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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 Rolein 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?
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
How Product Standards Emerged
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
Problems Caused byProduct Incompatibility
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
Early Development ofProduct Standards
Product Evaluation Strategies
Microsoft Microsoft
Microsoft Microsoft
Microsoft
WHY ? Is that acceptable? Should it be
acceptable?
Product evaluation is a process of researching and analyzing computer product features, capabilities, and suitability to solve specific user needs
Product evaluation process1. Collect product information2. Test, compare, and evaluate advantages and
disadvantages of competing products3. Make decisions or recommendations
1. Potentially a career make or break
Methods for Evaluating and Selecting 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
Resources Available to Help Evaluate Computer Products
Computing Review InfoWorld MacWorld MaximumPC Network Computing PC Magazine
PCWorld Smart Computing Tom’s Hardware
Guide ZDNet Business
Publications (Wall Street Journal)
Industry (Trade) Periodicals that Publish Product Comparisons
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)
Industry standard or best-selling products Products used by competitors Me To? Benchmarks Weighted point evaluation method Request for proposal (RFP) Acknowledged subjective criteria
Product Decision-making Tools
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
Industry StandardBest-selling Products
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
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
Adopting Industry Standard orBest-selling Products
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’
Products Competitors Use
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
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 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
Weighted Point Evaluation Method
Steps in Weighted Point Evaluation Method1. 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
continued
Examples of Criteria Used in Weighted Point Evaluation Method
Example of Weighted Point Evaluation Results
Research Colleagues, trade publicationsResearch Colleagues, trade publicationsResearch Colleagues, trade publicationsResearch Colleagues, trade publications
24x7, Quality, Locale24x7, Quality, Locale 24x7, Quality, Locale24x7, Quality, Locale
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
The Request for Proposal (RFP)
1. Conduct a needs analysis2. Develop a purchase specification 3. Define
decision criteria importance of each criterion
4. Write the RFP document5. Send the RFP to prospective vendors6. 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
Primary Steps in the RFP Process
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
Subjective Evaluation Criteria
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
Product 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
How Organizations Develop Computer Product and Support Standards
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
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
How Organizations Implement Computer Product Standards
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
Requires analysis and evaluation of products and services
Triggers potential support cost increases for installation, upgrades, training, documentation, trouble-shooting, and help desk services
Adopting or Modifying Technology Standards
