Have you ever worked on a project without clear direction or guidelines? I have experienced many hardships because of this confusion. Without structure and task lists, what could have been a basic project turns into a mess of miscommunication. The same principle applies to software development management. In an age where software development is a core function of most organizations, specific and detailed processes need to be in place to ensure information systems are well developed. What is a secure software development life cycle (SDLC)?

Here is my experience.

What is a Software Development Life Cycle?

An SDLC is a framework that helps define tasks and work phases that are used by system engineers and developers to plan, design, build, test, and deliver information systems. Why is software development management important to your organization? It’s about maintaining a secure environment that supports your business needs. It’s made up of policies, procedures, and standards that guide your organization’s secure software development processes. There are many software development models that can be implemented in your organization. These methodologies include waterfall, agile, lean software development, DevOps, Iterative Development, Spiral Development, and V-Model Development. As acting CTO I must understand how the ramifications of this process applies to my organisation.

The 5 Phases of an SDLC

For whichever software development methodology your organization implements, you’ll find a common structure between the various models. These five phases of a software development life cycle can be identified in each methodology:

• Planning – Start your secure software development by mapping out a timeline, requirements, and any preliminary details necessary.
• Analysis – The organization defines objectives, project goals, and the functions and operations of the application.
• Design – Detailed screen layouts, business rules, process diagrams, pseudocode, and other documentation is laid out. Development begins and secure code is written.
• Implementation – Testing and integration bring all the pieces together in an environment that checks for errors, bugs, vulnerabilities, gaps, and interoperability.
• Maintenance – Once your software is developed, maintaining updates, performance evaluations, and making any changes to the initial software are key maintenance procedures.

How will Software Development Management Make You More Secure?

The process of developing and building secure software can help your development team understand common security pitfalls to avoid. In the complex world of software development, it’s easy to miss issues in your code when you are not implementing a detailed plan of action. By using the right tools to aid in secure software development, you can cut down on costs, increase efficiency, and implement continuous testing to reduce risk.