2-32.4 Effect of the Solution on the Postal Service The technological implications of the purchase can be numerous. Each area of the technology solution contains ramifications to the Postal Service. Questions that should be asked and answered to gauge the implications of the solutions include: Does the Postal Service have, or have access to, the necessary skills and competencies to support the intended technology-based solutions? Will the following be affected — software⁄system interfaces, software configuration, engineering process, training, reviews, maintainability, coding standards, compliance with the requisite software engineering standards, new technologies, and new process support systems and tools? What kind of technical support is needed to back up proposed services? What is the functional depth and flexibility for complex customer relationships and segmentation? What are the levels of skills and resources that have to be provided by the Postal Service to work with the supplier’s development process? What is the timetable for the development stage? How does this impact on the availability of the Postal Service’s resources? What is the suitability and extent of implementation work that will be required to deploy the software? Will spare parts and peripheral components like batteries and replacement drives need to be kept? What is the impact to the TCO analysis?