The proper selection of technology can make or break an organization and with budgetary constraints becoming more of an issue, there is very little room for failing to pick the best technology.
In my career, I’ve noticed that many organizations undertake the technology selection process the same way:
- Hear about the ˜latest technology” and/or hear a buzzword.
- Think “we need that”….that will make everything better!
- Talk to a few vendors.
- See a demo.
- Buy the platform
- Throw it over the wall to the technology group to implement.
- Go look for the next platform/buzzword.
See a problem with this approach? I do.
Common sense has been thrown out the window.
I’ve personally seen this approach taken in many organizations when the leadership team decides that ˜X Technology” is going to be their savior (note to people….technology will rarely save you) and they ignore the common sense voice in their head. Very rarely do these types of approaches work.
To compare, let’s look at the approach that I like to follow when assisting organizations in selecting a new platform….it isn’t necessarily the ˜right” way….but it has worked for me and I think it’s an extremely simple and common sense approach:
- Take a look at the organization’s strategy for the future
- Look at the technology strategic plan (if one exists)
- Build a business case (if not already created)
- Ensure that the organization’s strategy is aligned with the technology strategy (many times it doesn’t)
- Work closely with the information technology/systems group to understand their current capabilities
- Find an answer to the question of “What are you trying to accomplish with this technology?
- Perform some risk analysis (e.g., affect of the new technology on current processes, etc.)
- Take a vendor agnostic stance
- Look at all available options (including current systems) to find the ideal solution.
- Develop a comparison of solutions with strategic direction
- Ask for demo’s of the platforms using the organization’s context (i.e., make it a demo that is appropriate to the organization).
- Choose a platform
Contact me today to see how I can help with your next technology selection and assessment project.