Feasibility Report

Desirability Analysis of the Available Options:

The following table delineates the available options for solving the software system problem.

Option

Description

Status Quo

Leave the current system in place as-is; Project is cancelled.

New System

Develop new system; Project is a go.

Purchase

Purchase system and integrate/customize as needed; Project would need to be redefined.

Re-Engineer

Re-Engineer the existing system; Project would need to be redefined.

The following table delineates the target solution characteristics that are desired and were used as criteria in the analysis process.

Characteristic

Description

Availability

Availability = Mean_time_to_failure/(Mean_time_to_failure + Mean_time_to_repair) = 99.999% for desired solution system

Cost

Estimated cost of option (in dollars for any comparisons/calculations) = $3M purchase + $5K/yr maintenance

Maintainability

Ability to quickly resolve and deliver fixes to the deployed system.  Must be no more than 24 hours for desired solution system

Performance

Performance expectations = any user operation can be performed within 2 seconds of wallclock time

Person-Hours

Estimated amount of person-hours to develop desired solution system = 3 person-months or 2160 person-hours (optimistic estimate)

Risk

Risk aversion = medium for this project

Security

Amount of security functionality.  Sophistication of security functionality = Very basic (simple) security for desired solution system.

Usability

Ease of use = user proficiency achieved within 40 hours of training

The following table delineates the options in their order of desirability.

Option

Option Desirability Value

Status Quo

0.151102

New System

0.375916

Purchase

0.364182

Re-Engineer

0.108801

Feasibility Analysis of Options by Order of Desirability:

The following table delineates the driving requirements for the software system that is needed.

Driving Requirement

Description

Availability

99.999% for desired solution system

Maintainability

No more than 24 hours for desired solution system

Performance

Any user operation can be performed within 2 seconds of wallclock time

Security

Very basic (simple) security for desired solution system.

Usability

User proficiency achieved within 40 hours of training

The following table delineates the known constraints for the software system that is needed.

Constraint

Description

Cost

Approximately $2.5M dollars

Personnel

Staff of 9; 6 months to deliver 1500 SLOC

Risk

Some risk is tolerable – medium risk aversion

Conclusion of the feasibility study.

Best option:            Developing a new system

Best option feasible?:  Yes

The following table gives an overview of ranking results along with how the ranking was determined.

Option

Desirability Ranking

Reason

Status Quo

3

The current system has intermittent failures, is difficult to maintain, and has insufficient performance characteristics.  This option has the least up-front cost, but will likely cost much more in the future.  This is essentially the no-go option.  The customer has demanded efficiency improvements that are outside of the bandwidth of mere process improvements.  The customer wants and needs better tools.

New System

1

The new system, as currently envisioned, will achieve 5-9s availability, will be easy to maintain, and will provide ample performance.  This option has the greatest up-front cost.  This system seems to present the best cost to benefits ratio in light of characteristics the customer has emphasized as part of their vision for a valid solution system.

Purchase

2

A COTS solution would likely provide the highest initial availability and perhaps an initial cost advantage.  Maintenance and usability; however, would be fettered by a dependency on COTS product and COTS vendor limitations.  Although a reasonable cost to benefits ratio results from this option, it is likely to rigid of a framework to achieve the customer’s desired usability.

Re-Engineer

4

Re-engineering is a compromise approach that would provide some gain in maintainability, performance, and usability at a reduced cost as compared to developing a new system or purchasing a COTS system (or composing a system from COTS products) and then modifying the COTS-based system to meet requirements.  It is likely to produce the least benefit in regards to cost of all of the options.

The following table verifies that the best option is feasible by indicating whether or not it satisfies the known project constraints.

Constraint

Constraint Description

Satisfied by Best Option?

Dollar Cost

The budget for this project is approved at $2.5 million dollars although some addition funding can be provided if rationale is approved.

yes

Staffing

Our current software engineering staff is at 9.  We are not approved to increase our staff numbers.  A new system is estimated at 1500 SLOC and is to be delivered in 6 calendar months.

yes

Risk Tolerance

Our organization and the customer are willing to tolerate some risk with this project as indicated in the dollar cost constraint description.  Overall, risk aversion seems low.

yes

The following table verifies that the best option is feasible by indicating whether or not it provides positive responses to key go/no-go questions.

Key Question

Response

Does proposed system contribute to objectives of customer?

yes

Can system be implemented with available technology?

yes

Can system be integrated with existing systems in target environment?

yes