Feasibility Study

A feasibility study or assessment is conducted at at least three levels.

1. The first level involves the operational feasibility of your idea. The question that is asked at this level is “Will it work?”
2. The second level involves technical feasibility and its associated question is “Can it be built?”.
3. The third and final level is economic feasibility and it brings the operational and technical levels together into a common unit by asking “Will it make economic sense if it works and is built?” In other words, “Will it generate profits?”

(Vincent Amanor-Boadu)

Examples of Infeasible projects, solutions and options

Economic Feasibility

Simple and straight forward to understand. The budget put down for the entire information systems project no matter how effective, cannot be afforded by the client concerned. Cost may not be cut down because the quality would then be compromised in some way. In such a case the system with all its glamour still remains economically infeasible and the implementation of the idea can be either terminated or postponed with immediate effect.

Example of an economically infeasible project

An enterprise may not be able to afford the hardware cost associated with implementing a finger print recognition system to track employee attendance. The hardware may be available in the market. However, acquiring it may be beyond the allocated IT system budget of a company.

Socially Infeasible

Examples where the system is not Technically Feasible

1. Modern training methods often use the multimedia projector. A lecturer needs to make notes on her slides using a marker. But since the projection is on a screen that does not allow writing on it, the lecturer has to waste time rewriting text the text on the slides on the white board.

Simple solution: project on the white board.

Problem: Although the idea seems simple, it is not easily implemented. The projector has been mounted in such a way that it cannot be rotated. The white boards position may also not be easily changed.

2. It may be technically infeasible for a supermarket to attach tags to all the items in a supermarket for security purposes. The most feasible solution may be to install cameras.

Example where the system is not Legally Feasible

On Hold 21 March 2006 16:18:57

Sri Lanka Telecom suspends CDMA services

Mar. 21 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom, the island's dominant fixed-line operator, Tuesday said it would stop connecting new subscribers through Code Division Multiplex Access or CDMA technology with immediate effect, following legal advice.

The move follows SLT's decision late Monday to take seek legal redress on a directive issued by the telecom watchdog with regard to their CDMA installation charges.

Prior to suspension of services, SLT was charging Rs18,400 for a CDMA connection, which the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) objected and set a March 20 deadline to cut prices to Rs12,000.

"In view of above, Sri Lanka Telecom is reluctantly compelled to suspend the provisioning of new SLT Citylink CDMA connections forthwith and regrets the inconvenience caused to the general public in this regard," SLT said in a statement. CDMA, a low cost wireless technology, is commonly used by operators worldwide for faster mobile phone connections.

In Sri Lanka CDMA is being used to provide fixed-line access, making telephony accessible and affordable to all, even in the most far flung regions.

SLT, which joined the CDMA race after private operators Suntel and Lanka Bell, has sold around 100,000 connections to date.

The private operators collectively have sold around 150,000 connections, according to

the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.

The AAA (sri) rated telco giant controls 78 percent of Sri Lanka's fixed-line market and 15 percent of the cellular market.

Japans Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. or NTT controls 35.2 percent of SLT, the Sri Lankan government owns 49.5 percent and the public 15.3 percent.

To students:

For your projects do not go describing the definitions of the different forms of feasibility, rather just mention that the project is technically feasible because the necessary hardware and software are either already available within the organization or can be acquired from ………. as shown in some of the examples above.

If it is theory that is required, you can either read a text book or describe it in your exams but for your project you have to be case specific. It is the application of theoretical knowledge in a practical sense. It’s not the number of words but the content.

References

Vincent Amanor-Boadu, Assessing the Feasibility of Business Propositions, Available world wide web: http://www.agmrc.org/agmrc/business/startingbusiness/assessingthefeasibility.htm, date accessed: 9 May 2006.