How do architecture and component development processes/activities fit into the overall Development Process?

(Question from a developer of business applications who is familiar with and has been using a particular tool and methodology.)

Architecture and component development processes/activities are not new to the development process. Even hardware development has had an architecture and component process/activity for years and continues to have a significant architecture and component development and integration process/activity; A high level design/structure and self contained component(s), as well as Modules/Units), that is/could be integrated into a system. And now we emphasize architecture and component development processes in application development. But understand that traditional development included an architecture and component development process. And before the wide spread use of object oriented and component development in application development, used modular, iterative and incremental development beyond what we call the waterfall development process. Many may know the traditional (typical) system and software process and activities:

• System Requirements
• System Design
• Software Architecture or High Level Design
• Detail Design
• Construction/Implementation/programming/Coding and Unit Testing
• (Module/Component)
• Integration
• (Modules/Units, “Components”)
• Functional Testing/Qualification
• System Integration
• System Test/Qualification
• Delivery/Deployment
• Support/Maintenance
• (Until replacement or retire.)

Below is what we typically seem to have currently for the application project life cycle. The difference from traditional lies within methodologies, techniques, tools, and how tasks are completed. Much of architecture and component development is about flexibility, reuse and compatibility, scalability, cost reduction, and improving productivity and quality. There are many methodologies based on various technologies that take into account structured or the object oriented process, the rapid development environment, Computer Aided System/Software Engineering (CASE) tools and a particular Integrated Development Environment (IDE) used or mandated to develop systems/products.

And in many cases the GUI, Business processes and database development are in parallel. The typical/current Information Technology (IT) development process and activities:

1. Business Planning and Strategy (Feeds into the analysis process)
2. Business Requirements Analysis
3. System/Software/Application Requirements Analysis
4. (Traced back to business/operational requirements)
5. Architecture (GUI, Business processes (logic, modules and components) and database)
6. Detail Design
7. Construction/Build/Implement
8. Development Test – Unit/Integration/Functional
9. System Testing
10. Delivery/Deployment
11. (And if a project goes beyond Deployment or Delivery)
12. Support/Maintenance