How do modern companies ensure that software projects are delivered on time, within budget, and with the right quality? Can a structured approach really reduce risks and costly mistakes during development? The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is often presented as the backbone of effective system creation, but how relevant is it in today’s fast-changing tech environment?

From planning and requirements analysis to design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance, each phase of the systems development life cycle plays a specific role. But do all projects truly benefit from following every stage strictly, or is flexibility more important? How do agile and DevOps approaches fit into the traditional SDLC model?

Is the systems development life cycle still a must-have framework for building reliable systems, or has it evolved into something more adaptive and hybrid?