Resource Evaluation Criteria

General Requirements

1.1	Operating Systems supported	What operating systems are supported?
1.2	Databases supported	What database systems are supported? Is at least one Open Source database supported?
1.3	Data import/export	Is data import/export supported? What APIs or functions exist for this purpose?
1.4	Archiving requirements	Is the system capable of archiving for the number of years required by legislation?
1.5	Speed	The software should meet requirements with regard to speed of access and response time. It should also comply with volume transaction handling requirements.
1.6	Number of concurrent users supported	Does the application support the required number of users? Concurrent users are users that are logged on to the system at the same time. Does the licence agreement allow installation on any number of computers
1.7	System configuration	How much maintenance is required by the system. Are system admin processed such as database backup and archiving processes manual?
1.8	Alternate languiages	Is there support for multiple languages and how easy is this to configure?
1.9	Licensing	Is the software Open Source? Is the type of Open Source license acceptable?

Admin and Security

2.1	Compliance with HIPAA Security Rule	Does the software meet relevant regulatory compliance?
2.2	Passwords with customizable rules	Does the software support complex passwords and customizable rules around password length/change rules, etc.?
2.3	Individual and group security settings	Does the software use role based access control, with both individual and group settings?
2.4	DICOM 95 compliant audit trail	Does the software produce a DICOM 95 compliant audit trail?
2.5	Ease of customization	Does the software supply administration functionality in an easy to use format?

Community and Support

3.1	Activity of community/customer base	Does this software have an active user community, or a substantial customer base?
3.2	Backing for Open Source development	If Open Source, is development backed by a reputable company, or is it free-lance?
3.3	Number of upgrades/year	How often is the software updated? Is there a committment to provide bug fixes and patches? Are new features being added?
3.4	Stability	Assess the stability of the organization providing the product. How long have they been in business? How long have they been selling this type of software? When was this application first developed? How many local and international clients do they have for the application?
3.5	Upgrade path	For entry level packages, how accessible is the upgrade path? Can the advanced version be plugged into the architecture without significant rework?
3.6	Support available?	Is there support available for this software? A forum? Email support? Sufficient documentation? Service levels available?

Cost Comparison

4.1	Cost of Software	Is there a cost associated with this software? Is there a free version and an upgrade version?
4.2	Cost of Hardware (?)
4.3	Effort of Implementation	How difficult is the implementation of this software?
4.4	Effort of Integration	How easy is the software to integrate? How much effort will be required to introduce this package into the HSPC architecture?
4.5	Effort for Customization	How easy is the software to customize? How much effort will there be to make this "fit for use" in HSPC?
4.6	Adopt/Adapt/Own	Are the three efforts above low enough that we can simply adopt the solution as is? If not, can we do some adaptation, and provide the adaptation back to the community? Will we have to assume ownership of the solution?