The Verse - Volume 33
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Tech Tips - Three Steps to Wise Technology Choices

Got a problem? Technology has an answer. But is it the right one?

That's a difficult question to evaluate for most leaders who are weighing the purchase and implementation of a costly information technology project as a panacea for the problem of the moment. To avoid making mistakes, it's helpful to follow these three steps:

Step #1: Don't lose the battle before it's fought.

Take a step back from technology before investing. Look at the underlying goals, the real issues. Are you really pursuing performance enhancement in the best way possible? Do your people have the motivation and the capability to put this new technology to great use? The key to technology is "winning the battle before it is fought." What better way than to dismiss all battles that cannot be won -- or that you have a low probability of winning?

Remember: technology can enhance people, but it is very rare that technology changes people.

Step #2: Measure and Measure Again

Technology feedback loops are vague and slow. Usually companies celebrate the initiation of an idea and the "launch," then expect the results to just roll in. What they do not look at is how people are using the technology/product after the initial infatuation has passed. A good time to re-measure is 60 to 90 days out from the launch. By looking at this critical juncture, firms have an opportunity to adjust, adapt and advance.

Seasoned technology executives report that 90 percent of technology projects that go "live" in an organization will fail to have the desired business impact.

Catching this tendency early may be your last, best hope at making a technology initiative pay off. Once technology is rejected by the nervous system of an organization, there is very little that can be done to revive a project. As a result of this failure, discontent resurfaces because the same problems persist. By then, people have dug into their technology trenches, and removing the technology becomes as painful a prospect as pulling a tooth.

Step #3: Focus on "difference makers."

Consider a technology effectiveness audit to see what technology is a "difference maker." For each technology, there are a few key ratios that would make the greatest impact on the company. These represent the strategic intent of the technology project.

A technology audit distills usage statistics into a few, clear, simple ratios. Any executive can then review these ratios to measure the effectiveness of the technology. Some examples are the hours saved or response time that can be translated into ratios compared to the processes that had been formerly used.

As always, if you have questions, please call the purple guys at Versent at 816-221-3900 or email at info@purpleguys.com and "We can do IT for you."