Businesses often require, as part of a solution, to acquire a new software package to enable the businesses functionality of a business initiative. In selecting the software there are many considerations that need to be made to ensure that the final solution provides optimal value to the business.
Establishing the application selection criteria early in the process is worthwhile.
Decisions made on where there application is to be sourced can have significant ramifications on
- How well the application can fit the actual business requirements;
- The ability to interact with other applications;
- The Operational support on an ongoing basis and
- Cost (licensing, development, maintenance)
Decisions on whether an application can be acquired as a commercially available Common of the Shelf (COTS) package, a Turnkey development (3rd party or in-house) or Open Source solution should only be made when an understanding of the business impact of each has been reached.
Both the business and technical impacts need also be understood when exploring the interfaces that the business initiative requires and the interfaces that potential applications can provide. The nature of the interfaces (closed or open) also affects the ability to integrate with existing applications and to enhance the business at a later stage.
The ability to configure an application to suit changing business requirements rather than necessitating the performing of customisations is certainly desirable but unfortunately not always achievable. Customisations will generally have a greater negative impact on the business.
Lastly, the infrastructure requirements of the application to be selected must also be considered. The new application will more than likely need to co-exist with other applications and should, where possible, share an underlying architecture and technology platform. Sharing reduces the complexity as much as possible in the application delivery environment with a consequent benefit in containing operational costs.
