A Project Feasibility Study is an exercise that involves documenting each of the potential solutions to a particular business problem or opportunity. Feasibility Studies can be undertaken by any type of business, project or team and they are a critical part of the Project Life Cycle.

When to use a Feasibility Study
The purpose of a Feasibility Study is to identify the likelihood of one or more solutions meeting the stated business requirements. In other words, if you are unsure whether your solution will deliver the outcome you want, and then a Project Feasibility Study will help to gain that clarity. During the Feasibility Study, a variety of 'assessment' methods are undertaken. The outcome of the Feasibility Study is a confirmed solution for implementation.

A.) Technology and system feasibility

This involves questions such as whether the technology needed for the system exists, how difficult it will be to build, and whether the firm has enough experience using that technology. The assessment is based on an outline design of system requirements in terms of Input, Processes, Output, Fields, Programs, and Procedures. This can be quantified in terms of volumes of data, trends, frequency of updating, etc. in order to estimate whether the new system will perform adequately or not.

B.) Economic feasibility

Economic analysis is the most frequently used method for evaluating the effectiveness of a new system. More commonly known as cost/benefit analysis, the procedure is to determine the benefits and savings that are expected from a candidate system and compare them with costs. If benefits outweigh costs, then the decision is made to design and implement the system.

C.) Operational feasibility

Is a measure of how well a proposed system solves the problems, and takes advantages of the opportunities identified during scope definition and how it satisfies the requirements identified in the requirements analysis phase of system development.

D.) Schedule feasibility

A project will fail if it takes too long to be completed before it is useful. Typically this means estimating how long the system will take to develop, and if it can be completed in a given time period using some methods like payback period. Schedule feasibility is a measure of how reasonable the project timetable is. Given our technical expertise, are the project deadlines reasonable? Some projects are initiated with specific deadlines. You need to determine whether the deadlines are mandatory or desirable.

E.) Resource feasibility

This involves questions such as how much time is available to build the new system, when it can be built, whether it interferes with normal business operations, type and amount of resources required, dependencies, etc. Contingency and mitigation plans should also be stated here.