Feb 26

Written by: Hall
2/26/2010 7:31 AM 

In today’s competitive and high pace work force there is much pressure to cut cost and increase productivity across all industries. We find ourselves struggling however with a constant feeling of stress and work overload. Because of this we tend to focus our aggression towards excuses of lack of resources and increased workload. Is it really though?
In the IT world we also feel a similar downward spiral of pressure to keep the business afloat with the latest technologies and real time data to perform at this pace. While often underappreciated it is none the less a much needed piece of your business.
With the constant need of system enhancements to provide the business with the information to succeed it is easy to get lost in a department of chaos. Much like sound business processes can aid you in efficiently cutting cost and managing best business practices, having strong IT processes will do the same for your IT department.
It really takes us back to the basics…..SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle). It is a methodology used to aid your department in software development and maintenance of your system over time.
It consists of the following:
• Planning
Conceptually what is it you want and what is the feasibility? What is the cost benefit of the enhancement or new functionality being requested?
• Design
Putting the plan in play by laying out the details such as how it affects your architecture and what other components are necessary.
• Implementation
Making the design a reality with development efforts and installation of component pieces
• Testing
Finalizing the work by fine tuning the enhancement to make sure it meets the initial request from your planning and designing efforts
• Acceptance
Installation of the enhancement to your production environment where it will hopefully bring the rest of your business more efficiency and cost savings
• Maintenance
Continuous improvement practices and processes setup to aid the end users in any difficulties with the accepted enhancement. A support team or contact method to resolve any issue that may occur.
A successful SDLC methodology that fits your companies IT needs, mixed with strict policing efforts, and executive management as well as company wide support; will only help aid you in the right direction to making better decisions and keep your systems running smoothly. In addition this process aids well in system enhancement tracking for SOX audits if implemented with the proper documentation at each step of the cycle. Spending a little extra time up front planning will limit a great deal of unnecessary enhancements to your system as well as costly development time.
Let’s face it….the need for real time information to make wise business decisions quickly isn’t going to go away. Therefore neither is the stress and pressure of providing system enhanced methods to get it to the right people. Your department’s effectiveness and efficiency will show in the effectiveness and efficiency of your system. Process and organization is the way to make it happen.