This electronic flyer highlights our capabilities and activities in the area of Independent Product Evaluation. Please sign our guestbook. For additional information, e-mail Steven W. Dellenback, Southwest Research Institute.

Independent Product Evaluation 

The Information Systems Engineering Department (ISED) at Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) has performed a broad spectrum of independent product evaluations for a variety of industries seeking the selection of information technology and software products.

As an independent organization, SwRI is not affiliated with any government, corporate or educational institution and is, therefore, able to perform evaluations without bias or favoritism. Without conflicting interests, SwRI provides optimal recommendations and solutions to clients.

Capabilities and Experience

Product selection processes within an organization often encounter big challenges. Typically there are multiple options needing comparison. SwRI staff can assist an organization by applying a structured product selection methodology that captures the information necessary for an organization to support and defend product decisions.

SwRI can also assist an organization by facilitating discussions with vendors, allowing the organization to remain anonymous. The evaluation information can then be used to defend decisions and achieve buy-in within the organization.

ISED staff members are technically proficient in a wide array of information technologies and have extensive experience in establishing structured methodologies for selecting commercially available products, making “build or buy” decisions, or a combination of both.

High-level Product Evaluation Methodology

Step 1 – Establish Evaluation Protocol

  • Define evaluation scope
  • Generate requirements
  • Develop evaluation criteria
  • Define weighting factors

Step 2 – Identify Potential Product Candidates

  • Perform market research
  • Administer vendor/product surveys
  • Select candidate products

Step 3 – Define Evaluation Scenarios

  • Derive use cases
  • Develop demonstration scenarios
  • Coordinate vendor participation
  • Deliver vendor demonstration package

Step 4 – Perform Product Demonstrations

  • Conduct vendor demonstrations
  • Facilitate evaluation process
  • Compile scoring information

Step 5 – Establish Evaluation Protocol

  • Analyze evaluation results
  • Rank candidate products
  • Facilitate scoring confirmation
  • Document evaluation results

Step 6 – Present Evaluation Results

  • Help prepare stakeholder presentations
  • Coordinate stakeholder presentations
  • Facilitate stakeholder discussions
     

The key to successful product selections is to properly align business
requirements and product features. SwRI can perform independent product
evaluations that facilitate this alignment.

The Information Systems Engineering Department at SwRI is committed to reliably producing the highest quality work through a proven systems engineering process. Our commitment to excellence is evident through our appraised attainment of Level 5 within the Software Engineering Institute’s (SEI) Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI®). This distinction is held by a limited number of American companies and even fewer applied research and development institutions.

®CMMI is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Carnegie Mellon University.

For more information about Information Systems Engineering, visit www.ised.swri.org.


This flyer was published in April 2009. For more information about Independent Product Evaluation, contact Steven W. Dellenback, director, Phone (210) 522-3914, Automation and Data Systems Division, Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510.

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