Adeva, LLC Blog How to Identify, Compare, Select, and Implement Technology Solutions to Meet Current and Future Needs

Technology keeps on changing rapidly, and there are always new technologies in the market every couple of years that disrupt the existing market. The pace of technological change is faster than ever before, and companies need to adopt these technologies to stay ahead of the competition. How companies identify, select, and implement new technology solutions can significantly impact the growth and survival of the company. In this article, we will look at the best way to identify, compare, select, and implement these technology solutions. Table of contentsIdentifying Technology SolutionsComparing Technology SolutionsSelecting Technology Solutions Implementing Technology SolutionsProof of Concept (POC)/Software Pilot Overcoming Challenges With Implementing New Technology Solutions Assign an Owner or ManagerPerform a Pilot OperationCreate Implementation Team Roles Ensure the New Solution Offers Significant Advantages Over Its Predecessor Handle Resistance Continuously Implementing New Technology SolutionsExample #1Example #2Conclusion Identifying Technology Solutions Identifying new technology solutions requires a comprehensive understanding of your organization's needs and goals. It requires involving the stakeholders from across your organization and understanding the current pain points, business goals, and challenges faced by the organization. During the identification process, you need to define the business goals and objectives that need to be achieved with the new technology solution. This process also requires prioritizing the requirements that can have the maximum impact on the organization.  After you have gained a clear understanding of the business requirements, you need to research available technologies in the market and look for products or services that address the identified requirements. New technologies can also be introduced for unidentified business needs, and this requires the identification of potential use cases and experimentation to see its application in the practical environment. The latter approach is especially useful for disruptive technologies such as generative AI systems (e.g., ChatGPT), advanced analytics technologies, and blockchain-based software. Anticipating future needs and technology solutions for your organization is more challenging and requires a mixture of different initiatives, such as: Identifying emerging technologies that could impact your industry. Analyzing internal data to predict future trends that can help you make predictions about future requirements for the business. Using long-term planning techniques and building the future growth strategy for the company. Speaking with your customers to understand their future needs. Building innovation and R&D departments that focus on anticipating the future needs of the organization. After you have identified the business requirements and appropriate technology solutions, you are ready to move to the next stage of selection, which involves comparing these technology solutions and choosing the right one for your organization. Comparing Technology Solutions There are multiple technology solutions available in the market for a particular set of business requirements. To select the best solution for your organization, you need to compare these solutions on a variety of metrics, some of which are defined below: Cost: this involves the cost of using the software, such as licensing fees, support costs, cost of implementation, etc. Features: this involves different functionality offered by the technology solution which addresses the business needs. Support: the support available before, during, and after the implementation of the technology solution, including the necessary training resources. Return on investment (ROI): ROI is used to measure the profitability of an investment in the technology solution relative to its cost. This is a particularly important metric for technology solutions that automates or improves a business process. Total cost of ownership (TCO): TCO is used to estimate the total cost of purchasing, testing, deploying, implementing, and operating a technology solution over its entire life cycle. It includes all the direct and indirect costs, including onboarding costs, maintenance, and support costs, training costs, etc., associated with the technology solution. For a majority of companies, the most important metrics to compare different solutions are the product features, return on investment, and the total cost of ownership. If the technology solution needs urgent implementation, then the speed of implementation becomes an important metric to consider when comparing technology solutions. Other factors such as ease of use, scalability, security, compatibility with your existing technology stack, vendor's reputation, customer support, and track record are also important factors for comparing various technology solutions. Selecting Technology Solutions  Once you have decided on the main metrics for comparing the technology solutions based on the requirements of your organization, you can use the solution selection matrix to select the best option. The solution selection matrix helps you to make informed decisions about which solution to invest in by objectively weighing the pros and cons of different options. To create a solution selection matrix, follow the below steps: Identify the key metrics for evaluating solutions. Assign weights to each metric based on its overall importance to the organization. Score each solution based on each metric. Calculate a total score by multiplying the score for each metric by its weight and calculate the aggregate of the scores. Compare the overall scores to see which one is the best fit for the identified needs. Solution selection matrix can be easily designed using tools such as Excel or other web applications such as Visual Paradigm, as shown in the figure below:  The solution selection matrix is one of the ways to select the best solution, but other factors such as strategic alignment, cultural fit, and future growth potential should also be considered for selecting a technology solution. Implementing Technology Solutions After you have selected the solution or multiple solutions based on the above metrics, the next step is to implement the solution in your organization. Before implementing the solution for the whole organization, the recommended next step is to do a proof of concept (POC) or a software pilot implementation. Proof of Concept (POC)/Software Pilot Proof of Concept (POC) is generally used for new technology solutions that are still in the development stages and allows the organization to test whether the solution can be implemented in a practical way. A software pilot is a small-scale test of a software application or technology solution to evaluate its functionality, performance, and usability in a real-world environment. Both POC and pilot are conducted on a small scale with a limited budget and to validate the technology solution and identify any issues or challenges that may arise during implementation. If the POC or a pilot is unsuccessful, you can relatively easily switch to another technology solution and do another POC or a pilot. These methods allow organizations to experiment with multiple technologies and limit any unforeseen expenditures associated with implementing these technology solutions. After a successful POC and a pilot with a technology solution, you can go ahead with performing the full-scale implementation of the software. The full-scale implementation involves setting up infrastructure, configuring software, training users, and providing the necessary support to ensure a successful rollout of the solution. If the new technology solution replaces an existing solution, then you also need to plan the migration steps and slowly deprecate the old solution in multiple phases in the organization. After the implementation, continuously monitor and evaluate the performance of the new solution to ensure that it continues to meet your organization's needs. Gather feedback from users and stakeholders and make any necessary changes to further optimize the solution.  Overcoming Challenges With Implementing New Technology Solutions  Most of the time, implementing a new technology solution leads to a technological change in the organization and impacts the existing working methods. This presents a very different set of challenges that require effective management to successfully implement the solution in the organization. Assign an Owner or Manager The best way to deliver this technological change is to have an owner or manager who looks at both the development (or assessment) and the implementation of the innovation. Implementing a technological change requires internal marketing skills to advertise the solutions to the users, the identification of the fit between a product, the user needs, the organizational goals, and the involvement of these users in the early stages of discussions. It also requires giving ownership of the new technology to the end users so that they can fully adopt and implement the technology as per their requirements. If the management of the technological change is not done correctly with the new technology solution, then the consequences can be disastrous. For example, one of the large communications companies had delays and difficulties in implementing the new technology solution because of inadequate infrastructure available in the organization. The processing control equipment was ready to be used by prospective users, but the piece of linking software was not in place. There was no one who was willing to take responsibility for this small but critical piece of the system. There were different people responsible for asses