Other information can be provided upon request. For example, you can send prospective vendors a questionnaire asking specific questions about their packages.
This questionnaire may be part of a request for proposal RFP or request for quote RFQ process your organization requires when major purchases are made. If you decide that new hardware or system software is a strong possibility, you may want to issue a request for proposal RFP to vendors. The RFP will ask the vendors to propose hardware and system software that will meet the requirements of your new system.
Issuing an RFP gives you the opportunity to have vendors conduct the research you need in order to decide among various options. You can request that each bid submitted by a vendor contain certain information essential for you to decide on what best fits your needs.
For example, you can ask for performance information related to speed and number of operations per second.
You can ask about machine reliability and service availability and whether an installation is located nearby that you can visit for more information. You can ask to take part in a demonstration of the hardware. The bid will also include information on cost. Of course, actually using the software yourself and running it through a series of tests based on the criteria for selecting software may provide the best route for evaluation.
Remember to test not only the software, but also the documentation, the training materials, and even the technical support facilities. One requirement you can place on prospective software vendors as part of the bidding process is that they install free or at an agreed-upon cost their software for a limited amount of time on your computers.
This way you can determine how their software works in your environment, not in some optimized environment they have. One of the most reliable and insightful sources of feedback is other users of the software. Vendors will usually provide a list of customers remember, they will naturally tell you about satisfied customers, so you may have to probe for a cross section of customers and people who are willing to be contacted by prospective customers.
Here is where your personal network of contacts, developed through professional groups, college friends, trade associations, or local business clubs, can be a resource; do not hesitate to find some contacts on your own.
Such current or former customers can provide a depth of insight on the use of a package at their organizations. To gain a range of opinions about possible packages, you can use independent software testing services that periodically evaluate software and collect user opinions. Such surveys are available for a fee either as subscription services or on demand.
Occasionally, unbiased surveys appear in trade publications. Often, however, articles in trade publications, even software reviews, are actually seeded by the software manufacturer and are not unbiased.
If you are comparing several software packages, you can assign scores for each package on each criterion and compare the scores using the quantitative method see Chapter 7 for comparing alternative system design strategies.
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You have a question? Ans: We can group organizations that produce software into six major categories. Ans: If another organization develops or runs a computer application for your organization, that practice is called outsourcing. Outsourcing includes a spectrum of working arrangements view more.. Ans: As mentioned in the introduction, networks are everywhere and underpin many everyday services that we now take for granted: the Internet and the associated World Wide Web, web search, online gaming, email, social networks, eCommerce, etc.
To illustrate this point further, consider Figure 1. Ans: Once you have decided to purchase off-the-shelf software rather than write some or all of the software for your new system, how do you decide what to buy? Ans: Reuse is the use of previously written software resources in new applications. As mentioned, off the shelf software has a standard yet sophisticated design, because its target market is quite extensive. Hence, you can expect there will be plenty of additional features, functions, and add-ons that will likely be of little or no use included.
For instance, it has been estimated that on average only 10 per cent of Microsoft Word users make use of all the product feature set. Conversely, it is also very likely that an off the shelf software product might not cater to all your specific requirements.
This is where software customisation comes into play. Many off the shelf software products allow users to customise the solution to their needs.
Whatever customisation is undertaken, the work inevitably requires at least a rudimentary understanding of software development principles along with product sector knowledge. Off the shelf software is a fit for use solution that your business will — with some scope for customisation and integration- have to work with.
If the latter is a key determinant then might have to take a careful look at bespoke software and what it has to offer. Consider the nature of your enterprise, the scalability you require, and your short versus long-term goals before making the right choice for your software needs.
In short, begin with the end in mind. We use cookies to offer you a better browsing experience, analyze site traffic, and to better understand our visitors. Read about how we use cookies and how you can control them by clicking "Privacy Preferences".
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The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. We respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. COTS software is usually less expensive than custom created software.
This is because many such packages are designed to be used by millions of users worldwide. Since a lot of time and effort has been put into creating such software, creating a COTS application that will only aid a select few number of people would be a waste of money on the part of the developing company.
Another point is COTS software is usually very reliable. Developers of COTS components conduct research into the most common types of business processes or problems solving techniques and compress them into software packages that can be used across the board. Inexpensive examples, like word processing or tax return software are easy to find and purchase from retail stores. An electronic copy of the instructions is also usually included on the disc that contains the installation files and resources and in several languages to boot.
Even though companies can make do with freeware or open source software, it is often a requirement on their part to ensure that majority of the applications they rely on are COTS products.
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