Making the right technology choices for your organisation

Why more choice makes decisions harder, not easier

Organisations today are spoiled for choice with technology, and that abundance is a double-edged sword. Greater availability of solutions increases the difficulty of accurately identifying the ones most likely to have the right impact and to deliver on their promise inside a specific organisation, rather than in the abstract.

Vendors will naturally want to shape a buyer's decision through their websites and marketing, and that is a reasonable thing for a vendor to do. But there is no substitute for getting hands-on with a trial version and running a structured, well-thought-out test in your own environment before committing. Good software speaks for itself; the only way to find out what genuinely fits your organisation is to put in a dedicated period of research and testing upfront.

The cost of skipping proper evaluation

Some organisations buy based on a website description and supporting brochure alone. This often happens when a decision-maker has used a solution before in a different workplace and assumes it will transfer cleanly to a new one. Others simply wing it, discovering what they actually needed only after purchase and rollout, by which point the cost of getting it wrong is far higher.

Careful, upfront consideration of all the angles helps an organisation move from being cautious, or even pessimistic, about yet another solution on the shortlist, to being reassured and genuinely optimistic about the benefits it can bring. That shift only happens through evidence, not through confidence in a sales pitch.

Run the trial as a proper project

A trial period deserves the same respect as any other project in the organisation, not an informal look by whoever happens to have time. That means recruiting a carefully selected team of staff to trial the solution, agreeing what features and functions need to be tested before the trial begins, and reviewing progress regularly as a group rather than waiting until the end.

It also means gathering feedback from other stakeholders who will be affected by, or involved in, any eventual rollout, since their insights can be genuinely revealing and are easy to miss if the trial is run by a single department in isolation. Collecting quantitative and qualitative data throughout, where possible, gives the final decision an evidential basis rather than a gut feeling.

• Recruit a specific team to run the trial, not an ad hoc group
• Agree the features and functions to be tested before starting
• Review the trial regularly as a group, not only at the end
• Gather feedback from stakeholders beyond the immediate trial team
• Collect quantitative and qualitative data to support the final decision

Talk to the vendor, properly

A step many organisations omit during the trial stage is proactively talking to the technology vendor. Getting in touch, asking the specific questions that matter, and tapping into their expertise is worth the effort: vendors typically have customers across many sectors and verticals, giving them a breadth of experience of how their solution actually gets used in practice, not just how it is marketed.

Experienced vendors understand that providing good support at the trial stage, without pressurising a prospective customer to buy at every point of contact, is what allows people to make an informed choice. A vendor who avoids that pressure during evaluation is generally a better sign than one who applies it.

Use case studies and independent evaluation

Reading case studies about other organisations' experiences can be a significant help, particularly where their business functions and aims are comparable to your own. For a brand-new solution, case studies may be hard to find, but for established products, reading about challenges a solution has helped another organisation overcome demonstrates its real possibilities and can suggest how your own organisation might do things differently, or more effectively.

Software review sites are another useful avenue, though as with all review sites, recommendations need to be backed up with your own research. They can still provide valuable insight into what solutions are currently available and what has, or just as importantly has not, worked for other organisations.

The education sector offers a useful model of independent evaluation. In a cash-strapped environment, education technology must provide evidence of positive impact on outcomes, which is a demanding standard. Independent evaluators, such as Education Alliance Finland, assess and certify education solutions against common standards, helping schools choose well and helping vendors improve their products to meet genuine needs. Equivalent independent certification is less common outside education or security, which places more of the evaluation burden on the buyer's own research.

Weigh different kinds of evidence appropriately

Anecdotal evidence, such as blog posts, testimonials and recommendations, is commonplace on vendor websites and is a reasonable starting point for getting a feel for how a product is used and received. It should not, however, be treated as sufficient on its own for a significant decision.

White papers and independent research papers offer a considerably deeper view, and are essential reading if a large-scale deployment is being planned. Context is key throughout: every organisation's situation is slightly different, which is precisely why it is worth committing serious time and effort to evaluation rather than assuming another organisation's result will simply transfer to yours.