Why It Is Important for a Sports Management Profession to Learn Systems Development Lifecycle

With the rapid development of economy and technology, modern information technologies are entering the field of sport and the system developments to meet the needs of the field are becoming crucial (Li and Zhen 247). Information technology plays a crucial role in the area of sports and games, and it has contributed significantly to reducing mistakes in the organization and the administration of sports and games at various levels. The information technology in sport has established various disciplines in research while improving learning, coaching, and biomechanical analysis (Li and Zhen 248). Some of the benefits of IT in sports include practical support through settings and tracking various goals and standards in sports. In this paper, we shall establish why it is important for a sports management profession to learn system development life cycle (SDLC).

Managing systems development life cycle (SDLC) requires that one thoroughly understands the various roles that must be applied to create a successful application. The basic understanding is the fact that there is need to work within a disciplinary environment (Pedersen and Thibault 19). SDLC is a crucial process in sports organization as it establishes the understanding of the crucial role systems play in managing sports data, and providing room for assessing areas that require improvement hence ensuring that the organization remains competitive (Li and Zhen 249). There are seven phases in SDLC, which can be integrated into sports management which can help improve the organizational success in various ways:

Planning is the first phase in SDLC, and one of the objects is to develop standards in the sport as well as the gaming strategies (Stark 5). It can also entail finding out the scope and challenges of the problem in the organization and determining a given solution, for instance developing tighter policies to curb cheating in sport (Highsmith 35). The resources, time, costs, benefits have to be considered. The second phase includes systems analysis, entails considering the functional requirements of the project that need to be implemented (Stark 7). It may also entail organizing needs in various departments, and ensure that the system to be put in place meets the expectations of the organization including its vision and mission (Highsmith 37).

The third phase, system design that describes the necessary specifications, features and the operations that will be required to satisfy the functional requirements of the system that would be put in place (Stark 7). In this case, the functional requirements in the sports organizations could include management, marketing, advertisement, ticketing, coaching standards, statistical analysis, and data storage, among other functions (Pedersen and Thibault 54). The fourth phase entails development, where the IT specialists install and change the system to fit the requirements of the organization (Stark 11). The fifth phase includes integration and testing, of the installed systems by the quality assurance professionals, to ensure that it meets the initial set of the business goals (Highsmith 42). The organization management can also participate in this phase, to determine if it meets all its requirements.

The sixth phase includes implementation, where the code programs and the project are put into production in the organization (Stark 13). The components of old systems are transferred into the new system using the existing tools depending on the type of system installed. Here, the organization can involve themselves in training the employees, to ensure that they are conversant with all the system components that are in place. The organizational management can also engage with the implementers to ensure that any form of data is not left out, hence causing system challenges (Pedersen and Thibault 60). The seventh phase includes operations and maintenance where the users can fine-tune the system to boost the performance of the organization, add other capabilities or even meet the additional user requirements (Stark 15). This phase allows for the organization to customize their components to meet their requirements, for instance, the sports organization, can improve the system to monitor system data, and allow management functions such as ticketing (Highsmith 47).

In conclusion, SDLC plays a critical role in sports organization to enhance management functions as well departmental analysis of various data, which are crucial in ensuring that the sports standards and policies are implemented. It also ensures that the organization is up to date with the required information that is important in ensuring that it remains competitive hence successful.

Work Cited

Highsmith, Jim. Adaptive software development: a collaborative approach to managing complex systems. Addison-Wesley, 2013.

Li, Chuang, and Zhen Wang. "Research on the Applications of Information Technology in Sport Management." Information and Business Intelligence. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2012. 247-252.

Pedersen, Paul M., and Lucie Thibault, eds. Contemporary sport management, 5E. Human Kinetics, 2014.

Stark, John. "Product lifecycle management." Product Lifecycle Management (Volume 1). Springer International Publishing, 2015. 1-29.