about the design of the system. Application developers also participate and observe, trying to understand the essence of the requirements. 3. Construction. In the construction phase the application developers, working with the users, build the next version of the system through an interactive process. Changes can be made as developers work on the program. This step is executed in parallel with the User Design step in an iterative fashion, making modifications until an acceptable version of the product is developed. 4. Cutover. Cutover involves switching from the old system to the new software. Timing of the cutover phase is crucial and is usually done when there is low activity. For example, IT systems in higher education undergo many changes and upgrades during the summer or between fall semester and spring semester. Approaches to the migration from the old to the new system vary between organizations. Some prefer to simply start the new software and terminate use of the old software. Others choose to use an incremental cutover, bringing one part online at a time. A cutover to a new accounting system may be done one module at a time such as general ledger first, then payroll, followed by accounts receivable, etc. until all modules have been implemented. A third approach is to run both the old and new systems in parallel, comparing results daily to confirm the new system is accurate and dependable. A more thorough discussion of implementation strategies appears near the end of this chapter. As you can see, the RAD methodology is much more compressed than SDLC. Many of the SDLC steps are combined and the focus is on user participation and iteration. This methodology is much better suited for smaller projects than SDLC and has the added advantage of giving users the ability to provide feedback throughout the process. SDLC requires more documentation and attention to detail and is well suited to large, resource-intensive projects. RAD makes more sense for smaller projects that are less Information Systems for Business and Beyond (2019) pg. 206
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker