Question

The Cre8tor™ is in need of an office management software package. After considerable research, the company has narrowed its choice to one of three packages: N-able, VersaSuite, and SoftTrack. They have determined the decision-making criteria, assigned a weight to each criterion, and rated how well each alternative satisfies each criterion as follows

		Decision Alternatives
Criterion	Weight	N-Able	VersaSuite	SoftTrack
Ease of use	4	5	7	6
Report generation	3	7	5	4
Functional integration	5	8	6	5
On-line help	3	6	4	8
Entry error-checking	2	3	4	8
Price	4	7	6	8
Support cost	3	5	8	3

            Using a scoring model, determine the recommended software package for The Cre8tor™.

Answer 1

Weighted Score Method or Scoring method:

Using given data weighted score method is used to compare the alternatives. Calculate the weighted score for each factor, by multiplying factor weight (Wi) with rating (Rij) of factor. Then, for each alternative, find the sum of product (Wi × Rij) calculated for each factor and select the alternative having the highest total score.

		N-able	Versasuite	Softrack
Selection Criterion	Weight (Wi)	Rating (Rij)	Weighted rating (Wi x Rij)	Rating	Weighted rating	Rating	Weighted rating
Ease of use	4	5	4*5 = 20	7	28	6	24
report generation	3	7	21	5	15	4	12
functional integration	5	8	40	6	5*6 = 30	5	25
on-line help	3	6	18	4	12	8	24
entry error-checking	2	3	6	4	8	8	2*8 = 16
price	4	7	28	6	24	8	32
support cost	3	5	15	8	24	3	9
Total Weighted Score		148		141		142

The highest weighted score is for N-able, thus The Cre8tor™ should select N-able software.