Computer Feasibility Study
R. M. Paine · ITNOW · 1959
(This paper was presented to the Society on 26 February 1959) This article indicates how an investigation of a firm might be carried out in order to determine the potential of an E.D.P. system. It will not be dealing with the technicalities of a machine but will discuss the examination of a firm’s systems and procedures that is required before deciding to install E.D.P.M. There is no doubt that the amount of initial investigation necessary before deciding on an electronic computer system has been and still is very much underestimated. It is for present-day investigating teams to benefit from the successes and failures that have occurred in recent years. A feasibility study must be a critical examination of existing procedures, an examination that does not just study isolated departments. (Feasibility is a horrible word, but unfortunately, it is in current use.) It is a matter of great importance that at an early stage the true objectives are firmly established—that one knows what is really desired in the way of results. The “real” problems may not be the ones the present isolated manual or mechanised systems are set up to solve. An imaginative yet orderly approach should stimulate a willingness to re-think the company procedure pattern.