some companies divide this step into a third step, in which they create an SRS document, also known as a Software Requirements Specification document, that includes and documents all the requirements and expected behavior of a specific software solution. However, we will include this step as part of phase 2.

3. Coding Or Product Development

This is when the actual software development process begins, and unsurprisingly this part is carried out by the team's software engineers, who are in charge of the code at each stage or part of the overall process.

During this phase, each engineer must inform the PM or the Business Analyst and show their work done so far, being open to any comments or modifications that may be necessary.

It is worth mentioning that this is usually the longest part of the software development life cycle, as it involves more people and more software development methodologies being used at the same time.

4: Testing or QA

After the development part is finished, the outsourcing service provider should start testing the software solution on several different test platforms to make sure that all the features are working as they should.

During this stage, QA will check each piece of software, run it on different platforms, check how it responds to integrations, and use it as the end user.

5: Delivery and implementation

How the offshore or nearshore company decides to implement and deploy the software solution will depend entirely on the size and complexity of the final product.

However, companies tend to use the waterfall method for larger software solutions or the Agile method for software development projects that are much less demanding and easier to implement.

And that's how IT outsourcing services companies handle and administer everything related to software development. Again, this is a standard methodology and companies can (and will) tailor this method to what they specifically need.