Feasibility Study in Software Engineering is a study to evaluate

feasibility of proposed project or system. Feasibility study is one of

stage among important four stages of Software Project Management
Process. As name suggests feasibility study is the feasibility
analysis or it is a measure of the software product in terms of how
much beneficial product development will be for the organization in a
practical point of view. Feasibility study is carried out based on many
purposes to analyze whether software product will be right in terms
of development, implantation, contribution of project to the
organization etc.

Types of Feasibility Study :

The feasibility study mainly concentrates on below five mentioned
areas. Among these Economic Feasibility Study is most important
part of the feasibility analysis and Legal Feasibility Study is less
considered feasibility analysis.

1. Technical Feasibility –
In Technical Feasibility current resources both hardware software
along with required technology are analyzed/assessed to develop
project. This technical feasibility study gives report whether there
exists correct required resources and technologies which will be
used for project development. Along with this, feasibility study
also analyzes technical skills and capabilities of technical team,
existing technology can be used or not, maintenance and up-
gradation is easy or not for chosen technology etc.

2. Operational Feasibility –
In Operational Feasibility degree of providing service to
requirements is analyzed along with how much easy product will
be to operate and maintenance after deployment. Along with this
other operational scopes are determining usability of product,
Determining suggested solution by software development team is
acceptable or not etc.

3. Economic Feasibility –
In Economic Feasibility study cost and benefit of the project is
analyzed. Means under this feasibility study a detail analysis is
 carried out what will be cost of the project for development which
includes all required cost for final development like hardware and
software resource required, design and development cost and
operational cost and so on. After that it is analyzed whether
project will be beneficial in terms of finance for organization or
not.

4. Legal Feasibility –
In Legal Feasibility study project is analyzed in legality point of
view. This includes analyzing barriers of legal implementation of
project, data protection acts or social media laws, project
certificate, license, copyright etc. Overall it can be said that Legal
Feasibility Study is study to know if proposed project conform
legal and ethical requirements.

5. Schedule Feasibility –
In Schedule Feasibility Study mainly timelines/deadlines is
analyzed for proposed project which includes how many times
teams will take to complete final project which has a great impact
on the organization as purpose of project may fail if it can’t be
completed on time.

Aim of feasibility study :

 the overall objective of the organization are covered and
contributed by the system or not.
 the implementation of the system be done using current
technology or not.
 can the system be integrated with the other system which are
already exist

Feasibility Study Process :

The below steps are carried out during entire feasibility analysis.

1. Information assessment
2. Information collection
3. Report writing
4. General information

Need of Feasibility Study :

Feasibility study is so important stage of Software Project
Management Process as after completion of feasibility study it gives
a conclusion of whether to go ahead with proposed project as it is
practically feasible or to stop proposed project here as it is not
right/feasible to develop or to think/analyze about proposed project
again.
Along with this Feasibility study helps in identifying risk factors
involved in developing and deploying system and planning for risk
analysis also narrows the business alternatives and enhance
success rate analyzing different parameters associated with
proposed project development.
 1. What is Feasibility Study in Software
Development?
A feasibility study is part of the initial design stage of any proposed project/plan. It
is carried out to evaluate the feasibility of a proposed project or an existing
software used by the business. It can assist in identifying and assessing the
opportunities and threats present in the natural environment, the resources
needed for the project, and the chances of success.

Well, in terms of software development, the feasibility study ensures the analysis
of every small aspect of the feasibility of the proposed software or project. In this
stage of the feasibility study, there are four steps of the Software Project
Management Process. From a technical perspective, a feasibility study will help
you analyze for multiple purposes to understand whether the software will be able
to withstand the market or not. This feasibility study helps developers understand
the product in the right terms from the point of view of development, implantation,
the contribution of the project to the organization, etc. businesses are also free to
leverage software development services from experts of the business.
In software development, the feasibility study in software engineering is one of
the most time-consuming and sophisticated aspects. Here the viability of a
product means the technical side of the product that is intended to develop.

As previously stated, technical feasibility investigates any technical challenges of

a project. However, it is unavoidably influenced by and is dependent on the
available money, deadlines, legal limits, and post-development activities (support
and maintenance).

Talking about the software feasibility, specifically, it initially evaluates the ideation
phase of product development, following the needs of the preliminary project,

 Business analysts’ functional requirements define solution features.

 Non-functional requirements are often gathered by a software architect and are
related to system attributes such as performance, scalability, and so on.
It starts with analyzing the feasibility of the proposal and is validated at the end of
the day. Software analysis serves as the foundation for a business plan that
describes how to get the initiative from the concept of software to bring it to reality
by development. If the criteria do not meet, you must manage the client’s
expectations and suggest alternate methods of achieving business objectives.

2. Types of Feasibility Study

2.1 Technical Feasibility
Technical Feasibility analyses and evaluates the project’s current resources,
including hardware and software along with the technical requirements of the
proposed system. In simple words, a technical feasibility study gives a report on
whether there exist required resources and new technologies which will be used
for proposed software development. Additionally, a technical feasibility study
examines the technical skills of the software development team, the viability of
using current technology, the ease of maintaining and upgrading the technology
of choice, and other factors. Technical feasibility aspects, particularly in software
project development must be checked because they are critical to successful
delivery.

2.2 Economic Feasibility

When someone wants to start a new project, the cost factor is the first thing that
comes to mind. Cost does not only refer to how much money is available in the
company, but also where the company can seek assistance when they are in
need. Economic feasibility in terms of software development helps companies to
examine the development costs and financial gains. And to be economically
feasible means the cost incurred in new software development must exceed its
benefits Furthermore, the total cost of the software project, including any
unplanned expenses, must be known beforehand. It is critical to plan for such
events at the beginning of a project.
2.3 Legal Feasibility
Legal feasibility is one of the most important types of feasibility studies in project
management because, even if money is abundant, each country’s laws must
allow the legal implementation of the project. Several other legal requirements
include data protection acts, social media laws, zoning laws, and so on. Certain
types of jobs are permitted in certain areas. As a result, with legal feasibility in
place, prior steps can be taken after app development for any legal implications.
2.4 Operational Feasibility
Operational feasibility investigates how a new project will affect your company’s
daily processes, what procedures should be implemented, and what efforts
should be made to keep it running. Assume you’re launching a global e-
commerce platform. Then, in each country, you must have local warehouses,
service teams, and, in some cases, even local websites. Though the initial idea
appears commercially appealing and technically feasible it is extremely difficult to
realize operationally and may make no sense at all.

2.5 Scheduling Feasibility

Scheduling feasibility is a type of feasibility that helps you to set realistic
deadlines and adhere to them. A thorough feasibility study cannot be conducted
without extensive knowledge of finance, technology, and legislation.

3. Feasibility Study Process

3.1 Information Assessment

This part is about gathering information and with the help of the system achieving
the goal of the organization. It also confirms if the system can be integrated with
the current system and whether it can be deployed utilizing new technologies
while staying within the budget.

3.2 Information Collection

Here you can easily specify the sources of software information. In general, these
sources include users who are willing to use the software, where the software will
be used like a company and those who understand user requirements and knows
how to fulfill them in software like the software development team.

3.3 Report Writing

The result of the software development team’s feasibility analysis is called the
feasibility report. It includes recommendations on how software development
should be continued in the future by the software development team. This report
may also include information about changes to the software scope, technical
skills budget, and schedule, as well as other suggestions for system
requirements.

3.4 General Information

It also includes an overview of the system project, acronyms, glossary, and
abbreviations, as well as contact information. The system overview describes the
name of the organization responsible for software development, the system name
or title, the system category, the operational status, and so on.

Project references can have a list of the references used to prepare this
document, like project-related documents or old references.

Acronyms are abbreviations or definitions that provide a list of the terms used in
this document and their definitions.

4. Need for Feasibility Study

In case businesses are still not sure why they should look for the feasibility of a
product/application/software then you must know the reasons why they should be
doing a feasibility study on existing software or new software.

Obtain a broader perspective

Project execution is not an easy task. Having said that, everyone involved in the
project bears a great deal of responsibility. Especially a project manager or team
lead has the primary responsibility. Hence, it is critical to understand the
opportunity and risk involved in initiating and completing a project. One must take
a broader view which also helps you in keeping each and every factor in mind,
which are the key highlights and the significance of feasibility studies.

It helps you devise a strategy.

When you use a feasibility study, you can list all risks and opportunities at the
start of the project so that you have a big picture. As a result, planning is
simplified. If you do not complete the study, you may have to rethink your
strategy.

Execution gets simple

When you create a proper plan, you have halfway won the battle of the project
development, but the execution is critical to the project’s success. When the
feasibility study is completed, you can create a proper plan to pave the way for
execution. Execution will involve costs, time, and resources, so it will be feasible
 to use all after a thorough study of the project’s viability and complete the project
economically, exceeding client expectations.

Get ready with an alternative

If something goes wrong due to any uncertainty, a detailed feasibility analysis will
allow the team lead to make an alternate plan on the fly.

5. Best Practices for a Feasibility Study

If you think that this feasibility study has all the positive aspects to offer for your
software development team, then you are absolutely right. It saves you from risk
by doing risk analysis, it saves your technical team from getting into any glitches
beforehand. It also evaluates feasibility from different angles, hence if you want to
leverage all of it, follow these best practices.

1. To organize your data and work efficiently and effectively, use project management
software such as Project Manager.
2. Utilize templates or any data and technology that provides you with leverage.
3. In order to obtain feedback, involve the appropriate stakeholders.
4. Utilize market research to supplement your data collection.
5. Do your research and ask questions to ensure that your data is reliable.

6. Conclusion
Your business has got all the relevant reasons to use a feasibility study in
software engineering. This technique enables your business to identify the
success and failure factors and accordingly make plans ahead. You can
understand which one works best and which doesn’t for your venture. If you do a
detailed feasibility study, you are enabling businesses to get higher returns on
their investment with access to risk factors market analysis, labor needed,
finances, and other information to go for it or not.