Division of Information
Systems and Communications (DISC)
IT Contract and Vendor Information
Strategic Sourcing Team
Microsoft Desktop Decision Tree
For Software Assurance
The following set of questions was designed to aid in the process of deciding whether or not your agency should carry software assurance on your desktop software products. The questions are divided into three areas: Technology Profile, Cash Availability, IT Deployment Costs. Answer the questions honestly according to your current environment. Do not answer the way you wish it was. After you have answered all the questions, drop down to the scoring key to see how your agency scored. Please do not look at the scoring key until you have finished all the questions. Remember, you are answering these questions for standard desktop software only.
| NO | YES | |
|---|---|---|
| Your Technology Profile: | ||
| Does your organization adopt technology early as a means of gaining a competitive edge? | ||
| Would your internal business processes benefit significantly from use of the latest technology/software? | ||
| Does your organization operate in a high-growth industry, which is currently experiencing significant change? | ||
| Is it important for your organization to deploy the most current advances in technology? | ||
| Is software compatibility important within your organization? | ||
| Does your organization's business rely heavily on the benefits gained from the latest in technology advances? | ||
| Does your organization operate in a fairly mature industry, where business processes are relatively stable? | ||
| Is the organization currently in a high growth phase? | ||
| Your Cash Availability: | ||
| Is your organization operating with significantly restricted cash resources? | ||
| Does your organization plan two or more years in advance for major software upgrades and/or changes? | ||
| Your IT Deployment Costs: | ||
| Is your staff able to use major software upgrades adequately without extensive training and/or support? | ||
| Does the majority of end users possess a high level of IT knowledge? | ||
| Is your new software deployment automated through the network? | ||
| Do you have separate computer systems for testing software? | ||
| Is your organization's IT system largely centralized? | ||
After you have answered all the questions, go to the scoring guide to see how you scored.
| NO | YES | |
|---|---|---|
| Your Technology Profile: | ||
| Does your organization adopt technology early as a means of gaining a competitive edge? | -1 | +1 |
| Would your internal business processes benefit significantly from use of the latest technology/software? | -1 | +1 |
| Does your organization operate in a high-growth industry, which is currently experiencing significant change? | -1 | +1 |
| Is it important for your organization to deploy the most current advances in technology? | -1 | +1 |
| Is software compatibility important within your organization? | +1 | -1 |
| Does your organization's business rely heavily on the benefits gained from the latest in technology advances? | -1 | +1 |
| Does your organization operate in a fairly mature industry, where business processes are relatively stable? | +1 | -1 |
| Is the organization currently in a high growth phase? | -1 | +1 |
| Your Cash Availability: | ||
| Is your organization operating with significantly restricted cash resources? | +1 | -1 |
| Does your organization plan two or more years in advance for major software upgrades and/or changes? | +1 | -1 |
| Your IT Deployment Costs: | ||
| Is your staff able to use major software upgrades adequately without extensive training and/or support? | -1 | +1 |
| Does the majority of end users possess a high level of IT knowledge? | -1 | +1 |
| Is your new software deployment automated through the network? | -1 | +1 |
| Do you have separate computer systems for testing software? | -1 | +1 |
| Is your organization's IT system largely centralized? | -1 | +1 |
If your agency scored higher than +3, your agency may be one of the few that evolves and changes quickly enough on a continuing basis and has the environment and test systems necessary to keep up with these changes. If this is true, your agency should consider paying for software assurance.
If your agency scored +3 or below, your agency would not benefit by buying software assurance. You would save a considerable amount of money by either rebuying new licenses all at once when you were ready to upgrade or by phasing in your upgrade over three years. The later phasing in method may be cost effective for you even if you scored over a +3.
This model is only a tool to help in your decision process. A lot of time has gone into this tool and it does work, but you must make the most efficient and cost effective decisions on your own.