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Based on my search of an SDLC alternative; the one that captured my attention is the Waterfall model. The waterfall process originated during the 1960s in firms building large-scale software systems for the U.S. defense and space industry as well as for commercial applications. (Waterfall: Software; (August 16, 1995) These companies worked on multi-year projects and designed software for large computer (mainframe and minicomputer) systems that evolved relatively slowly. (Waterfall: Software; (August 16, 1995) A major advantage of this model is that when you are developing a software project, you have a structure for controlling and organizing it. The use of this alternative is based on identifying accurate user requirements. Other products are inadequate when it comes to satisfying this need. The waterfall model is one of the most traditional and commonly used software development methodologies for software development. (Top 12 software methodologies) (2015, April 15)

Disadvantages to the waterfall methodology includes defining systems requirements specifications accurately without feedback among phases and iteration. Without the feedback and iteration there is no sure way to improve initial imperfections of this methodology. Waterfall projects normally has a certification step at the end of each phase, and the beginning of another. In a waterfall process, documents or code are the normal outputs of a phase, and outputs from one phase become the inputs for the next phase. (Microsoft, 1995) Software development projects thus need some mechanism for configuration control to ensure that team members make modifications in a controlled manner after evaluating the effect of each change on the product and progress of the project. (Cuasumano, 1995)

Microsoft Companies have introduced many refinements to the waterfall process as well as introduced new programming tools and techniques to aid the software development process. (Microsoft, 2015) With waterfall products firms continue to report issues when it comes to building large software systems for the first time. Waterfalls mythologies are used for small projects which will cause shortcomings. The prototype methodology is the software development process which allows developers to create only the prototype of the solution to demonstrate its functionality to the clients and make necessary modifications before developing the actual application. (Top 12 software methodologies) (2015, April 15) This product thus is an upgrade from the waterfall methodology. In closing the waterfall methodologies makes it easier to use without all the complications.

Reference:

Top 12 software development methodologies and its advantages / disadvantages (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. (2015, April 15). Retrieved from http://www.tatvasoft.com/blog/top-12-software-development-methodologies-and-its-advantagesdisadvantages (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Beyond the Waterfall: Software Development at Microsoft Michael A. Cusumano* and Stanley Smith***MIT Sloan School of Management**International Business Machines Working Paper #3844-BPS-95Draft: August 16, 1995