Software vendor functional scope • There are two major dimensions of choice in software: 1. Functional scope or breadth and associated architecture issues. 2. Match of functionality to how the plant actually operates and its business needs.
Software suite evolution • The days when a process engineer developed a piece of software, using commercial tools, on a desktop platform, are all but over. The special skills required to configure, adapt or modify a piece of software to do something slightly different are no longer within the realm of knowledge of the typical process engineer. • Whereas 10 years ago, a staff manager could study a bit of Basic and write a small program to, for example, transform some data into a locally used unit of measure, the expertise for doing this within XML is no longer as easily gained.
Industry-focused applications
Functionally focused applications
Selection issues
Product landscape
Solution design assumptions • Strategy of vendor-independent design • Strategy of fit-to-package design • Design conflict resolution