Chapter 11 BABOK Flashcards
What is “Solution Assessment & Validation” according to BABOK guide?
The Solution Assessment and Validation Knowledge Area describes the tasks that are performed in order to ensure that solutions meet the business need and to facilitate their successful implementation. These activities may be performed to assess and validate business processes, organizational structures, outsourcing agreements, software applications, and any other component of the solution.
What are the feasibility checkpoints in the systems analysis phase of SDLC?
Systems analysis phase:
Scope definition checkpoint: Feasibility is rarely more than a measure of the urgency of the problem and the first cut estimate of development costs
Problem analysis checkpoint: The next checkpoint occurs after a more detailed study and problem analysis
System design phase:
Decision making checkpoint: The decision analysis phase represents a major feasibility analysis activity since it charts one of many possible implementations as the target for systems design. Problems and requirements should be known by now.
What is creeping commitment approach to feasibility?
Feasibility should be measured throughout the life cycle. This is called creeping commitment approach to feasibility. The scope and complexity of an apparently feasible project can change after the initial problems and opportunities are fully analyzed or after the system has been designed. Thus, a project that is feasible at one point may become infeasible later
What are the tests for feasibility?
Operational feasibility is a measure of how well a solution meets the identified system requirements to solve the problems and take advantage of the opportunities envisioned for the system
Cultural (or political) feasibility is measure of how people feel about a solution and how well it will be accepted in a given organizational climate
Technical feasibility is a measure of the practicality of a specific technical solution and the availability of technical resources and expertise to implement and maintain it
Schedule feasibility is a measure of how reasonable the project timetable is
Economic feasibility is a measure of the cost-effectiveness of a project or solution
Legal feasibility is a measure of how well a solution can be implemented within existing legal and contractual obligations
What categories of costs are considered in assessing the cost of a system?
Costs fall into 2 categories. There are costs associated with developing the system and there are costs associated with operating a system
Categories of costs:
Personnel costs
Computer usage costs
Training costs
Supply, duplication, and technical costs
Cost of any new computer equipment and software
Fixed costs and variable costs
What are the types of costs and benefits considered in cost-benefit analysis?
Tangible benefits: Fewer processing errors Increased throughput Decreased response time Elimination of job steps Increased sales Reduced credit losses Reduced expenses
Intangible benefits: Improved customer goodwill Improved employee morale Better service to community Better decision making
Candidate system matrix: the structure of the matrix? Approaches to identifying candidate solutions?
Candidate systems matrix: a tool used to document similarities and differences between candidate systems
Structure:
Stakeholders: Identify how the system will interact with people and other systems
Knowledge: identify how data stores will be implemented, how inputs will be captured
Processes: Identify how (manual) business processes will be modified, how computer processes will be implemented
Communications: identify how processes and data will be distributed.
There are several approaches to identifying candidate solutions, including:
Recognizing users’ ideas and opinion
Consulting methodology and architecture standards
Brainstorming possible solutions
Seeking references from other people and organizations that have implemented similar systems
Browsing appropriate journals and periodicals
Feasibility analysis matrix: the structure of the matrix? Who provides the input to the matrix? What happens if there is difference of opinion about the input to the matrix?
Feasibility analysis matrix: a tool used to rank candidate systems. Complements the candidate systems matrix with an analysis and ranking of the candidate systems
The columns of the matrix correspond to the same candidate solutions as shown in the candidate systems matrix
The cells contain the feasibility assessment notes for each candidate. Each row can be assigned a rank or score for each criterion. After ranking or scoring all candidates on each criterion, a final ranking or score is recorded in the last row. Not all feasibility criteria are necessarily equal in importance; consequently, before assigning final rankings, candidates for which any criterion is deemed unfeasible can be eliminated. In reality, this does not happen very often
