The technology space is full of new terms, new acronyms, and worst of all: abbreviations of new terms. It can be very difficult to decide if the technology being pitched will help your cause. Here are some practical tips I have found for cutting through the buzzwords and evaluating new technology efficiently.

It seems we are barraged by new technologies, new approaches and new terminology on a daily basis. In my experience, often times the new technology may have some great features, but if those features do not make your company more efficient, it really doesn’t matter.

New technologies are an essential part of becoming more efficient. The goal here is to decide if the new technology provides enough value with minimal disruption.

I have found the following steps have helped me cut down the time it takes to decide if a new technology is even worth pursuing.

Be Clear on Your Objectives

First and foremost, be as clear as possible on your non-negotiable objectives and the problem at hand. As a simple example, let’s say you are evaluating a new car:

• What is the gas mileage? Must get over 25 MPG on the highway.
• Are there any special requirements for charging? Only a basic plug is available in the garage.
• Budget is $30K
• Etc.

By providing clear guidance on your requirements, you can ask verify specific questions about the technology being discussed.

In my experience, simply being able to ask these questions has saved countless hours of meeting time, sales pitches, etc. You will be surprised at how many technologies will support most, but not all, of the non-negotiable requirements. Typically the conversation ends here unless there is some really compelling feature about the new technology.

In my experience, the majority of new technologies being pitched do not pass the initial test.

Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Clarification

On occasion, the person pitching the technology simply answers “yes”. Other times, the person gives you a long-winded explanation of why their technology is superior to its peers. In either case, if your question isn’t clearly answered, you need to clarify if the technology is viable.

If you’re not comfortable with the response, don’t be afraid or intimidated to ask for clarification. Remember, you need to fully understand how this new technology makes your company more efficient.

After asking clarifying questions, you should have a clear view on whether or not you want to proceed. If you’re not getting clear answers, its typically a sign the technology hasn’t been proven out for your needs.

What else can it do?

At this point, the discussion get much more interesting. You now have a new technology which can satisfy the basic needs and is viable.

The next set of questions is to try and discover what other problems it can solve. Is it faster? Is it cheaper? Is it easier to operate?

Evaluate the new technology against limitations and annoyances in the product you are currently using. Beyond the baseline features, you may find some other features in the new technology that are particularly beneficial.

Finally, you need to decide on how much value you place on these new features and whether or not its worth proceeding. Depending on the cost and the company you work for, it may be a simple, or a very long process. Either way, you should be clear on whether or not you want to advance this technology.

Tips for Advocating New Technology

On the flip side of the discussion, let’s take a look at how to effectively pitch a new technology. Most of the time, “new technology” is really a re-work of existing technology with some cool new features.

Assuming that’s the case, it is important to listen to the needs of the potential client to make sure “it covers the bases”. The vast majority of potential clients will not simply dump their existing workflows for new technology. My experience is that most teams are looking for incremental improvement for their current business model.

When I have brought in new technology into my company, especially when it replaced existing tools, I had to show that it did not disrupt current operations and provide key benefits.

Having a better product is simply not enough. There has to be a compelling argument that the cost and resources to implement the new technology will pay real dividends in the future.

Summary

After going through many decades of technology, I have seen an incredible amount of progress. Once every few years there is a revolutionary change, e.g., unstructured databases, object file store and cloud computing.

New technology is critical for our the evolution of any company.

The ability to quickly and efficiently evaluate new technologies is a critical and valuable skill.