Liang, Chao; Li, Qing: Enterprise information system project selection with regard to BOCR; in: International Journal of Project Management, Article in Press, Corrected Proof
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2007.11.001
Lots of consultants earn their money with selecting the right IT system. I have seen the most bizarre total-cost-of-ownership (TOC) calculations to get to it and witnessed the political madness which comes with buying-center decisions in never ending rounds of assessment workshops.
Liang & Li claim that „a comprehensive and systematic assessment is necessary for executives to select the most suitable project from many alternatives.“ Furthermore they claim that „This paper first proposes a decision method for project selection.“ However, the authors apply a analytical hierarchy/network process (AHP/ANP) to this decision-making predicament. They suggest breaking down the decision unsing their mulit-criteria BOCR framework, with the dimensions of benefits (B), opportunities (O), costs (C), and risks (R).
In the case of an manufacturing system, described in that article, the benefits consist of time gained, costs saved, service improvements, capacity increase, and quality improvements. The opportunities are an increased market share, fast ROI and payback period, and the ability for agile manufacturing. The risks associated with this MES are budget overruns, time delays, and several technological risks, e.g., reliability, flexibility, ease of use. Lastly Liang & Li break down the costs into software, implementation, taining, maintenance, upgrade, and costs for existing systems.