CIS 385 Contemporary Multimedia Tools

Web Conferencing Evaluation Assignment

COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS
Spring 2017

Is it really worth it? Cost/Benefit Analysis

Step 1: Analyze the costs and benefits (15)
Step 2: Perform the SWOT Analysis (15)
<Briar Bahnmiller>
Instructions

1. Insert your name above and include it in the name of this file. I am not particular about
how you name your file, but I want your name included.
2. Please use Calibri 11-point font.
3. Fill in the blanks where I have indicated. Use complete sentences and paragraphs.
4. I have included examples for each task I ask of you (indicated by italics). Some examples
are of my own making, some are from previous students. I suggest you read them.
5. Blue highlight and enlarged Arial font are used to indicate the areas in which you are to
enter your work.
6. Read each rubric. I am very clear about what it means to do exemplary work. If something
is not clear to you, ask me before I grade your work (not after).
7. Use APA Style for formatting in-text citations and references. Our Moodle course site
contains a chart entitled How to Cite Something Your Found on a Website in APA Style:
What to Do When Information is Missing. Please use it!
8. As you work through each phase of the ADDIE process, think about how you could apply
this to your daily life.

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Is it really worth it? Cost/Benefit Analysis

Step 1: Analyze the costs and benefits

The purpose of a cost/benefit analysis is to determine whether purchasing the mTool is will
provide enough benefit to be worth the cost. In our situation, this will be a rather subjective
analysis, with very little actual hard facts. Be sure to include as much concrete information as
you can, such as actual cost.

Answer the following questions in the space provided below. In the finished product, delete
the list of bullets and questions. Use complete sentences and paragraphs. Using APA Style,
insert citations in the text and references in the References section. Provide a minimum of
three screen shots.

If any of the below questions do not apply to you, please indicate why in your narrative.

Costs
1 Is the tool free? If not, what is the annual cost to purchase a license?
2 Are there any hidden costs associated with the tool?
3 Are you using the free version of this tool to its fullest potential?
4 Are there features that cannot be accessed except by paying?
a If so, what are they?
b Should they be purchased? How much will they cost?
5 Will the use of this mTool require other investments, such as someone to manage
the tool or its output?
a If so, what other costs will be incurred to accommodate the manager?
6 Will a migration from a different mTool be necessary? If so, what are those costs?
Benefits
7 Will the use of this mTool save money? If so, how and how much?
8 Have you discovered other possible uses that could be helpful for you?
9 How can this tool be improved?
10 What kind of impact will this tool have on the future of your field?
11 Find at least two reviews done on this product. How is the product rated by other
users high, low, mediocre? Explain and give examples (with citations!).

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Example of Cost/Benefit Analysis by a Former Student
(Please Note the questions to which this student responded were not as thorough as
those listed above).
Teamwork is free to use but after a 30-day trial period of having the SMALL OFFICE plan
youre reverted to the free only plan, which only provides you with 200mb of storage and the
ability to have 2 projects open at a time.

(Problem Solved, 2016)

There are no hidden fees associated with Teamwork, all of the available plans and pricing is
stated in fine print on the plans and pricing page. There are multiple plans available that
provide a few extra features such as additional storage space, the ability to have more open
projects, and lastly the ability to export files to other cloud service providers.

(Problem Solved, 2016)

Depending on the amount of projects and the size of the company certain plans may be more
suitable. There is a variety of plans which makes it convenient for any business small or
large. I was only able to test the free version of the software so I was unable to test the
application to its fullest potential. One thing that really caught my eye during the evaluation
was that the user is provided too much information on each page. There are too many links
available to you which if consolidated, would make the application easier to navigate.

Teamwork and other project management tools have a very important role in my employment
field. Software developers really need the ability to track their progress on projects they are
currently working on. This not only helps keep cliental in the loop of where their software
currently is in development but it also helps fellow team members get an idea on what still
needs to be worked on.

As far as the reviews go, a user by the name of by Gregory Go on about money, gives the
application a 4 out of five (Go, 2016). Gregory compares the application with a similar project
management application called Basecamp, where he states Teamwork has More features and
Cheaper Than Basecamp (Go, 2016).
References
Go, G. (n.d.). Teamwork PM Project Management Software Review. Retrieved April 29, 2016, from
http://onlinebusiness.about.com/od/dailyoperations/fr/teamworkpm.htm
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Problem Solved. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2016, from
https://problemsolved1.teamwork.com/projects/232478-test-project/tasks

Compose Cost/Benefit Analysis.

1. Is the tool free? If not, what is the annual cost to purchase a license?
The tool is free to use
2. Are there any hidden costs associated with the tool?
There are no hidden costs in Skype for business
3. Are you using the free version of this tool to its fullest potential?
The tool is at its fullest potential. There are no hidden fees and no extended version
4. Are there features that cannot be accessed except by paying?
None at all
5. If so, what are they?
N/A
6. Should they be purchased? How much will they cost?
N/A
7. Will the use of this mTool require other investments, such as someone to manage the
tool or its output?
N/A
8. If so, what other costs will be incurred to accommodate the manager?
N/A
9. Will a migration from a different mTool be necessary? If so, what are those costs?
It will not be Necessary
Benefits
10.Will the use of this mTool save money? If so, how and how much?
The use of Skype will save you travel expenses. There is no limit to the amount that
you can spend on traveling, but with skype, there is no need to spend money at all
since there is no need to travel to use it.
11.Have you discovered other possible uses that could be helpful for you?
You can instant message, use all your email contacts in sync with it, and add others
through their emails as well.
12.How can this tool be improved?
I see no need to improve upon this tool whatsoever.
13.What kind of impact will this tool have on the future of your field?
It will help exterminate traveling to places to hold meetings. With the use of Skype,
you can hold a business meeting in the safety of your own home.
14.Find at least two reviews done on this product. How is the product rated by other
users high, low, mediocre? Explain and give examples (with citations!).
This product seems to be rated high according to both G2 Crowd and PC Magazine
(Martinez & Rashid, 2016) (Skype for Business (formerly Lync) Reviews, 2017). They
both rate is close to 4-5 stars out of 5. The only dislike that most people are
commenting about is the fact that it gets a little buggy at times.

References
Martinez, J., & Rashid, F. Y. (2016, July 29). Microsoft Skype for Business. Retrieved February 2,
2017, from PCmag.com: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2486508,00.asp
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Skype for Business (formerly Lync) Reviews. (2017, January 24). Retrieved February 2, 2017,
from G2 Crowd: https://www.g2crowd.com/products/skype-for-business-formerly-
lync/reviews

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 Your Cost/Benefit Analysis will be graded according to these criteria:
Criteria Unacceptable Developing Accomplished Exemplary
0 points 1 points 2 points 3 points
Cost analysis written
Well-developed cost
with superficial Well-developed cost
analysis.
thought and analysis.
and
Analyze No questions preparation. and
Fully addresses and
Costs are answered or Addresses more
develops all aspects
Addresses up to 50% than 50% of the
of all the questions
of the questions questions asked.
asked.
asked.
Rating &
Explanation
Benefit analysis
Well-developed
written with Well-developed
benefit analysis.
superficial thought benefit analysis
and
Analyze No questions and preparation. and
Fully addresses and
Benefits are answered or Addresses more
develops all aspects
Addresses less than than 50% of the
of all the questions
50% of the questions questions asked.
asked.
asked.
Rating &
Explanation
One product review Two product reviews Two product reviews
No product
Product was mentioned but were mentioned but were mentioned and
reviews were
Reviews not thoroughly not thoroughly thoroughly
mentioned
explained explained explained
Rating &
Explanation
Screen shots are
included but they are One to three Four or more
No screen shots not shots of the relevant mTool relevant mTool
Screen Shots
are included. mTool itself or they screen shots screen shots
are not relevant to included. included.
the description.
Rating &
Explanation
Some in-text
Some in-text All in-text citations
citations exist
citations exist exist
and
No in-text and and
Style Some in-text
citations. No References All in-text citations
citations are
section supports the are reflected in the
reflected in the
in-text citations. References section.
References section.
Rating &
Explanation
Total /15

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Step 2: Perform the SWOT Analysis
Based on the reading for class and the results of your Usability Test, perform a SWOT analysis
using the provided template. If you are not sure what questions to ask in a SWOT analysis, do the
research. Your score on this section will be based on the thoroughness of your work. A good source
of information regarding strengths and weaknesses are product reviews. Use them. Cite them.

Example of a SWOT Analysis from a previous student

Positive Negative

Strengths
*Companys reputation Google is very
well known.
*Good product so strong competitor in
cloud storage.
*Very easy to setup, learn and use.
*Free with large storage limit (15 GB)
Internal
Weaknesses
*Web-based, so if user doesnt have
access to Internet than Google Drive is
inaccessible as well.
*Google holds the authority to index
your data so when a document is
uploaded, Google tags it as it sees

*Ability to purchase more storage if user
desires.
*Web-based so has the ability to be
accessed from anywhere with Internet
access.
*Supports multiple file formats.
*Real time ability to edit documents.
*Offline access
*Supports real time collaboration
*Control of privacy and permissions
Opportunities
*Growth Google is very innovative and
continues to improve their products.
External
appropriate. ("Weighing the Pros and
Cons of Google Drive | Best in Cloud
Storage", 2016)
*Limited file formats, yet the list is
pretty extensive. ("Weighing the Pros
and Cons of Google Drive | Best in
Cloud Storage", 2016)
*Security issue others can access if
you are logged into Gmail. ("Weighing
the Pros and Cons of Google Drive |
Best in Cloud Storage", 2016)
Threats
*A lot of competitors in the market
doing cloud storage as well.

*First choice for Google account holders. *Security issues being web-based.
*Loyalty to Google products give users
more options.
*Positive reviews online drives new
prospects to try it.

References
Vaughan-Nichols, S. J. (2016, January 20). What's the best cloud storage for you? | ZDNet.
Retrieved April 20, 2016, from http://www.zdnet.com/article/whats-the-best-cloud-storage-
for-you/
Weighing the Pros and Cons of Google Drive. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2016, from
http://www.bestincloudstorage.com/weighing-the-pros-and-cons-of-google-drive

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Compose the SWOT Analysis.

Positive Negative
Strengths Weaknesses
Video Conference Capabilities Buggy sometimes
Calling Problems signing in
Internal

Texting Weak connections

Share screens with viewers
Working with people around the world

Opportunities Threats
They could do more frequent updates that Skype has a few competitors
arent so buggy when the first come out Updates are not recent. Letting the
External

competition get ahead

People get upset when calls get
disconnected due to bugs in the program.

References
Martinez, J., & Rashid, F. Y. (2016, July 29). Microsoft Skype for Business. Retrieved February 2,
2017, from PCmag.com: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2486508,00.asp
Skype for Business (formerly Lync) Reviews. (2017, January 24). Retrieved February 2, 2017,
from G2 Crowd: https://www.g2crowd.com/products/skype-for-business-formerly-
lync/reviews

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 Your SWOT Analysis will be graded according to these criteria:
Criteria Unacceptable Developing Accomplished Exemplary
0 points 1 points 2 points 3 points
Well-developed
Well-developed
Strengths written Strengths that fully
Strengths that
No Strengths with superficial addresses and
Strengths listed thought and
clearly addresses
develops all
most important
preparation. aspects important
concepts.
concepts.
Rating &
Explanation
Well-developed
Well-developed
Weaknesses Weaknesses that
Weaknesses that
No Weaknesses written with fully addresses and
Weaknesses listed superficial thought
clearly addresses
develops all
most important
and preparation. aspects important
concepts.
concepts.
Rating &
Explanation
Well-developed Well-developed
Opportunities
Opportunities that Opportunities that
written with
No Opportunities clearly addresses fully addresses and
Opportunities listed
superficial thought
most important develops all
and preparation
concepts. aspects important
concepts.
Rating &
Explanation
Well-developed
Threats written Well-developed Threats that fully
with superficial Threats that clearly addresses and
Threats No Threats listed
thought and addresses most develops all
preparation. important concepts. aspects important
concepts.
Rating &
Explanation
Some in-text Some in-text
All in-text citations
citations exist citations exist
exist
and and
No in-text and
Style No Resources Some in-text
citations. All in-text citations
section supports citations are
are reflected in the
the in-text reflected in the
Resources section.
citations. Resources section.
Rating &
Explanation
Total /15

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