Chapter 8 Product Evaluation Strategies and Support Standards IFS410 End User Support Chapter 8 Product Evaluation Strategies and Support Standards

Product Evaluation Strategies Who within an organization should be tasked with evaluating new products? Should hardware and software be valuated by the same group(s)? Beware of emotional attachments Clarify “Wants” versus “Needs” Ultimate purpose of tools? Gain and sustain competitive advantage via efficient and effective use

User Support Role in Product Standards Support workers often have expertise to evaluate competing products many employees do not have Eliminates duplication of effort if many employees individually evaluate products Support employees can act as liaison between users and IT staff to represent viewpoints of each group Who ultimately makes / approves the recommendation?

How Product Standards Emerged Product standards are lists of hardware, operating systems, network and applications software products selected to meet the needs of end users History of Product Standards Significant incompatibility among computer products Incompatible platforms were viewed as a marketing advantage Framework Example

Problems Caused by Product Incompatibility Limited ability to transfer data between systems and between users – Still exists today to a point. Tools? Excessive inventory of parts required to support multiple vendors’ systems Difficulty to train and equip hardware service technicians User skills not transferable to other systems Increased cost to support incompatible systems Support staff couldn’t be experts on all systems Training had to be targeted to specific platforms

Early Development of Product Standards During 1980s, to reduce acquisition and support costs, companies began to standardize on a few selected hardware platforms designed to meet users’ needs TI, Compaq, TRS, adopt standard operating systems, and in the 1990s, standard network operating systems Banyan, Novell, AppleTalk limit the choice of application software to a few standard application packages in each software category WordPerfect, Lotus 123

Product Evaluation Strategies Microsoft WHY ? Is that acceptable? Should it be acceptable?

Methods for Evaluating and Selecting Computer Products Product evaluation is a process of researching and analyzing computer product features, capabilities, and suitability to solve specific user needs Product evaluation process Collect product information Test, compare, and evaluate advantages and disadvantages of competing products Make decisions or recommendations Potentially a career make or break

Resources Available to Help Evaluate Computer Products Vendor literature, marketing information, Web sites, and user manuals Demonstrations and evaluation software (Shareware) Product reviews and comparison articles in computer periodicals and in e-zines on the Web An e-zine is an electronic magazine organized like a print publication, but distributed via the Internet Opinions from industry experts in trade publications and Internet news groups Opinions of employees who have experience with various products Opinions of colleagues  Personally my Favorite

Industry (Trade) Periodicals that Publish Product Comparisons Computing Review InfoWorld MacWorld MaximumPC Network Computing PC Magazine PCWorld Smart Computing Tom’s Hardware Guide ZDNet Business Publications (Wall Street Journal)

Software Evaluations A software evaluation copy permits support staff to try out a product’s features assess a product’s ability to meet user needs Software evaluation copies Distributed via CD-ROM Internet download May have limited features May operate for a limited trial period ASP’s (Application Service Providers)

Product Decision-making Tools Industry standard or best-selling products Products used by competitors  Me To? Benchmarks Weighted point evaluation method Request for proposal (RFP) Acknowledged subjective criteria

Industry Standard Best-selling Products Industry standard products are computer products that are market leaders in sales (defacto standards) Not really a “standard” defined by an independent organization, such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or International Standards Organization (ISO) Advantages Can reduce support costs Likely to be targeted by trade book publishers, training materials developers, and support service vendors Disadvantages May not meet needs of specialized users Standards based on market share change over time

Examples of “Defacto” Standards Networking Protocol = Ethernet and TCP/IP Networking Equipment = Cisco Publishing = Apple Printers = HP Office software = Microsoft Office Database = Oracle Mainframe = IBM Payroll = ADP

Adopting Industry Standard or Best-selling Products Get user input before making software selection decision Find out which products end users have experience with Identify advantages and disadvantages of competing products for specialized tasks Learn whether users have preferences among products

Products Competitors Use Competitors may have thoroughly researched the market and identified strategic reasons for adopting products, especially in niche markets A niche or vertical market is a software market that is highly specialized to a specific industry Example: software for title companies Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of products that competitors use Competitive standpoint careful of ‘Me To’

Benchmarks Benchmark is an objective test used to compare the capabilities of competing products Benchmarks are unbiased because they use objective evaluation criteria that are not influenced by personal opinion Benchmarks try to eliminate extraneous variables that could bias the results of a product comparison Benchmarks are confusing / complicated Every vendors product does well on a benchmark

Benchmarks (continued) Benchmarks can be used to evaluate Hardware Speed Capacity Software User productivity Vendors that provide hardware and software benchmarks Business Applications Performance (BAPCO) PassMark Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation VeriTest

Weighted Point Evaluation Method Weighted Point Evaluation Method uses several evaluation criteria of predefined importance to arrive at a numerical score for each product also called Kepner-Tregoe method Goal: to make the evaluation and selection process as objective as possible Treat competing products equally Eliminate favoritism or bias among evaluators Force evaluators to specify in advance the important factors in evaluation

Steps in Weighted Point Evaluation Method 1. Decide on evaluation criteria 2. Determine importance of each criterion 3. Rate each product against all evaluation criteria 4. Compute average rating for each product for each criterion 5. Weight the product rating by the importance of the criterion 6. Compute the total rating for each product 7. Compare product ratings Purpose: Make evaluation as objective (emotionless) as possible

Examples of Criteria Used in Weighted Point Evaluation Method continued

Example of Weighted Point Evaluation Results Research Colleagues, trade publications 24x7, Quality, Locale

The Request for Proposal (RFP) Request for Proposal (RFP) is a product selection or competitive bidding procedure that uses objective criteria to select among products proposed by vendors Often used as the basis for awarding a contract to provide computer products May be a legal requirement for computer selection in public agencies An objective product and vendor selection tool

Primary Steps in the RFP Process 1. Conduct a needs analysis 2. Develop a purchase specification 3. Define decision criteria importance of each criterion 4. Write the RFP document 5. Send the RFP to prospective vendors 6. Receive vendor proposals describes how vendor’s products address user requirements bid price 7. Analyze vendor responses to the RFP often uses weighted point evaluation tools 8. Select a vendor and award the contract continued

Subjective Evaluation Criteria Subjective evaluation criteria are factors that are not directly related to the fit between product features and user needs Based on: personal relationships convenience personal preferences traditional practices Are neither measurable nor repeatable from one evaluator to another Be careful when using

Product Support Standards Help control user support costs by limiting the number of hardware and software options users can choose May offer options to balance two extremes One-size fits all Buy whatever you want Often adopted by larger organizations with a substantial investment in computer technology because the potential for waste is so large

How Organizations Develop Computer Product and Support Standards Company computer culture Historic computer traditions Product standards committee is a group which defines computer product standards and coordinates their use Composed of support specialists end users technical support staff management

Changes in Computer Product Standards Changes in computer product standards may be met with user resistance Users are comfortable with existing standard If it ain’t broke, why fix it? Changes in standards should be discussed with users involve users in decisions

Computer Use Standards Acceptable use guidelines are policies adopted by an organization about how users are permitted and not permitted to use computer systems Activities that are prohibited by organizational policy Activities that are illegal

How Organizations Implement Computer Product Standards Adoption and implementation of product and service standards is influenced by: Investment in existing hardware and software Continual arrival of new products, services, and product upgrades Conversion to new standards can result in loss of employee productivity during transition period can be phased in over time

Criteria Used to Update Product Standards New products offer technical improvements New product features may improve user productivity Employee preferences change over time New products offer cost savings New products may be compatible with or set new industry standards New products become best-sellers

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