Feasibility Study in Software Engineering

Project management sets a key pattern for handling software engineering projects. In such a case, a feasibility study, also known as feasibility analysis, lies at the core of project management. Keeping that in mind, one should initiate that software engineering is simply impossible without a proper technical feasibility study process. 

Knowing the phenomenon's significance in software engineering, let’s explore the ins and outs of a feasibility study. It entails exploring the definition of the feasibility study, indicating what benefits it brings to businesses, investigating different types of feasibility, grasping in detail the feasibility study’s process, and determining the difference between project reports and feasibility reports. 
 

What is a Technical Feasibility Study?

In short, a feasibility study is an analytical process showing whether a particular software project is practically possible to complete or not. In other words, this study explores the different perspectives of project planning to suggest whether a company should move on with translating plans into reality. When you think of developing new software, it is impossible to jump into the development phase immediately. It is vital to analyze particular variables to see whether such a jump is possible in the first place. (Order top-notch discovery phase services from Impressit to get fast results!)

Going further, the key objective of a feasibility study is to determine if a software engineering project can be achieved in technical, organizational, and economic terms. In addition, there are many more factors to consider. Yet, the three core ones mentioned above. In such a case, it is crucial to understand that the success of technical feasibility directly depends on both an organization and a project.

From a business perspective, a feasibility study is a great way to see whether a project is worth the investment. In various cases, even if a project is technically feasible, it might not be a good investment opportunity. That is why different types of feasibility studies exist. Choosing to give a project a go without it being a good investment may pan out in a short period, yet it will become a liability in the long run. 

Respectively, a feasibility study shows whether a software engineering project can be done in technical terms and if it’s economically viable. Within a well-designed feasibility report, you would consider a company’s historical background and various project variables to offer a feasibility verdict later. 

What Do Businesses Need a Feasibility Study Template?

As we scratched the surface of the feasibility study notion, particular emphasis should be made on what motivates businesses to use this method. If done correctly, a feasibility study means the difference between viable software that brings profits and an unviable project that will bring losses. In such a case, most businesses choose the approach for the following reasons:

1. The study prevents companies from committing to impractical and economically unviable projects. Simply put, businesses use feasibility studies to avoid making a mistake.
2. The study can reveal new insights and information that would change the initial project. For instance, you might discover that a particular development stage will take more time than expected. It will change the scope and means longer time-to-market. 
3. The study focuses on the elements and terms that should prioritize. In other words, a feasibility study shows what should be done first and what elements can be potentially postponed. 
4. The study is a great risk estimation tool. The take on the project’s feasibility explores certain moments where risks can be minimized. Besides, it shows whether the project is worth a risk at all.

The above factors reveal the key reasons businesses appeal to a feasibility study. In short, it gives confidence in the project, shows the risks developers and other team members can face and gives a comprehensive overview suggesting whether a company is making a mistake committing to a project or not. For all these reasons, it is crucial to determine whether doing a feasibility study is important per se or whether businesses can avoid it. 

Importance of Technical Feasibility

Forbes argues that feasibility studies grant major insights into product development. Notably, it can be significant at every stage of the cycle. One should agree with the statement and take it even further. In a nutshell, feasibility studies are vital if businesses what to get everything right in terms of projects before spending time, money, and human resources. It is always better to plan and analyze the potential risks and outcomes. 

While jumping into the project straight ahead might be a solution in some specific circumstances, the general rule dictates planning is the proper approach in most cases. Narrowing down the topic of technical feasibility importance, let’s look at its following benefits:

• Grants a better team focus
• Offers a new take on different project-related opportunities
• Provides valuable insights changing the perception of the given project
• Narrows down all the business-related opportunities one might have
• Shows solid reasons why a company should or should not commit to the project
• Provides a perspective from different angles to boost the project’s success rate
• Have a positive impact on decision-making at all stages of the development cycle
• Indicates evidence-based insights if someone wants to build the case against committing to the project

In such a case, there are many advantages feasibility study brings. Respectively, even if you can find any disadvantages, for instance, the cost and time you need to spend to conduct a study, the benefit outweighs all the potential drawbacks. Simply put, every company using the feasibility study will feel some degree of a positive impact, which is the key reason for the phenomenon’s significance. 

Types of Feasibility Study 

Upon covering the definition of a feasibility study, its objectives, and its importance, it is time to explore the method’s different types. In short, one can outline technical feasibility, operational feasibility, legal feasibility, economic feasibility, and scheduling feasibility. Each type has distinct aspects and covers a certain realm of the project. 

Technical Feasibility

Technical feasibility is all about determining whether the team has up-to-date technologies in their toolkit and whether team members have sufficient technical proficiency to complete software development projects. In other words, this type of feasibility suggests whether the people responsible for delivering the project have all the necessary technological instruments, knowledge, and skills. 

When it comes to key questions raised in technical feasibility, these are the following:

1. Does the team have the tools, knowledge, and skills to plan, design, and code the software? Notably, keep in mind that a technical team should both be able to develop the product and then maintain it.
2. Is the product meeting distinct user requirements and needs? In such a case, the study determines whether the technology behind the product is the one that consumers need at the moment. 
3. Will the technology used to develop the product be up-to-date shortly? Essentially, this question determines if your technology will be relevant when completing the project.
4. Are the technological and technical tools used in the project approved and compliant? This aspect shows whether the instruments the team will use won’t bring any troubles regarding security and data protection.
5. Is the project too technologically complex for a team to handle? As the question implies, this issue measures whether the level of technological complexity the project requires matches the technical expertise of the people developing the product.

Technical feasibility covers the technological and technical side of the project. It means looking at instruments that will be used and the skills of the people behind the product development. 
 

Operational Feasibility

When the project’s technical feasibility is checked and double-checked, it is time to proceed to operational feasibility. These evaluate the factors linked to potential organizational changes. Developing a complex software development product will add to the organizational complexity. In such a case, to check whether an organization is ready for the given changes, there are particular issues to consider in the study.

1. The first aspect is identifying whether the organizational staff is prepared to accept and maintain new software products. Essentially, the operational feasibility study shows the degree of organizational readiness.
2. The second aspect is determining whether organizational staff have sufficient technological tools and skills to cope with new technologies. This part can be coined as a technical aspect of operational feasibility.
3. The third aspect is to check whether the organization’s hardware structure can support new software products. Respectively, it means that the study investigates if an organization’s infrastructure can support the implementation of new products.

In such a case, the operational feasibility study shows whether the staff’s acceptance rate is sufficient to implement new technology and software effectively. Respectively, the higher the acceptance, the higher the success of software adoption. However, if the acceptance rate is insufficient, the operational feasibility report will show an organization's decisions in terms of structures, standards, and policies. These aspects will boost the acceptance rate.

In addition to the issues mentioned above, there are three more factors to include in the operational feasibility study. Essentially, consider these aspects: competition, performance, and uniqueness. 

Before starting the project, it is vital to consider how fierce the competition is in the market and what market trends competitors pursue. Moreover, before new software is introduced, the study needs to anticipate how the product will perform financially and technically. Later, when the software is developed, you can compare the report to actual numbers and determine whether a product underperforms or overperforms. Finally, the uniqueness factor suggests how your software differs from the products offered by competitors. What it provides that competitors cannot match. 

Legal Feasibility

After covering technical and operational aspects, it is time to proceed to legal factors. In the legal feasibility study context, the product development process is analyzed from a legal perspective. It entails determining potential barriers to legal-based project implementation. Moreover, this study includes data protection measures, social media standards, all the project certificates, copyright agreements, and licenses. Finally, it is important to keep in mind that a legal feasibility study also includes the aspect of ethical feasibility. 

If any legal aspect of the project conflicts with existing laws and standards, it means the potential for litigation. Respectively, within the scope of the legal feasibility study, consider zoning laws, data protection standards like GDPR and HIPAA, and existing social media regulations.  

In a nutshell, a legal feasibility study can reveal what legal challenges a company can face at any given moment of the development cycle and after the product is released. As a result, it will save time and money, the ones that a business will later spend on litigation.

Economic Feasibility

When saving time and money, along with legal feasibility comes economic feasibility. As we mentioned above, one of the key reasons companies appeal to feasibility studies is to determine whether new software is worth an investment. It is the moment when economic feasibility comes into play. Overall, this type focuses on all the costs required to develop a new product. These might include the following:

1. The overall budget for planning, designing, developing, and implementing the product. This aspect offers a general take on a company's budget to handle the project.
2. The second aspect is all the needed hardware purchases. This element includes all the physical components like servers you need to purchase to develop and maintain the software. 
3. The third factor is the software you need to purchase to complete the project. It might be APIs or any other platforms making software development easier. 
4. The fourth component is the cost of training needed for your team to reach the required degree of technical and operational proficiency. This aspect can also cover the cost of hiring freelancers or remote employees.
5. The fifth aspect is the cost of software installation. Some additional components might be needed to install and test the new product properly. This factor is vital when developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
6. Finally, it is important to anticipate the cost needed to operate and maintain the software. You might need to hire QA specialists and professionals who can ensure smooth software operability in the long run.                      

In addition to the abovementioned cost factors, it is important to use the economic feasibility study to see whether the cost of the new software won’t outweigh the benefits it brings. In such a context, when estimating the value of the new product, consider the labor costs it will bring, the value of faster processing and automation, potential improvements in customer service, and the cost-savings of error reduction. As a result, the economic feasibility study focuses on checking the cost factors and indicating whether the product development is viable in terms of gain-loss analysis. 
 

Scheduling Feasibility

The final type of feasibility study is linked to scheduling. As the name implies, scheduling feasibility focuses on time-related matters, like deadlines and timelines. Each part of the product will be narrowed down into smaller components, each having a certain timeline. In a nutshell, scheduling feasibility shows how much time it would take to complete the project and anticipate whether the development team might face some time-related hiccups.

When it comes to major components of scheduling feasibility, consider the following parts:

• Critical Path Method (CPM)
• PERT charts
• Gantt charts
• Project time estimation
• Change Management factors

Shuffling the above elements around, a project manager can estimate the probability of how likely or unlikely the development team will meet the time estimates and deadlines. Moreover, it is always important to remember that a project manager cannot anticipate all the external and internal factors. That is why the project estimates should include some leverage time to compensate for any potential issues and time constraints.

At this point, we’ve covered the key types of feasibility studies. Respectively, technical feasibility ensures a business has the technological capabilities to deliver the product. Operational feasibility shows the company’s readiness to adopt change. Legal feasibility indicates whether a firm covered all legal-related matters to avoid litigation. Economic feasibility illustrates if the value of the project is greater than its cost. Scheduling feasibility indicates whether the initial project time estimate is accurate and whether the team can meet the pre-set deadlines. Now, with types of feasibility out of the way, let’s tap into the feasibility study process. 

Feasibility Study Process

The feasibility study process entails different requirements and various steps to be conducted. When starting with the former, there are functional, non-functional, and domain requirements.

Functional Requirements

An end-user of a certain product has particular needs and demands. Functional requirements are elements that meet the needs of an end user. In short, the software must have all the functionalities to meet user demands. Besides, they need to be mentioned in detail in the contract. Moreover, functional requirements focus on the expected inputs and outputs. Writing down these requirements is a part of a feasibility study process. 

Non-Functional Requirements

When discussing non-functional requirements, one means security, reliability, performance, flexibility, portability, scalability, and reusability. These are particular quality-based aspects the new system needs to cover, as discussed in the contract. The non-functional requirements vary from project to project and can also be called non-behavioral requirements.

Domain Requirements

Finally, there are domain requirements. These are the requirements as a part of a particular project or domain. This type can be functional or non-functional. Engineering domain requirements define them proactively in correlation to all their potential applications when the product is being developed. To illustrate, if the project is expected to operate with a certain domain, for instance, a governmental database, domain requirements are the aspects ensuring the new product won’t mess with an existing domain’s framework. 
 

Steps Toward a Feasibility Study Example

Knowing the requirements needed for conducting a feasibility study, it is time to cover seven key steps in the process itself. This help applies the method correctly and gets the insights required for measuring the product’s viability and feasibility. 

How to do a feasibility study? Here are seven successive steps. 

• Step 1: Making a Preliminary Analysis. This step entails outlining the project and starting the planning process. Essentially, the very first thing to consider is whether there is a need for a new product on the market. As a preliminary analysis, one should see whether the demand curve is favorable and whether the new software will have an advantage over what competitors offer. This is the step when the feasibility study indicates whether the project is economically unviable or there will be no demand for the new software.
• Step 2: Develop a Project Income Statement (PIS). This phase should be conducted backward. More specifically, it is crucial to determine the expected financial gains from the new software. Then, you determine the funding required to complete the project. These two factors are a foundation of an income statement. During this step, you are more inclined toward an economic feasibility study. 
• Step 3: Conducting Market Research. It would be an understatement to say that this phase is the most critical in a feasibility study. It means that market analysis should be as accurate and thorough as possible. If you don’t have market analysts on board, you should budget for hiring professionals who can illustrate the ins and outs of the new product will penetrate. Market research offers the most realistic perspective on Return on Investment (ROI). In short, it will tell you whether the product will pay off. To complete the stage, consider customer demographics, existing competition, product value, and market opportunities. 
• Step 4: Planning for Business Operations. Once you have covered the previous steps, it is time to align the business operations and an organizational structure to meet the requirements of technical, operational, legal, economic, and scheduling feasibility. At this point, consider variables like operating costs, fixed investments, and start-up expenditures. These aspects cover the human resources, equipment, supply, and overhead factors. In short, your business operations and company, in general, need to be ready for the changes to come. 
• Step 5: Writing an Opening Day Balance Sheet (ODBS). This step concerns all the liabilities involved in the project. look for all the hardware, software, labor costs, and sources for financing. Regarding liabilities, consider the cost of legal consulting, licensing, copyright procedures, and compliance costs. It is the moment when legal feasibility is most at play.
• Step 6: Data Review and Analysis. After gathering all the data, data analysis is time for the most laborious process. You have crude information, and you need to turn it into valuable insights that you can use. At this point, it can be helpful to double-check the previous steps and compare the different statements and balance sheets you made. 
• Step 7: Go or No-Go Final Decision. This step is the climax of the feasibility study. Having all the data and insights, you can answer the initial question: Is investing in developing the new product technically and economically viable? One can say that this phase is most related to the decision-making made on the highest executive level. 

Putting all together, conducting a feasibility study is rooted in following the seven distinct steps mentioned above. Moreover, it revolves around particular requirements that can be linked to your project. At this point, while knowing how to conduct a feasibility study, you need to know the key components of the technical feasibility study’s structure to make it effective. 

Technical Feasibility Study Structure

The key parts of a feasibility study cover all you need for everyone reading the report to understand it. In general, a technical feasibility study’s structure relies on the following components:

• Abbreviations, acronyms, and definitions. There is a high chance you will use technical or legal terminology when preparing a feasibility study. So, you need to have a section mentioning all the elements that people might find hard to read or understand. Define the terminology and explain the abbreviations. 
• Study overview. This section shows what the feasibility study will be and what it will look like. It is like an abstract to an academic article. You should have the list of contents to help a reader better navigate the report. 
• Purpose of the feasibility report. This segment offers clear insights into the goals and objectives of the project and the report itself. 
• Study’s scope. This part outlines and highlights what a report will cover or won’t cover. For the aspects that will be covered, it is important to offer a few words about how far the study go to explore particular aspect. For the element omitted, provide a brief justification showing why a particular aspect is avoided in the study.
• Key requirements. Here you emphasize functional, non-functional, or/and domain requirements we covered before. 
• Existing diagnosis. This part grants a perspective on the existing customer situation. Basically, you illustrate whether there is an existing software product you intend to replace in the current market. If such software exists, you need to offer its description, including its version, supplier, characteristics, and user functions. 
• Presented alternatives. Here you show all the potential alternatives that can be used to solve the issue at hand. Look at some similar solutions existing in the market and used by competitors. Keep in mind that these solutions need to have clear timelines and anticipated budget estimates. 
• Chosen alternatives. When covering the presented alternatives, choose the one most fitting to the context of the current situation. Describe the key reasons behind your choice and suggest a brief cost-benefit analysis. Don’t forget to mention potential risks associated with the alternative. 
• Costs. Focus on all the costs associated with the alternative above. Cite all the sources where the cost estimations are coming from. 
• Risks. Outline all the risks linked to the chosen alternative. Moreover, propose a contingency plan for the given risks.
• Benefits. Emphasize all the benefits of the alternative. Keep in mind that you need to cite both tangible and intangible advantages. 
• Timeline. Finally, present a clear timeline with all the dates and resource estimates. This part should correspond to particular software development stages. 

These are the foundational aspects of a technical feasibility study. They need to be implemented in the feasibility study template. Remember that some additional aspects might be needed based on the specific project requirements. 

Project Report vs. Feasibility Report 

With all the aspects covered, not it is time to explain some notable differences between project reports and feasibility reports. In such a case, knowing how to distinguish between two is a major component of doing both correctly. 

Conclusion

All in all, a feasibility study is there to help companies see whether developing new software is a good idea or not. It shows whether the business is ready to handle the task and whether a development team is equipped with the necessary tools and capabilities to deliver the project. 

A feasibility report is better than a project report, especially regarding software development. Respectively, with all the foundational knowledge above, you are now prepared to conduct a technical feasibility study. To leave you with something more than mere knowledge, check these feasibility study templates.