A Feasibility Study of proposed solutions, including:

Economic Feasibility

Economic feasibility looks to determine the costs and benefits of the implementation of a new system otherwise known as an ROI (Return On Investment) analysis. These feasibility studies are then used to either determine if a new system should be implemented or how to modify the needs of this new system to make it feasible. Some questions that should be answered in regards to economic feasibility include:

• Will the new system be cost effective?

• How do you know it will be cost effective?

• How long would it take for the system to pay for itself?

• How will costs be defrayed

• Can you justify the economic output

Technical Feasibility

Technical Feasibility looks at whether the computer hardware, software or knowledge exists. There is a direct link between elements of technical feasibility with economic and schedule feasibility as well. Information that should be included are:

• Does the technology (hardware/software/bandwidth) exist?

• If not, can it be developed?

• Do staff have the required skill? If not, can they be trained?

Operational Feasibility

Sometimes called organisational feasibility, this seeks clarification of whether the project fits in with the ethos (or mission statement) of the company. For example, a technology company sending paper-based reports instead of web or email would go against the company’s operational feasibility. Questions include:

• Does the new system fit inside the ethos (or mission statement) of the company in terms of:

• • Technology

  • Privacy

  • Economics

  • Mission and vision

Scheduling

Scheduling revolves around time management. Scheduling is vital for project management as it ensures the task is completed in the due time frame, it can plan out all immediate predecessors to make sure that they are completed first. Questions can include:

• Do we have the time to develop and implement the new system?

• What tasks need to be undertaken (and when), which related nicely to our Gantt Charts

• When do deadlines occur? How do we meet these deadlines efficiently?

Choosing the Most Appropriate Solution

The purpose of your requirement report, ultimately, is to choose the best solution to develop. Once a solution has been identified and a suitable method of development chosen, the requirements report needs to be updated. This involves:

• adding a Gantt chart to show details of the timeframe and schedule of tasks

• including details of the subprojects and the timeframe for them

• identifying the participants who would be required for feedback and consultation

• identifying the relevant information technology required for the system

• identifying the data to be entered and stored and the nature of the information produced

• identifying the needs and requirements of the users.

Outsourcing

• The external company develops a solution

• Advantage: cost-effective

• Disadvantage: quality of system may be low; companies may not like to share their information with others.

• Uses: Film studios often outsource parts of their development, such as the Goblet of Fire assets and animations in the Harry Potter film.

prototyping

• Developing a small working model

• Advantage: Can be modified repeatedly with user feedback which allows them to better communicate their needs (less likely product will be rejected)

• Disadvantage: time consuming and costly to build; repetitive process of modifying can be frustrating

• Uses: When a small company wants a solution and is happy to test and evaluate on the fly.

customisation

• Developing and modifying an off the shelf solution to a company's needs.

• Advantage: cheaper than making a new system from scratch

• Disadvantage: desired product may not be available to customise

• Uses: Game developers can, and often do, customise game engines like Unity or Unreal for their development. It’s cheaper and faster than developing a game engine and game.

participant development

• Where people within the information system develop the solution using guided processes on applications

• Advantage: may be cheaper than hiring an entire team to solve a small problem

• Disadvantage: limited by the participant’s expertise

• Uses: A small company using a database and creating the tools they need in that database management system.

the requirements report that:

Details the time frame

The time frame or a project is one of the main components that should be included in a requirements report. To determine the time frame of the project, as planners we need to take into account the scale of the project, the resources available, and the desired quality of the project. By taking these into account we can develop an efficient estimation of the time frame that would be necessary for the completion of the project.

details the subprojects and the time frame for them

identifies participants

identifies relevant information technology

identifies data/information

Typically you would find information about this topic within your system requirements in your report. The data/information

identifies the needs of users

Within a requirements report, the needs of the users are identified during the introduction. The needs of users are done so that we have an understanding of what the users require during the project. As the project progresses, the needs of the users will change depending on how the project is developed, but it is good to have a good core foundation of the needs of the users so that it is not changed that extremely.