Leaders never wake up and say, “I need a technology assessment.” They wait for a “convenient time;” but, delaying an assessment impacts performance and productivity. By then, the need manifests itself in another way. Unfortunately, these signs disguise bigger problems leading you to treat the symptom instead of the root cause.
What is technology assessment? It’s much more than an analysis of your technology assets and a review of your applications. At its core, a technology assessment evaluates the alignment between your technology portfolio, your current business processes, and your organization’s strategy. Along with a current-state analysis, the assessment should include recommendations and a roadmap to address gaps.
Now, let’s take a look at some of these symptoms.
I need a new website
Your website is your organization’s front door. It’s not only your organization’s public face, but also the way the public interacts with you. These interactions occur via connections to your technology platforms’ business applications. Often, a user’s poor website experience isn’t due to the website, but with its integrations to your business processes/applications. Moving forward with a new website alone will not solve these problems by itself. I have worked with organizations that thought their members disliked their website. In fact, what members really disliked was their clunky shopping basket experience and their member directory–both services provided by other systems than their core website! So, if you ever hear “we need to replace the website,” it may be time for a deeper look into your technology portfolio.
It’s time to replace our AMS
Associations spend A LOT of money on their Association Management Systems (AMS), especially during implementation. Often, after that initial project, the investment drops, and only the bare minimum is done to keep the AMS in sync with the changing environment. Suddenly, business processes have changed, new applications have been put in place that don’t speak to the AMS, and new strategic initiatives are ready to be launched.
Maybe it is time for a new AMS. Maybe not. Either way- what are the real needs driving the requirements for a new AMS? Many of the drivers are not necessarily part of the current AMS scope and are found in other applications in your application portfolio. A technology assessment identifies the areas of concern to address and outlines a strategy for your AMS and interfaces.
We have a new strategic initiative that needs to be implemented
Often, when faced with this type of a project, an organization will immediately look for the Best of Breed software solution that closely matches their strategic requirements. However, many leaders ignore the new solution’s impact on its current technology ecosystem.
- How will a new system talk to existing systems?
- Can you report data across systems?
- Does this system overlap with the functionality of existing systems?
A technology assessment’s big picture approach considers all these factors. This may mean the eventual solution can often be quite different. For example, you may decide to make an investment in extending current functions of existing applications, or perhaps you may retire some applications with the implementation of a new solution to meet the new strategic requirements.
Our servers are out of warranty and are due for a refresh
Some leave this decision to the Finance team. Do we buy new servers? Do we look for a hosting solution? However, more and more people are asking “Can we replace our current environment with the cloud?” That goes beyond a simple cost analysis. A technology assessment will look to see if your current applications can be migrated to the cloud, and if not, find functional replacements to meet your business needs. Most importantly, a technology assessment provides a roadmap, including a timeline to lead you to a server-free environment.
We are going virtual
This is probably the most straight forward example, but the reason is deeper than you may think. Obviously, that old server room stays with the building. You must select a hosting solution or cloud-based solution (see above). However, moving to a virtual environment may stress your business processes as well. For example, remote collaboration requires an evaluation your entire technology toolset including: communication platforms, productivity software, and your application solution software. Your business processes will change. This is the time to look at how your technology ecosystem will respond to these changes.
The signs you need a technology assessment oftentimes come masked as smaller issues. However, taking the time to align your organization’s technology portfolio, businesses processes, and your strategy will improve your organization’s performance and productivity. If you want to get started with a technology assessment, the Achurch team is ready to help you.