By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology 1 Product Evaluation Strategies and Support Standards Beisse

by Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology 1

Product Evaluation Strategies and Support Standards

Beisse


Objectives

How Product and Support Standards Emerged Common tools and methods support specialists

use to evaluate and select computer products How organizations develop and implement

support standards


Product Standards Product Standards are list of hardware,

operating system, network and application software that has been selected to meet the needs of users in an organization

How Product Standards Emerged Product incompatibility Competition


Problems Caused by Product Incompatibility 1. Limited Data transfer

Example: difficulties of sharing data (using floppy)

2. Excessive parts inventories Example : chip from other manufacturer cannot be used by other

3. Lack of skills transfer Example : One staff is not familiar with other’s pc with different

operating system

4. Increased support costs Example : To many software and hardware to support will increase

cost

5. Hardware repair problem Example : Very difficult to repair and diagnose different hardware

parts


Development of Product Standards Companies standardized a few selected

hardware platforms selected to meet users’ needs.

They adopted standard operating systems, and in the 1990s, standard network operating systems.

They limited the choice of applications software to a few standard applications packages in each software category.


Methods for Evaluating and Selecting Computer Products Product evaluation: A process of researching

and analysing computer product features, capabilities, and suitability to solve a specific user need

Product evaluation process Collect product information Test, compare, and evaluate competing products Publish results


Resources Available to Help Evaluate Computer Products Vendor literature, marketing information Web sites,

and user manuals Product demonstrations and evaluation versions Product reviews and comparison articles in

computer periodicals Opinions from industry experts available in trade

publications and Internet news groups Software Evaluation copy – A CD (software) that the

features can be tested for free for a period of time ( 1 month)


* Product Evaluation and Decision-making Tools 1. Industry standard or best-selling products

2. Products used by competitors

3. Benchmarks

4. Weighted point evaluation method

5. A request for proposal (RFP)

6. Acknowledged subjective criteria


Advantages of Using Industry Standard/Best-selling Products Industry standard product – Best software,

hardware that are used by the market For example Windows XP and Microsoft

Office Can reduce support costs Likely to be targeted by trade book

publishers, training material developers, and support service vendors


Disadvantages of Using Industry Standard/Best-selling Products May not meet unique requirements of end

users with specialized needs Market leadership changes over time;

potential for obsolescence


Using Industry Standard orBest-selling Products Get user input before making software

selection decision Find out which products end users have

experience with Find out advantages and disadvantages of

competing products for specific tasks Find out whether users have preferences

among products


Products Competitors Use Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of

products that competitors use Competitors may have thoroughly researched

the market and identified strategic reasons for adopting the computer products they use

Niche market – Vertical market, is subset of the market which specifies on certain product for example automobile insurance


Benchmarks An objective test used to compare competing products in

terms of speed, storage, software performance Popular because they are objective and provide an

unbiased evaluation of a product Objective evaluation criteria - Measurable factors that

are not influenced by personal opinion Extraneous variables – variables that can effect the result

of a benchmark test


Weighted Point Evaluation Method Uses evaluation criteria of predefined

importance to arrive at a numerical score for each product

Goal is to make the evaluation/selection process as objective as possible by: Treating competing products equally Eliminating possible favouritism or bias among

evaluators Forcing evaluators to specify in advance the

important factors in evaluation


Mechanics of the Weighted Point Evaluation Method Decide on the evaluation criteria. Decide on the importance of each criterion. Rate each competing product on all the evaluation

criteria. If more than one evaluator rates products, compute the

average rating for each product for each criterion. Weight the product ratings for each criterion by the

importance of the criterion. Compute the total rating for each product. Compare product ratings.


Example : Evaluate 2 antivirus product

Criterion Weight Kaspersky Anti Virus

McAfee Antivirus

Hardware Configuration

20% 90 x 20% = 18 70 x 20% = 14

Software features 30% 70 x 30% = 21 50 x 30% = 15

Vendor Support 20% 50 x 20% = 10 90 x 20% = 18

Cost 30% 60 x 30% = 18 50 x 30% = 15

TOTAL 100% 67/100 = 67% 62/100 = 62%

Kaspersky antivirus scores high in Hardware Configuration, Software features and also cost. This product should be purchasedbased on Weight Point Evaluation Method


The Request for Proposal (RFP) RFP - A product selection or competitive

bidding procedure that uses objective criteria to distinguish among products proposed by vendors

Often used as the basis for awarding a contract to provide computer products

One of the most common and most objective decision-making tools


8 Steps in the RFP Process 1. Conduct a user needs analysis2. Develop a purchase specification for the equipment or

software 3. Define a decision criteria and importance of each criterion4. Write the RFP document, which describes the user

requirements, bidding procedure and decision criteria5. Send the RFP doc to prospective vendor6. Receive written proposal from interested vendor (with specs

and bidding price)7. Analyse the responses, evaluate using weighted point

evaluation method.8. Select a vendor and award the purchase contract.


Subjective Evaluation Criteria Are based on personal relationships,

convenience, personal preferences, and traditional practices

Do not give much weight to the match between end user needs and the features of the hardware or software

Are neither measurable nor repeatable


Computer Product Standards Help control user support costs by limiting

the number of hardware and software options users can choose

Often adopted by larger companies with a substantial investment in computer technology because the potential for waste is so large


How Companies Develop Computer Product Standards Company culture and traditions Product standards committee: Composed

of support specialists and end users whose task is to define the current company standards and coordinate their use in the company


Requirements for Computer Product Standards Effective Evenly administered Enforced


How Companies Implement Computer Product Standards Adoption and implementation of product

and service standards influenced by: Investment in existing hardware and

software Continual arrival of new products, services,

and product upgrades Loss of employee productivity during

conversion to new standards


Adopting or Modifying Technology Standards Requires analysis and evaluation of

products and services Triggers potential support cost increases

for installation, upgrades, training, documentation, trouble-shooting, and help desk services

Documents

By Anthony W. Hill & Course Technology 1 Product Evaluation Strategies and Support Standards Beisse