Technology Analysis
Having identified a potentially technical solution to the business issues, how viable is the solution from a technical perspective? During the AnalysisPlus technology analysis phase, several important steps are performed in order to assess the viability of the candidate solution.
The technology analysis includes:
- Determining suitability of the alternative technologies within the enterprise
- Determining the company's current technology status, including organization, hardware and systems software, applications software, and level of automation of the business
- Identifying issues related to the company’s ability to support the integration of its exiting technology, along with the alternative technologies.
- Identifying opportunities for leveraging the existing company technologies of the company’s operations
- Identifying immediate initiatives necessary to accomplish a successful merger of the company’s technologies with the alternative technologies.
AnalysisPlus Technology Analysis Services
To best identify the proper technology that provide the solutions Inish provides these primary services:
Architecture Analysis
Once the capabilities of the alternatives are understood, the technical architecture of each alternative can be drafted. The technical architecture may include descriptions of:
- Feature Implementation. How will each feature be implemented? Will the technology to support the feature need to be purchased, leased, licensed, or developed internally?
- Network Architecture. What network architecture is required to support the feature set?
User Interface Analysis
Inish provides a usability assessment in which the usability and product aesthetics of the alternatives are evaluated and critiqued. For COTS alternatives, each is analyzed for
- Appearance and Features
- Consistent and logical navigation flow
- Uses standard GUI features (ex: pull-down menus, dialog boxes, toolbar buttons)
- Application windows have consistent look and feel
- Data formats are consistent throughout application windows
- Interface recovers gracefully from anticipated user errors (ex: invalid input)
- Information and error messages are useful, accurate, and correctly spelled
- Consistent interface across family of software applications (if applicable) Operation
- Trouble-free installation and setup
- Operates and coexists with other applications
- On-line Help
- Easy to use
AnalysisPlus Technology Analysis Deliverables
As a result of the technology analysis, one artifact is created:
IT Due Diligence Report
The Due Diligence Report assesses total IT capabilities and provides recommendations to help plan for implementing the project in question. It provides:
- Understand the Company's current technology status, including organization, hardware and systems software, applications software, and level of automation of the business
- Identifies issues related to the Company's ability to maintain its current technology and to meet its business plan Assesses financial implications of the Company's technology plans
- Identifies opportunities for leveraging the technologies of the Company's operations
- Identifies immediate transition initiatives necessary to accomplish a successful merger of the Company's technologies
The report identifies:
Current Business Applications. Existing business applications are documented including their required hardware, required operating systems, their stability, their growth, their vendors, and their current number of users.
Infrastructure. Existing infrastructure is assessed including server/LAN/WAN configurations, their physical locations, their required operating systems, their stability, their growth, their vendors, and their current number of users.
Capital Needs. Existing IT capital needs are documented including estimated their costs and timeframe.
Other Key Projects. Other existing key projects that are underway are documented including their estimated costs, timeframe, estimated ROI, and their benefits.
