Using the software evaluation guidelines given in the text, do a brief evaluation of GEMS, a software package used by the Management Systems employees. In a paragraph, briefly critique this custom software by comparing it with commercial off-the-shelf software such as Microsoft Project.

Question

An evaluation of the Global Engineering Management System (GEMS) is:

Answer 1

A. Performance effectiveness:
Has an adequate capacity.
Seems able to perform all tasks.
The screens lack good captions.
The appropriate use of color should be included.
B. Performance efficiency: no complaints so it is assumed efficient.
C. Ease of use:
The interface is not flexible.
You can’t tell what kind of feedback is available from the screens.
It is impossible to determine the type of error recovery.
D. Flexibility: seems flexible but not usable with other software.
E. Documentation: on a system level is very good but user documentation is not apparent.
F. Manufacturer support does not apply.
G. Has a high level of security.
H. Designed to use over the corporate network with a Web interface.

The GEMS seems not as good as a Graphic User Interface (G U I)-based product such as Lotus’ Organizer or Microsoft’s Project for the following reasons:

A. It does not have customizable toolbars.
B. Graphical representation of the data is minimal in GEMS (it only displays a Gantt chart).
C. It does not include pull-down menus.

A disadvantage of the packaged software products is that they may not be custom tailored to the organization whereas the GEMS is designed for the user’s needs.