Tools exist which can automate many software and system process tasks and activities:
Requirements management and traceability
Software and system size , cost, and schedule estimating
Project scheduling
Project tracking and reporting
Risk analysis, planning, and managing
Configuration and data management
Measurement collection, analysis, and reporting
Process asset definition and management
Tools can automate the work people do. Tools cannot :
Improve leadership
Keep anyone from making bad or irresponsible decisions
Eliminate politics
Fix a broken process (but they can make bad things happen faster)
Motivate people
Change the culture
Relieve people of having to think
Often, the cost of the tool is just the tip of the iceberg of the total cost. Other costs include:
Training and learning costs
Integration with existing environment and platforms
Initial loss of productivity during learning and transition
Tailoring or customization
Data migration from legacy systems
Cost of running parallel systems or processes during transition
You can and should use the same vendor selection criteria you came up with for contracting a consultant as the criteria for selecting a process tool vendor. In addition to that criteria, the questions your organization should ask before buying a process or process improvement tool are:
Does the tool do something you need or want? (Or is it just cool?)
Would a lower cost, less elaborate solution satisfy your current and future requirements?
How much are the unobvious labor costs: learning, tailoring and customizing, data migration, interfaces?
How much expert labor could you buy for the cost of the tool?
What will the tool do that can t be done just as easily and at a lower cost? At the current average CMMI consulting rates, you could not spend $200,000 on a tool and purchase about 1,300 hours of very good consulting. Which will benefit your organization more?