All system development is to be conducted in accordance with the SDLC. Development teams shall submit an SDLC Waiver whenever deviating from published standards. The Architecture Office (AO) can assist with waiver content and review before the waiver is submitted for approval, but the development team is responsible for the following.

To submit an SDLC waiver for approval:

There are circumstances when it is appropriate to deviate from the SDLC and published standards. When this situation occurs the deviation must be accompanied by an SDLC Waiver. The SDLC Waiver template can be used as a starting point for authoring a waiver.

An SDLC Waiver should have the following key pieces of information:

When submitting an SDLC Waiver, an Architectural Decision may be used by the development team to document these decisions, though it is not required.

An Architectural Decision (AD) captures significant design decisions that concern the software system. An AD is used in the following scenarios:

The Architectural Decisions validate and document critical design decisions that denote long-term affects on the system, as opposed to decisions that render a short-term, immediate impact. Through prudent and reasonable judgment, the development team should consider what decisions may/may not require an AD.