why address feasibility

1
why address feasibility?

• to answer the questions . . .
• can the project be done (can constraints be
  overcome)?
• should the project be done (is it justified)?
• have we looked at all the options? which one is
  best?

feasibility study results

• go or no go decision for the project
• the best option has been selected
• project plan includes tasks addressing
  feasibility issues

considerations . .
. operational technical schedule economic
constraints opportunities risks
2
inputs to feasibility study

• present system, users, policies
• mission and long-range plans
• basic understanding of the requirements
• threats, opportunities, strengths, weaknesses
• alternative delivery of final product
• full or partial automation
• etc.
• alternative project methodologies
• build vs buy
• spiral VS waterfall VS other
• draft project plans for estimating costs
• risk analysis

• input from
• management
• users
• IT personnel
• etc.

3
PIECES frameworkto identify the problems and
their urgencyby analyzing the current system
Performance adequate throughput and response
time? Information do end users and management
have information that is timely, pertinent,
accurate, well presented? Economy can costs be
reduced? can benefits be increased? Control are
security and auditability effective? Efficiency
are resources (people, time...) efficiently
used? Services are current services flexible,
reliable, expandable?
4
operational feasibility

• urgency of the problem
• internal acceptability of the solution(s)
• manpower availability and sophistication
• labour objections
• management or end-user resistance
• organizational conflicts and policies
• external acceptability of the solutions(s)
• social acceptance
• laws and regulations

5
technical feasibility

• is the project within the limits of current
  technology?
• is the necessary technology available?
• is the technology mature and easily applied?
• are personnel well trained and experienced?
• is there good help support?
• will the new technology disrupt other systems?

schedule feasibility

• given schedule constraints, can the project be
  done on time?
• do management and users have the time to
  participate effectively?
• do IT staff have time to learn new technology
  needed?
• are there external time pressures?

6
economic feasibility
Is the project possible within the time
budget constraints? Are the predicted benefits
worth the cost?
topics cost analysis benefit analysis
payback analysis return on investment
7
cost analysis
one-time costs system development/purchase and
installation ongoing costs system maintenance
labour (internal, contract, consulting . .
.) material purchases (hardware, operating
systems, developer tools . . .) licenses
(applications, developer tools . . .) leases,
rentals, contracts (e.g. maintenance) facilities
and furnishings disruption of services during the
project etc.
8
benefit analysis

• reduce cost by . . .
• reducing errors
• increasing throughput
• etc.
• increase revenue by. . .
• offering more to customers
• expanding operations
• etc.

benefits may be tangible or intangible
9
payback analysis
how long will it take to pay back the project
expenses and start reaping the benefits?
10
return on investment (ROI)
if you were to invest 1 today at interest rate
i, it would be worth 1 (1i)5 in 5
years to get 1 in 5 years today you would need
to invest 1/(1i)5 for interest rate 6, an
investment of 100 today will give you 100
(1 0.06)5 133.82 in 5 years to get 100 in 5
years at 6 earnings today you would need to
invest 100/(10.06)5 74.73
... so the present value (PV) of 100 in
5 years is 74.73 why do we care? we need to
measure the opportunity of investing money in
this project and to compare this project against
other projects we might do instead ROI
(Net Present Value) / (PV of all costs)
((PV of all benefits) - ( PV of all costs))
/ (PV of all costs)
11
return on investment example
this example is available as an Excel file
12
feasibility analysis matrix
describe each candidate solution
discuss the issues and give a ranking for each
feasibility
the final ranking is the total of the
individual feasibility rankings