Building Systems

Question 1

What are some advantages to Custom Built Software?

Answer 1

• Complete control
• Can be an exact fit for the requirements
• IP ownership
• Resale opportunities

Question 2

What are some disadvantages to Custom Built Software?

Answer 2

• Specialist knowledge is required
• Software development is difficult
• Often very expensive
• Will be a non-standard system, difficult to maintain

Question 3

What are some advantages to Off-the-Shelf Software?

Answer 3

• It already exists: can be installed quickly, no risk of development costs
• More mature software and organisation
• Usually cheaper
• No specialist knowledge required

Question 4

What are some disadvantages to Off-the-Shelf Software?

Answer 4

• Have to find the solution
• No IP ownership
• Ongoing licensing costs
• Can’t add more requirements later
• A perfect solution may not exist

Question 5

What is meant by Outsourcing?

Answer 5

An agreement in which one company contracts-out a part of their existing internal activity to another company

Question 6

What are some advantages of Outsourcing?

Answer 6

• More mature software and organisation
• Usually cheaper
• No specialist knowledge required
• Risk is transferred via contract

Question 7

What are some disadvantages of Outsourcing?

Answer 7

• Finding a trustworthy company
• Relies on a 3rd party
• Ongoing costs
• Adding requirements can be difficult
• Limited control

Question 8

What is Staff Augmentation?

Answer 8

• Adding a member of staff with specialist skills into the project
• Used where a specialist skill is needed, but nobody in the team has it
• Usually a temporary arrangement

Question 9

What is Co-Sourcing?

Answer 9

• Where a client and a vendor develop a system in tandem
• Allows a vendor to develop specific components which are then merged into a single bigger system
• Agreements tend to be more around service and function than hours

Question 10

What is Managed Service?

Answer 10

• Client hires vendor for specific function(s) and services(s)
• Contractual prices based around the service
• Uses Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
• The resources are managed by the vendor