Easy Setup

Criteria for evaluating and choosing the correct development tool for your project.
 
A question often asked by developers is which Msi program, supplier or system is best suited to the company’s needs? As always, the answer is not a simple one and involves many factors, such as cost, ROI, customer support etc. The final decision can often be a critical one that will impact on the company in the future, and so, should not be taken lightly. In this post, I would like to share with you some of the conclusions I have arrived at after having to make such a decision a number of times.

Generally speaking, the idea is to gather answers to specific questions regarding the programs’ features (you can add or remove questions as you choose to suit your particular situation) and place them into a matrix for comparison. You should then rank each program feature on a scale of one (lowest) to ten (highest). It is a given that you are the one who decides which features are more important than others and score them accordingly. At the end of the process, the highest scoring program should be the one you select. Using this system enables you to make a decision that is uninfluenced by you or your colleagues’ personal ideas and opinions.

Information Gathering:

1. How many programs are there available in the market? By executing a simple internet search you can find many solutions and products upon which to base your research.
    
2. What the cost of the program and/or license per computer? Many companies have various licensing schemes. Many of them publish prices and licensing information on their website. If not, then you can always mail or phone for a quote.
    
3. How complex do you need the editor to be? Choose a product that has all of the features you need but not too many that you have no use for. Check out freeware or “Light” editions of commercial products, many of them are excellent and provide a wide range of tools that may be more than enough for your needs.
    
4. Does the selected application have a good, helpful customer support team? Customer and technical support can be provided in many different ways. Sometimes none is provided at all. In any event, is the support scheme available for the product, one that suits your needs and demands?
    
5. What is the application’s learning curve? You don’t want the learning process for the application to be a bottleneck for each new addition to your development team.
    
6. Does the application have understandable and logical Help documentation – written, on-line or built-in? Can it be mastered easily by the user or will it be necessary to employ a support person to integrate the application in your company?
    
7. Does the application support the creation of multiple language package creation in the event that additional languages are needed?
    
8. Does the application allow for easy update, upgrade or Patch creation if necessary?
    
9. How easy is it to use the application to build an automated procedure – if at all?
    
10. Does the application support a simple Find and Change procedure?
     
11. How would you rate the program and final application implementation and performance?