Systems development life-cycle

The sequence of steps, such as planning, creating, testing and deploying and the models for the development and life-cycle management of a system.

application development life-cycle

knowledge

cross-sector

Systems development life-cycle is an essential knowledge of the following occupations:

Telecommunications engineer: Telecommunications engineers design, build, test and maintain telecommunication systems and networks, including radio and broadcasting equipment.
They analyse customer needs and requirements, ensure that the equipment meets regulations, and prepare and present reports and proposals on telecommunication-related problems. Telecommunications engineers design and oversee the service delivery in all it’s phases, supervising the installation and use of telecommunications equipment and facilities, preparing documentation and providing training for company staff once new equipment has been installed.
Embedded system designer: Embedded system designers translate and design requirements and the high-level plan or architecture of an embedded control system according to technical software specifications.
ICT intelligent systems designer: ICT intelligent systems designers apply methods of artificial intelligence in engineering, robotics and computer science to design programs which simulate intelligence including thinking models, cognitive and knowledge-based systems, problem solving, and decision making. They also integrate structured knowledge into computer systems (ontologies, knowledge bases) in order to solve complex problems normally requiring a high level of human expertise or artificial intelligence methods.
Knowledge engineer: Knowledge engineers integrate structured knowledge into computer systems (knowledge bases) in order to solve complex problems normally requiring a high level of human expertise or artificial intelligence methods. They are also responsible for eliciting or extracting knowledge from information sources, maintaining this knowledge, and making it available to the organisation or users. To achieve this, they are aware of knowledge representation and maintenance techniques (rules, frames, semantic nets, ontologies) and use knowledge extraction techniques and tools. They can design and build expert or artificial intelligence systems that use this knowledge.
Chief information officer: Chief information officers define and implement the ICT strategy and governance. They determine necessary resources for the ICT strategy implementation, anticipate ICT market evolutions and company business needs. They contribute to the development of the organisation’s strategic plan and ensure that the ICT infrastructure supports the organisation’s overall operations and priorities.
Database designer: Database designers specify the database’s logical structure, processes, and information flows. They design data models and databases to serve data acquisition.
ICT system analyst: ICT system analysts specify the system needs to meet the end user requirements. They analyse system functions in order to define their goals or purposes and to discover operations and procedures for accomplishing them most efficiently. They also design new IT solutions to improve business efficiency and productivity, produce outline designs and estimate costs of new systems, specify the operations the system will perform, and the way data will be viewed by the end user. They present the design to the users and work closely with the users to implement the solution.
ICT product manager: ICT product managers analyse and define current and target status for ICT products, services or solutions. They estimate the cost effectiveness, points of risk, opportunities, strengths and weaknesses of products or services provided. ICT product managers create structured plans and establish time scales and milestones, ensuring optimisation of activities and resources.
ICT system integration consultant: ICT system integration consultants advise on bringing together different systems to interoperate within an organisation for enabling data sharing and reducing redundancy.

IT auditor: IT auditors perform audits of information systems, platforms, and operating procedures in accordance with established corporate standards for efficiency, accuracy and security. They evaluate ICT infrastructure in terms of risk to the organisation and establish controls to mitigate loss. They determine and recommend improvements in the current risk management controls and in the implementation of system changes or upgrades.
Software architect: Software architects create the technical design and the functional model of a software system, based on functional specifications. They also design the architecture of the system or different modules and components related to the business’ or customer requirements, technical platform, computer language or development environment.
Digital games designer: Digital games designers develop the layout, logic, concept and gameplay of a digital game. They focus on playfield design, specification writing, and entry of numeric properties that balance and tune the gameplay.
ICT system architect: ICT system architects design architecture, components, modules, interfaces, and data for a multi-components system to meet specified requirements.
Software manager: Software managers oversee the acquisition and development of software systems in order to provide support to all organisational units. They also monitor the results and quality of the different software solutions and projects implemented in the organisation.

Systems development life-cycle is optional for these occupations. This means knowing this knowledge may be an asset for career advancement if you are in one of these occupations.

Integration engineer: Integration engineers develop and implement solutions which coordinate applications across the enterprise or its units and departments. They evaluate existing components or systems to determine integration requirements and ensure that the final solutions meet organisational needs. They reuse components when possible and assist management in taking decisions. They perform ICT system integration troubleshooting.
Database integrator: Database integrators perform integration among different databases. They maintain integration and ensure interoperability.
ICT capacity planner: ICT capacity planners ensure that the capacity of ICT services and ICT infrastructure is able to deliver agreed service level targets in a cost effective and timely manner. They also consider all resources required to deliver the appropriate ICT service, and plan for short, medium, and long term business requirements.
ICT business analysis manager: ICT business analysis managers identify areas where information system changes are needed to support business plans and monitor the impact in terms of change management. They contribute to the general ICT functional requirements of the business organisation. ICT business analysis managers analyse business needs and translate them into ICT solutions.
ICT documentation manager: ICT documentation managers are in charge of managing the documentation development process in accordance with legal requirements, standards, organisational policies and goals. They schedule, control and direct the resources, people, funding and facilities of the documentation department (including establishing budgets and timelines, risk analysis and quality management). They also develop documentation standards, structuring methods and media concepts to effectively communicate product concepts and usage.
ICT auditor manager: ICT auditor managers monitor ICT auditors responsible for auditing information systems, platforms, and operating procedures in accordance with established corporate standards for efficiency, accuracy and security. They evaluate ICT infrastructure in terms of risk to the organisation and establish controls to mitigate loss. They determine and recommend improvements in the current risk management controls and in the implementation of system changes or upgrades.
ICT security manager: ICT security managers propose and implement necessary security updates. They advise, support, inform and provide training and security awareness and take direct action on all or part of a network or system.

ICT project manager: ICT project managers schedule, control and direct the resources, people, funding and facilities to achieve the objectives of ICT projects. They establish budgets and timelines, perform risk analysis and quality management, and complete project closure reports.
ICT system administrator: ICT system administrators are responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer and network systems, servers, workstations and peripheral devices. They may acquire, install, or upgrade computer components and software; automate routine tasks; write computer programs; troubleshoot; train and supervise staff; and provide technical support. They ensure optimum system integrity, security, backup and performance.
ICT quality assurance manager: ICT quality assurance managers establish and operate an ICT quality approach through quality management systems, in compliance with internal and external standards and the organisation’s culture. They ensure that the management controls are correctly implemented to safeguard asset, data integrity and operations. They focus on the achievement of quality goals, including the maintenance of the external certification according to quality standards and monitor statistics to forecast quality outcomes.
ICT consultant: ICT consultants provide advice on how to optimise the use of existing tools and systems, make recommendations for the development and implementation of a business project or technological solution and contribute to project definitions. They raise awareness on information technology innovations and their potential value to a business. They also participate in the assessment and choice of ICT solutions.
ICT environmental manager: ICT environmental managers know the green ICT legal framework, understand the role of the ICT network configurations in the economy and energy resources deployment and evaluate the impact of CO2 footprint of each ICT resource in the organisation’s network. They plan and manage the implementation of environmental strategies for ICT networks and systems by conducting applied research, developing organisational policy, and devising strategies to meet sustainability targets. They ensure that the whole organisation uses ICT resources in a way that is as friendly as possible for the environment.

ICT operations manager: ICT operations managers coordinate ICT services and infrastructure ensuring that the organisation has the required infrastructural resources. They also plan and monitor stages of either a business process or a computer process, negotiate contracts and take mitigation action in case of non-fulfilment of agreements. They oversee the day-to-day tasks involving infrastructure components, ICT systems and software.
ICT business analyst: ICT business analysts are in charge of analysing and designing an organisation’s processes and systems, assessing the business model and its integration with technology. They also identify change needs, assess the impact of the change, capture and document requirements and then ensure that these requirements are delivered whilst supporting the business through the implementation process.

References

1. Systems development life-cycle – ESCO