Cost: comparing the cost of developing the same system in-house with the cost of purchasing or licensing the software package
Functionality: the tasks that the software can perform and the mandatory, essential, and desired system features
Vendor support: whether or how much support the vendor can provide and at what cost
Viability of vendor: can the software adapt to changes in systems software and hardware
Flexibility: how easy it is to customize the software
Documentation: is the user’s manual and technical documentation understandable and up-to-date
Response time: how long it takes the software package to respond to the user’s requests in an interactive session
Ease of installation: a measure of the difficulty of loading the software and making it operational