system life cycle

system life cycle

The useful life of an information system. Its length depends on the nature and volatility of the business, as well as the software development tools used to generate the databases and applications. An information system that is revised over and over throughout the course of many business changes often becomes structurally weak. Programming changes become difficult to apply to systems that have been already patched hundreds of times. At some point, it is practical to start over from scratch.

Tools like DBMSs allow for changes more readily, but increased transaction volumes can negate the effectiveness of the original software later on.

---

system life cycle [′sis·təm ′līf ‚sī·kəl]

(engineering)

The continuum of phases through which a system passes from conception through disposition.