Software Engineering
Lecture 3
Feasibility Studies
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Administration
Projects
Announcements by project groups
• Roll call of projects and team numbers
• Who does not have a project team?
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Administration
Project teams:
• If you do not have a team, please meet after class.
• If you are still having difficulty finding a team
send email to the course team
• We may ask teams to add extra members
• If you have definitely chosen a project and reached
agreement with your client, send email to the
course team with the names of your team members
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Administration
Test 1
Monday, September 13 in Olin Hall 155 at 7:30 p.m.
See the Tests page on the web site.
Two questions on material that has been covered in the
lectures, including the class on the day of the test.
Open book. You may bring any books or notes.
Laptops can be used to store copies of the course materials
and notes, but for no activity that involves networking.
If you miss a test, there is no opportunity to retake it.
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Feasibility Study
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Why are Feasibility Studies Difficult?
Uncertainty
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Why are Feasibility Studies Difficult?
Advocacy
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The Decision Maker's Viewpoint
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The Decision Maker's Viewpoint
Where are risks? Can they be minimized?
Technical
• There must be an outline plan with a rough timetable and staff
allocation.
• The plan must have a very large margin for contingencies.
(Projects typically require twice the staff and/or time
envisaged in the feasibility plan.)
External
• Every system interacts with others. Are the others committed
to the necessary efforts (e.g., potential customers)?
• Where are the external pressures and obstacles?
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Organizational Feasibility
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Example 1: U.S. Government Agency
(Decision before Feasibility Study)
Outline Description
A U.S. government agency, which manages huge
numbers of documents and other records, is slowly
moving from a paper based approach to managing
digital documents.
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Example 1: Chronology
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Example 1: Obvious Problems
Organizational:
• Agency senior management clearly not ready to lead a very
large project that will completely change the agency
• No thought given to the workflow and job changes that will
affect almost every member of staff
Preparation:
• No preliminary study made of volumes or kinds of data; nor
of the complex policies for access (e.g., privacy, secrecy)
Complexity
• Major changes in the requirements and design are inevitable
once the system goes into production and has real users
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Example 1: Dilemma
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Feasibility Study: Scope
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Example 2: A Government Library
Confusion over Scope
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Feasibility Study: Benefits
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Feasibility Study: Technical
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Feasibility Study:
Planning and Resources
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Feasibility Study:
Alternatives and Risks
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Techniques for Feasibility Studies:
Overviews and Rough Estimates
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Feasibility Report
A written document
• For a general audience: client, financial management,
technical management, etc.
• Short enough that everybody reads it.
• Long enough that no important topics are skipped.
• Details are often included in supporting documents.
It should be a well written, well presented document.
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Feasibility Study: Decision
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CS 5150: Check list
Team: How many hours per week? What skills do people have?
Time: Must be completed by end of semester, including
operational system, documentation, presentation
Equipment and software: What special needs are there?
Client: Will the client be sufficiently available and helpful?
Start-up time. Creating a team, scheduling meetings, acquiring
software, learning new systems, ...
Business considerations. Licenses, trade-secrets, ...
Too ambitious. Nothing to show at the end of the semester...
What else?
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CS 5150: Feasibility Report
CS
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CS 5150: Feasibility Reports
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