Feasibility studies provide the critical upfront insights software teams need to steer projects towards success rather than failure. This comprehensive guide examines the six core feasibility analyses that set the foundation for viable, value-driven software development.
Before we dive into the types of studies, let’s quickly recap why feasibility matters in software engineering.
Why Feasibility Studies Are Critical
Many of us have witnessed or heard software horror stories – major projects that collapse despite significant investments of time and money. One analysis pegged the failure rate of such IT projects at around 50%.
The culprits typically come down to:
- Misalignment with business strategy
- Unrealistic constraints or schedules
- Poor technical planning
- Workflow disruption
- Non-compliance landmines
Proper feasibility studies allow organizations to anticipate and address these pitfalls right at the start, before they derail projects mid-stream.
In a nutshell, feasibility studies evaluate how viable and advisable proposed software projects are by objectively analyzing:
- Business objectives and user needs
- Time, resource and capability constraints
- Technical and operational barriers
- Financial costs against benefits
- Legal and regulatory parameters
This upfront assessment steers teams away from pursuing software ideas that are impractical, risky or unlikely to deliver real value. Instead, it helps refine plans that offer the best shot at successful outcomes.
Now let’s examine the six specific feasibility studies that provide these vital insights.
The 6 Critical Feasibility Studies
1. Organizational Feasibility
This evaluates if the proposed software aligns strategically with overarching business goals and vision. Research suggests a staggering 56% of technology projects fall short of expectations and returns due to poor strategic alignment.
Key aspects analyzed include:
- How the system supports organizational objectives
- If it fills a critical operating need
- Change management readiness
- Willingness of staff to adopt new workflows
- Availability of required skillsets and resources
Establishing strategic relevance provides justification for the project‘s priority status while gauging change readiness minimizes adoption resistance.
2. Economic Feasibility
Economic feasibility assessments crunch the numbers to determine if potential software benefits warrant the development, training and maintenance costs involved.
Elements examined include:
| Category | Cost Estimate |
|---|---|
| Development + Customization | $X |
| Infrastructure + Hardware | $Y |
| Ongoing Licensing Fees | $Z |
| Maintenance + Support | $W |
| Training + Rollout | $Q |
| Total Costs | $XYZQW |
These expenditures weigh against expected boosts in:
- Efficiency
- Cost reductions
- Revenue gains
- Competitive advantage
Setting realistic budgets and quantifying returns potential provides financial justification and helps secure buy-in.
3. Technical Feasibility
The technical feasibility review verifies if an organization has the technical capability and infrastructure to build, launch and sustain software systems successfully.
This covers:
- Existing vs required hardware/software
- Availability of development platforms, tools and skillsets
- Ability to integrate with other systems
- Technical bandwidth for maintenance
- Capacity for future scale
Conducting an unbiased audit identifies technical gaps to address rather than playing catch up mid-development.
4. Operational Feasibility
Will the software seamlessly integrate within existing frameworks, workflows and policies? This operational viability assessment seeks to answer this by determining:
- Process change impact
- Training and support needs
- Policy alignment gaps
- Organizational culture fit
- Operational disruption risks
Getting user feedback and mapping procedures to be adapted prevents workflow disruption downstream.
5. Legal Feasibility
This review scans for any regulatory, contractual or compliance tripwires that could trigger lawsuits or fines if the software fails to satisfy requirements in areas like:
- Privacy policies
- Industry regulations
- Regional legislation
- Licensor agreements
- Accessibility standards
- IT security protocols
Identifying any of these red flags early allows organizations to remediate concerns proactively instead of reacting down the road.
6. Scheduling Feasibility
Even if technically sound, projects can risk failure if timelines don’t account for practical development and adoption constraints across:
- Development stages
- Testing needs
- Training/rollout
- Contingencies
- Milestones tracking
Realistic schedules aligned to capacity help avoid unwelcome surprises that delay launch or diminish quality.
Turning Insights into Action
Once studies pinpoint any pitfalls or barriers in these areas, teams can strategize workarounds to optimize success potential before sinking months of effort. Leadership can also determine if current constraints warrant postponing kickoff rather than risking failure.
In summary, comprehensive feasibility analyses address thorny questions upfront, while there‘s still ample time to course correct. This prevents spending millions playing catch up trying to fix issues mid-stream or dealing with the painful aftermath of software that fails end users despite the significant resources invested.
So before you jump onto that next big development project, put feasibility first! Let me know if any part of assessing viability remains unclear.
