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Feasibility Study in Software Engineering

In simple words, feasibility means the probability, capability, or possibility of something being achieved or accomplished. The feasibility study is a study conducted to ascertain the viability of a structure or strategy.

It is also one of the requirements of the engineering process. It is required when a client proposes a company to develop a product with a rough understanding of software functions and what functionality they necessitate from the software.

The analysts conduct a thorough investigation using this information into whether the ideal device and its capabilities are feasible to develop.

The aim of the organization is the subject of this feasibility report.

This study examines whether the digital product can be practically materialized in terms of execution, project commitment to the enterprise, cost limitations, and alignment with the organization’s principles and goals.

What is a Feasibility Study?

The practical extent to which a project can be performed successfully is known as feasibility.

A feasibility analysis is conducted to decide if the solution considered to meet the criteria is feasible and workable in the software.

During the feasibility study, information such as resource availability, cost estimates for software production, advantages of the software to the enterprise after its development, and cost to be expended on its maintenance is determined.

The feasibility study aims to ascertain why developing software is appealing to users, adaptable to change, and compliant with applicable requirements.

It delves into technical aspects of the project and product, such as compatibility, maintainability, efficiency, and integration capabilities.

This phase’s contribution should be a feasibility study report with adequate comments and suggestions for management on if the plan should be pursued or not.

Objectives of Feasible study

Here are the goals of a feasible study

  • To discover the reasons for designing software that is user-friendly, adaptable to change, and adheres to existing requirements.
  • Determine whether the program will satisfy the needs of the enterprise.
  • Decide if the program can be applied using current technologies and within the budget and timeframe defined.
  • To see if the software can be combined with other existing software.

Types of Feasible study

There are mainly three types of feasible study

  • technical feasibility,
  • operational feasibility,
  • economic feasibility

Technical feasibility

Technical feasibility evaluates the available infrastructure (such as hardware and software) and technologies needed to meet the consumer needs of software under time and budget constraints.

The product development team determines whether current tools and technology should be modified or applied to the program to fulfil the identified users’ needs.

The following are the activities often performed by technical feasibility.

• Examines the technological expertise and talents of members of the software development team.

• Determines whether the application infrastructure is reliable and well-established.

• Ensures that the technology selected for software creation has many customers who can be contacted when issues emerge or required changes.

Operational Feasibility

The extent to which the required software completes a sequence of steps to address market challenges and consumer requirements is measured by operational viability.

This Feasibility is based on human capital (the product development team) and entails visualizing whether the software can work after it is built and be operational after it is installed.

The following are the operations carried out by operational feasibility:

  • Determines whether the issues outlined in the consumer specifications are a high priority.
  • Determines whether the software development team’s proposed approach is suitable.
  • Determines whether or not consumers can respond to new technologies.
  • Determines whether the possible solutions suggested by the software development team satisfy the company.

The study that determines the software’s capability, if it can generate financial profits for the organization is Economic feasibility. It checks the overall cost incurred on developing the software, including the anticipated cost of hardware and software, expenses spent on performing feasibility studies, and many more.

Economic feasibility needs to consider the expenses made on purchasing, such as hardware purchasing and required activities required to carry out software development. It is also necessary to consider the benefits that can be achieved by developing the software. Software is economically feasible when it focuses on the issues listed below.

• Expense incurred on software development for achieving long-term gains for an organization.

• Expenses required to conduct elicitation and requirements analysis

• hardware and software cost, development team, and training cost.

Feasibility Study Process

The feasibility study includes the following steps:

Knowledge assessment:

Determines whether the method aids in the achievement of the organization’s goals. It also ensures that the system can be introduced using modern technologies while staying under budget and that it can be compatible with the current system.

Information collection:

Specifies the sources from which software information can be obtained. Users (who will use the app), organizations (where the software will be used), and the software development team are examples of these sources (which understand user requirements and knows how to fulfil them in software).

Report writing:

Utilizes a feasibility report, which is the conclusion of the software development team’s feasibility study.

It contains suggestions if the app development can resume.

This report will also provide details about revisions to the program scope, budget, timetable, and recommendations for any device specifications.

Basic information:

Describes the feasibility study’s purpose and scope. It also includes a framework description, project references, acronyms and abbreviations, and contact information.

The system summary describes the name of the company responsible for program creation, the system name or title, the system category, the operating status, and so on.

Project references include a list of the references used to prepare this text, such as project-related documentation or previously existing project-related documents.

Acronyms and abbreviations include a list of the words used in this guide and their definitions.

Points of touch are a list of corporate points of communication with customers for knowledge and collaboration.

Drivers, for example, need assistance to fix difficulties (such as troubleshooting) and gather information such as contact information, e-mail addresses, and so on.

Management summary

The following detail is involved in the management summary.

Context :

Identifies the people in charge of software creation. It contains details about the program’s input and output specifications, computing requirements, and interaction with other software.

It also defines device protection specifications as well as processing requirements for the system.

Current functional procedures:

Describes the actual system’s current functional procedures, whether automatic or manual. It also covers the existing system’s data flow and the number of staff members needed to run and manage the program.

Practical objective:

Provides knowledge about system operations such as new services, expanded capability, and so on.

Performance objective:

Provides reports on performance goals such as lowered personnel and infrastructure costs, accelerated software processing speeds, and better controls.

Assumptions and restrictions:

Provides details about assumptions and constraints such as the planned program’s operational existence, financial constraints, evolving hardware, software, and operating environment, and the availability of information and sources.

Evaluation criteria:

Identifies criteria for the implementation process, such as cost, priority, deployment time, and ease of system use, to decide the best system choice.

Recommendation:

Explains a suggestion for the new scheme. This covers the delays as well as the appropriate risks.

Recommended software:

Describes the system’s general concept as well as the mechanism to be used to satisfy consumer specifications.

It also includes reports on upgrades, time and capital prices, and impacts. Improvements are made to the original software to improve its efficiency and performance.

The expenses associated with software production, from its specifications to its maintenance and personnel preparation, are included in the time and capital costs.

Impacts characterize the probability of potential events which involve a variety of impacts, which are discussed below.

Organizational influences:

Describe the changes that influenced the workforce, organization, and skills.

Developmental impacts:

Specify developmental impacts such as the resources needed to build databases, the resources required to develop and validate applications, and the basic tasks that users can conduct during software creation.

Impacts on infrastructure:

Determine new equipment specifications and modifications to existing equipment requirements.

Program impacts:

Specify any additions or improvements to current software and supporting software needed to conform to the proposed software.

Organizational implications:

Describe any improvements in the organization, personnel, or capability requirements.

Operational impacts:

Describe the consequences of processes such as user-operating procedures, data collection, and data entry procedures, among others.

Developmental impacts:

Specify developmental impacts such as resources needed to build databases, resources required to develop and validate applications, and particular tasks conducted by users during software development.

Security implications:

Describe security considerations that can affect the production, architecture, and ongoing function of the proposed program.

Alternative solutions:

Include a description of alternative systems explored in a feasibility report. This section further outlines the reasons for using a specific alternative method to design the proposed program and opposing alternative solutions.

Steps to prepare a feasibility study report

It is not easy to prepare an FSR for a software development project.

You must understand the fundamentals and how to begin the planning process. The following are the steps to take to do this:

a. Project Description

It is the first step in planning a feasibility research report for the software development program.

You must collect context information on the project and write a review in this section. For example, if a company wants to improve its online sales and even advertise its services on the internet, the definition should be the first section of the paper.

It would be “This project is a platform designed to improve internet content and also boost web sales,” primarily by enticing clients to visit the site. As a result, the online revenue will improve.

b) Market Research

In this segment, you can demonstrate that you researched your target audience and how they are likely to respond to your project or company.

It will also assist you in demonstrating how you plan to turn the target market into paying clients.

You must have the following:

• A demographic profile of your target group, including age, occupation, race, salary, location, and so on.

• Information on the business, rivals, and how you plan to penetrate the market and beat them.

• How do you want to reach out to your target demographic and convert them into loyal customers?

c) Technical Requirements

This section outlines the steps taken to complete the project, including the amount of time needed for the project and the fundamental stages of the project, the machines that will be used to complete the project, and the period for completion of the whole project.

You will also describe the measures you want to take to ensure the best possible standard of the project in this section (quality control).

d) Risk Assessment

In this part, you want to demonstrate to your clients that you have invested time assessing and considering the project’s vulnerabilities and uncertainties and that you are thoroughly prepared to cope with any possible risks.

And save them from being a significant issue.

e) Outline the Potential Solutions

You must conduct an alternatives analysis and write a solution outline for the project here. The solutions will assist you in moving the project forward.

f) Criteria for Evaluation

Following the market analysis, you must specify the assessment parameters. It is the stage at which you would investigate ideas and adapt them to the assessment criterion.

g) Suggest a feasible solution.

Following the evaluation of the solutions, the next step is to evaluate the most cost-effective and theoretically viable solution.

The most viable option for your project is then found.

In Conclusion

A feasibility study is an essential stage of the Software Project Management Process.

It determines whether to proceed with the proposed project because it is technically viable or avoids the proposed project because it is not suitable/feasible to create or think/analyze the proposed project again.

Along with this, a feasibility study aids in determining risk factors inherent with designing and deploying a system, including preparation for risk analysis. It further narrows market options and improves completion rates by evaluating various metrics correlated with potential project growth.

Amit Kumar

FreeEducator.com blog is managed by Amit Kumar. He and his team come from the Oxford, Stanford and Harvard. At FreeEducator, we strive to create the best admission platform so that international students can go to the best universities - regardless of financial circumstances. By applying with us, international students get unlimited support and unbiased advice to secure the best college offers overseas.

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