Analysis of SDLC and Waterfall Methodologies in IT Project Management

This report provides an overview of project management methodologies, focusing on the SDLC and Waterfall models. It defines methodology and its role in project management, emphasizing its capability to handle complex projects systematically. The report compares and contrasts the SDLC and Waterfall models, highlighting their similarities and differences, such as the sequential nature of Waterfall versus the iterative approach of SDLC. It also explores how these methodologies relate to the project life cycle, noting SDLC's direct impact on project planning and Waterfall's influence on process management. The document concludes by referencing relevant academic sources, underlining the importance of these methodologies in achieving project success.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY
Project Management Methodology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY
1. Methodologies and its role in project management:
The methodology is a type of common research policies which gives the overview of
the research and determines how the research will be conducted considering other things
(Rouquerol et al., 2013). Also, it identifies the methods need to be used in the research. This
identified method is the main part of a methodology as it describes the modes of data
collection and also can define how specific calculations can be performed. Methodologies
define that it is a systematic and theoretical analysis of a method which is used in an area of
study.
The methodology of project management specifies what type of tasks need to be
considered and when these tasks must be implemented to achieve the maximum performance
in minimum time. The main role of the project methodologies is that it is capable of enabling
delivery organization which can tackle large and complex projects systematically and
comprehensively (Marcelino-Sádaba et al., 2014). Also, it provides strategic benefits and
tactical benefits at operational levels. In the strategic benefit, a methodology of a complex
project can assure the managers, partners and customers about the successfulness of the
project. The methodology of the complex project allows to assess the risk related to the
project and provides the procedure to overcome these types of risks. The tactical benefit of
the methodology allows determining the early occurrence of the problem in the business
requirements. Also, the operational benefit is very much important for the project
management. In the operational stage, the methodology is the main crucial thing which leads
the organization authorizes in a right way to do the correct thing. It is also essential to allow
the delivery organization to always deliver the cost-effective solutions.

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2. Similarities and differences between the chosen methodologies:
Here the chosen methodologies are the SDLC model and the waterfall model. Though
the waterfall model is one of the reliable models of the SDLC, still there are many differences
between them. The differences between the waterfall model and the SDLC model that the
waterfall model is sequential, predictive and planning oriented where the SDLC model is
iterative and adaptive. The waterfall model response less to the changes but the SDLC model
can respond to the changes continuously (Chauhan & Saxena, 2013). The sequential nature of
the waterfall model makes it more vulnerable to any mistakes. Whenever mistakes are done,
the whole model needs to be revised from scratch. The SDLC is more flexible in this type of
cases because all the prototype done in the model are tested after the ending of a phase. In
this way, if any mistakes happens, it can be resolved in that phase without any failure. The
only and the main similarities between the SDLC and waterfall model is that both
methodologies are used for development of a product and for both cases the verification is
done in them (Alshamrani & Bahattab, 2015). Also, both of the models are easy to implement
and divided into some phases. Both of the models need to finish the previous phase without
any error before proceeding to the next phase.
3. Project life cycle relation with the chosen methodologies:
The project life cycle is the assembly of some types of logical states which is used to
form a lifeline of a project from the beginning phase to the ending phase. The project life
cycle is used to deliver a product from the project outline without any type of error.
The project life cycle is focused on the processes, knowledge, tools and phases of a
project and the system development life cycle is focused to create the product which is the
predicted outcome of the total project (van den Ende, & van Marrewijk, 2014). This is
indicating that the SDLC will directly affect planning of the project related to estimates,

3PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY
tasks, phases and resources allocated to the project and the project lifecycle is directly
controlling the phases, tasks, estimates as mentioned before. It means the SDLC has a direct
effect on the project life cycle.
The project life cycle is related to the waterfall model in terms of management criteria
of the project. Like the SDLC the waterfall model is also directly associated with the process
life cycle (Kumar, Zadgaonkar & Shukla, 2013). The waterfall model controls the phases of
the project. The project cannot go through one process to another process if there is an error
in the phase. Any error in any phases of the waterfall model can lead the project to start from
the scratch. This can impact the process lifecycle as the life cycle of that particular process
will start from the beginning. Also, process life cycle can be impacted if any phases of the
project are halted due to any mistake in the waterfall model. This can make the process life
cycle longer than usual.
References:
Alshamrani, A., & Bahattab, A. (2015). A comparison between three SDLC models waterfall
model, spiral model, and Incremental/Iterative model. International Journal of
Computer Science Issues (IJCSI), 12(1), 106.
Chauhan, N. S., & Saxena, A. (2013). A green software development lifecycle for cloud
computing. IT Professional, 15(1), 28-34.
Kumar, N., Zadgaonkar, A. S., & Shukla, A. (2013). Evolving a new software development
life cycle model SDLC-2013 with client satisfaction. International Journal of Soft
Computing and Engineering (IJSCE), 3(1), 2231-2307.
Marcelino-Sádaba, S., Pérez-Ezcurdia, A., Lazcano, A. M. E., & Villanueva, P. (2014).
Project risk management methodology for small firms. International journal of
project management, 32(2), 327-340.

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Rouquerol, J., Rouquerol, F., Llewellyn, P., Maurin, G., & Sing, K. S. (2013). Adsorption by
powders and porous solids: principles, methodology and applications. Academic
press.
van den Ende, L., & van Marrewijk, A. (2014). The ritualization of transitions in the project
life cycle: A study of transition rituals in construction projects. International Journal
of Project Management, 32(7), 1134-1145.