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III. Software/Application Considerations
The questions in this section are concerned with how well the application/software will meet Tufts' requirements, fit into the existing and planned technology environment, and make acceptable demands on available resources.
Resources:
Saul Tannenbaum
- Have business requirements been identified and enumerated? In gathering requirements, have all affected groups at Tufts been consulted?
- How long has the software/application been on the market?
- Does the product satisfy the business requirements? If not, can it be customized to suit Tufts' requirements?
- Does the product require any workflow changes? If so, will the changes work in the Tufts environment?
- Is the application/software redundant? Are there other products already licensed and in use at Tufts that offer equivalent functionality?
- If configuration tasks (e.g., table set-ups) are required to implement and maintain the software/application, are there staff designated to perform this work?
- If the software/application is replacing an existing system, are utilities available to convert existing data to a format that's compatible with the product?
- Is there adequate staffing available to test the product/application?
- If the product requires a 3rd party database, can Oracle be used?
- Are infrastructure requirements (e.g., operating system, browser) compatible with Tufts' standards?
- Is product performance in similar environments adequate to meet Tufts' needs?
- Is the software/application scaleable? Can it accommodate future growth?
- If the software/application suffers an outage, who is responsible for correcting the problem?
- If outside resources (either vendor or UIT) are to be relied on to provide technical support services, have necessary supporting arrangements been made? Have adequate funds been budgeted to accommodate these services at the level required?
- If internal resources are to be relied on to provide technical support services, has necessary training been arranged for or completed? Is there sufficient staff to cover this work?
- Is there a contingency or fail-over plan in place should the software or its environment fail?
- Have plans been made, testing done and staff available to recover data in case of a system failure?
- Does the software/application or its planned infrastructure offer adequate security to protect Tufts' confidential or sensitive information?
- Have adequate funds been budgeted to accommodate upgrades to the supporting infrastructure such as servers or operating systems? Is trained staff available to perform these upgrades?
- Have adequate funds been budgeted to accommodate maintenance and upgrades to the application/software? Is trained staff available to perform needed upgrades?
- If the software/application requires the purchase of new servers, where will they be housed? Will they reside in a secure environment? If servers are to go in the TAB data center, have arrangements been made?
- If additional users licenses must be purchased to accommodate growth, have funds been budgeted?
- Is staff training a requirement? If so, have necessary arrangements been made to acquire or develop training?
- Is vendor documentation available? It is adequate? If not, have arrangements been made to acquire or develop documentation?
- If the application/software will house sensitive or confidential data, has a qualified Systems Administrator been identified?
- Is the application client-server or web based? Either way, is it compatible with Tufts' desktop standards?
- If there's a need to obtain data from existing systems in order to user the application/software, has consideration been given to how this will be done?
- Has consideration been given to how changes to the system will be logged?
- If there's a possibility that the system will need to be expanded at some point in the future, does the application being acquired offer adequate compatibility, interoperability and standards compliance?
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