The reason for including a Cost/Benefit Analysis is to provide the reader with an evaluation of the costs and benefits associated
with each viable alternative.
The reader can easily understand and compare the initial and on-going expenditures to the expected financial and
non-financial benefits, for each viable alternative
Present the costs, benefits, and budgets for each alternative separately and clearly.
Include any detailed requirements analysis in an appendix.
Checklist for Alternatives
Are the alternatives truly distinguishable?
Are the viable alternatives defined at a sufficient level of detail to define costs and benefits?
Have any critical success factors been highlighted for each alternative?
Have all constraints for each alternative been identified?
Have all quantitative costs and benefits been identified?
Have all qualitative costs and benefits been identified?
Is the timeframe appropriate considering the expected life span of the project?
Can any of the non-financial items be converted to financial items?
Are all the assumptions clearly identified?}
3.1.2 Cost and Benefits - Alternative 1
3.1.2.1 Costs
[Identify all relevant costs incurred over the chosen project timeframe:
Tangible non-recurring costs - non-recurring costs are one time, project related costs.
Capital costs - These costs are amortized over the useful life of the asset and not expensed in the year they were acquired.
Other non-recurring costs - These costs will normally include hardware, software, and labor costs not already identified as
capital costs.
Tangible recurring costs - costs that are incurred on a regular basis, i.e. Software licensing fees, etc.
Another type of cost is intangible costs. Examples are initial loss of productivity, opportunity costs, corporate overhead, and
customer resistance to change. These costs are not required to be included in your senior project, however they are important
considerations for real-world projects. ]
3.1.2.2 Benefits
[Quantify, in monetary terms, using the benefits identified in section 2.4.]
3.2.2 Cost and Benefits - Alternative 2
3.2.2.1 Costs
3.2.2.2 Benefits
3.3.2 Cost and Benefits - Alternative 3
3.3.2.1 Costs
3.3.2.2 Benefits