Integrating Off-the-shelf Software Solutions

Course Description:

Increasingly, organisations are seeking COTS (Commercial Off-the-Shelf) solutions to their IT system needs since these can offer more features, faster implementation, greater resilience and industry best practices. However, for these benefits to be realised it is important that the right solution be selected – which is where the Integrating Software Solutions Course comes in.

Integrating Off-the-Shelf Software Solutions provides a usable and auditable process for software package selection. It combines weighted matrices with appropriate modeling techniques from the Unified Modeling Language (UML) to produce requirements specification that can be used as part of an Invitation to Tender (Request for Proposal). It then describes a two-phase process for evaluating response to the Invitations to Tender, culminating in the selection and implementation of an appropriate solution.

ThisIntegrating Software Solutions course looks at integration from a variety of perspectives. Integration with business strategy, IT strategy, the procurement process, the business process and the IT architectural requirements are five of the integration themes.

This course includes the following modules:

Strategic Issues

• Historical perspective
• Relationship of packages to business strategy
• Relationship of packages to IT strategy
• Relationship of packages to business processes
• Legal issues, legal requirements (e.g. EU rules) and standards (e.g. IEEE1062)
• Configuration and customisation
• System integration issues
• Advantages and disadvantages of the package approach
• Risks of the software package approach and customisation
• Distinguishing between requests for proposals (RFP), requests for information (RFI) and requests for quotation (RFQ)

Software Package Selection and System Integration Selection

• A framework for software package selection and system integration
• Fact finding in the context of package selection
• The requirements catalogue
• Packages and prototyping
• Published package requirements and matrices
• Defining the structure of weighted matrices
• Defining the weights and content of the high level matrix
• Iteration in package selection

Functional and Non-Functional Requirements

• High level functions for functional scoping
• Business functions and significant events
• Significant input and output requirements
• Identifying static structures
• Identifying relationships between those structures
• Defining non-functional requirements

Product and Supplier Requirements

• Technical requirements and conformance
• Product design requirements
• Supplier stability requirements
• Supplier citizenship requirements
• Implementation requirements
• Infrastructure requirements
• Integration protocol issues
• Cost and time requirements

Requests for Proposals (RFP)

• Identifying potential suppliers
• Structuring Requests for Information
• Structuring Requests For Proposals (Invitations to Tender)
• Structuring the evaluation of initial supplier responses
• First-cut evaluation of competing packages

Evaluating and Comparing Competing Packages and Customisation / Integration Requirements

• Evaluating the functional match
• Scripted demonstrations and user-driven evaluation Evaluating the non-functional match
• Evaluating the product requirements match
• Evaluating the implementation requirements match
• Finalising cost and time elements of the evaluation
• Investigating suppliers
• Negotiating and amending supply contracts
• Maintenance and support agreements
• Summarising the requirements fit
• Determining bespoke and integration considerations
• Agreeing business change recommendations
• The potential role and value of the prime contractor
• Presenting a final recommendation

Procuring, Implementing and Upgrading the Software Solution

• Implementation considerations
• Planning and undertaking data conversion
• Support arrangements for the package
• Support elements for any bespoke elements of the solution
• Integration implications
• Licensing arrangements
• Training and documentation
• Upgrade arrangements and management
• Managing the long-term relationship with the supplier