Definition: Feasibility study is the initial design stage of any project, which brings together the elements of knowledge that indicate if a project is possible or not.
What Does Feasibility Study Mean?
What is the definition of feasibility study? A feasibility study includes an estimate of the level of expertise required for a project and who can provide it, quantitative and qualitative assessments of other essential resources, identification of critical points, a general timetable, and a general cost estimate.
Whether a project is viable or not, i.e. whether it can generate an equal or a higher rate of return during its lifetime requires a thorough investigation of the investment per se as well as the level of current expenditure. The preliminary design is the simple description of the conceived idea with an indication of the main factors to be considered in the study.
Let’s look at an example.
Example
John is a project manager in an education organization, and he is asked to prepare a feasibility study. The study document should include a cover page with the project title, the team name, the names of each team member and date. The Table of Contents should include the following chapters, sections, and subsections:
- Description of the existing situation
- Main Problems
- Alternative suggestions
- Systems that will be developed (e.g. accounting) and priorities’ implementation
- General System Architecture (e.g. distributed, client-server)
- Required Instruments: Hardware, Software, Staffing
- Services, Education, Data Entry
- Major Phases and Implementation Schedule
- Total Cost Budget
- Cost-Benefit Analysis
- Compatibility and Working with Existing Systems
- Potential Expansion
- Risks for possible failure of information system
- Expected performance of the new system (estimates)
- Evaluation of Proposed Solutions
- Proposed solution and justification based on assessment
- Conclusions
- Reports that support the investigation and the final suggestion (e.g. web sites, papers, books, software manuals)
- Include a table with the evaluation criteria, and how each suggested solution satisfies each criterion
Summary Definition
Define Feasibility Studies: Feasibility study means an analysis of a project to determine if it is practical or not.
