PRELIMINARY STUDY

Phase PS.4 Subcontractor or package selection

PS.4.1 Purposes

You should normally reach this phase in order to be able to subcontract the realization at a fixed price offer, either by subcontracting the installation of a package, or by subcontracting the development of a specific application.

 The specifications are now precise enough in order to get a fixed price offer, without excessive risk cover margin.

 The physical processes level is not yet fixed; it can still be adapted following the specific constraints that will come from the package or from the subcontractor.

 So, the subcontractor will participate to the detailed study, and it will ensure a better integration of the final product.

 You should definitely avoid launching a call for tender at a fixed price if you did not yet reach this analysis stage. Indeed, the number of unknowns would be too high and would lead to many financial and practical disappointments !

The purpose of this phase is:

 to write the specifications

 to select a subcontractor and/or a package.

PS.4.2 Realization actions.

 Write the specifications

 All the elements required by the specifications have already been collected.

 You should now only put these data into the appropriate form to set up your specifications.

separate clearly the activities under the subcontractor's responsibility, from the ones under the customer's responsibility.

 Key factors for e-business specifications :

  Internet Service Provider / Application Service Provider

software support: you will often have to use only the solutions & tools provided by the ISP/ASP (secure server software, digital authentication service, electronic payment system provider, merchant software)

hardware support: total processing power and current load, backup infrastructure & procedures

network support: total bandwidth (down- and upstream), number of servers sharing this bandwidth

experience in e-commerce and satisfaction level of existing customers (visit a site currently hosted by this ISP) ; existing relationship between the ISP/ASP and his own capacity suppliers

scalability: ability to expand with your business

general quality: qualify-of-service guaranty (i.e. will your application get some processing resource even if concurrent applications are at peek load ?), service level agreement

  Merchant software application

current and future needs fulfillment :

 

• distribution width; cross-platform compatibility; acceptance by other ISP/ASP
• foreign language support
• online help
• supported number of simultaneous shoppers
• supported number of products, products classes and subgrouping dimensions
• ability to personalize the order system
• discount calculation, multiple tariffs
• automatic tax calculation, including for foreign business if required
• associates tracking (if a third site sends you customers, it gets paid)
• payment information encryption
• credit card support
• e-mail notification of orders: confirmation, delivery date, ...
• shipping services
• statistics
• database imports and exports, interface to other applications
• search engine

 Evaluate the appropriateness of the offers

 The offers evaluation is usually done in 2 times:

first evaluation or short-list

final evaluation

 The offers evaluation includes necessarily 2 issues, in order to justify the choice that you will do:

offers valuation following weighted criteria

explanation and weighting of the valuation criteria.

 For the packages

 set up the differential between the possibilities of the package and ...

 the requirements as coming from the preliminary study:

Try to find alternative solutions for the issues that cannot be processed by the package.

Balance = not satisfied requirements

 the procedures as fixed during the previous phases of the study (management rules, function, organizational modes, ...)

OR: you will have to adapt the proposals of the preliminary study to conform to the package possibilities (detailed study)

 define the specific adaptations that will be required from the package (specific add-ons, price supplements)

possible changes in the programs

additional paying customization

call users routines("user exits")

special interfaces

PS.4.3 Project management actions.

 Let evaluate with precision the time limits, the internal and external resources, the planning.

PS.4.4 Quality assurance actions.

 Take care that the valuation criteria are already explained in the specifications. If possible, join already the available test data.

 The final valuation of the offers is usually performed by a selection committee who ensures a control by alternate validation.

 Key factors:

 verify and let clarify if necessary which are the valuation criteria and how they are weighted.

 identify the risk factors of every offer

not precise or incomplete offer,

doubt about the subcontractor's capacities, about insufficient resources.

what is the part of specific developments within a standard package ?

risks of exceeding the time limits

 quantify the risk factors

in terms of probability

in terms of importance and costs.

PS.4.5 Phase closing actions.

 Order the selected solution.