2. Evaluate
The evaluate step will review the proposed solution and work to understand, at a high level, how the solution fits within the Penn IT environment. It will define business cases and define the value proposition for the solution.
To define the value proposition, the evaluate step will ascertain the cost profile (within an order of magnitude), including the one-time startup cost, operational expenses (both staff, computing resources and other costs such as support and licensing). It will also define the expected lifetime of the solution and (if possible) project what alternative solution may be or become available.
As part of the evaluation step the process will also define the integration challenges, such as integration with Penn authentication and authorization, the fit within the decentralized nature of Penn IT, etc. It will also define the data requirements, ownership and management as well as any security challenges that may arise due to the adoption of the solution.
At the end of the evaluation process a report will be produced that makes a recommendation on whether to progress the solution. This report will be used as part of the check-point to decide on whether to progress the solution, discard the solution or re-visit it at some point in the future.
Next Step: Scope