In this lesson, join Nick Palazzolo, CPA, as he dives into the essentials of the waterfall model within the systems development lifecycle. Imagine transitioning from Microsoft Excel to Google Sheets — Nick uses this relatable example to illustrate the step-by-step stages of planning, analyzing, designing, developing, testing, deploying, and maintaining new systems, whether they're software or manufacturing processes like Henry Ford's assembly line. This segment highlights potential bottlenecks that can occur when different teams handle separate stages and the lack of direct customer input in the waterfall model. Furthermore, Nick demystifies various IT and systems terms, shedding light on legacy systems, validation tests, and the key players who enter and use data in these systems. By unpacking these complex concepts with easy-to-understand analogies and clear-cut explanations, the essence of systems development is made accessible and easy to grasp, stripping away the jargon and focusing on what really matters for the application in the field.