Personal lessons for living with techno overdose

Are they real needs or just wants? It sounds like a simple platitude, but most of us fail this logic test. Think about why you are willing to spend the money and add the burden of this new technology to your daily regimen, and whether it will really make your life easier, more efficient or even more fun (emotional needs do qualify!). If you're anal enough, then take the time to write your needs down.

Search, Research, and Countersearch.

Technology overload is matched equally by information overload. Unless you are a persevering researcher with lots of time, you need filters to reduce the avalanche of available data down to an examination of the product features that really matter to you (refer back to item #1). The Internet provides a fire-hose worth of information via a simple Google search, but I routinely go to CNET.com as one of the better consumer electronics reviewers with well-organized, distilled information. Or better yet, I often use the Delphi method by consulting with a couple of techno savvy friends who can quickly give me the scoop on the latest and greatest products.

Compare Cost versus Benefit to Compute Value.

Assuming that you could compellingly define why you needed this new technology, compare the cost and overhead to use and maintain your new purchase. Will this purchase really improve my life or just add another burdensome feature? The key objective should be that it provides greater freedom. Figure 2 graphically depicts that combination of price point and product usefulness where value is achieved, which will vary for each of us,

3Pe

A crass plug for ChainLink's methodology you say! No, you can really apply some of it even to your personal circumstances. This new technology may require behavioral changes on your part to realize the benefits, so consider whether you're up for it. Technology is not in itself a solution but only an enabler. How many techno devices are laying around your house unused or underutilized?

Take the Deal!

If you made the decision to buy the core functionality, then sometimes the more troublesome decision may be to determine what other features to take through bundled offerings or up-sells. Don't be a sucker, but there are good deals to be had, so take the ones that provide features that might be useful and are marginally priced.

Buy for the Future.

One thing's for sure, whatever you are buying will become obsolete in the not too distant future, if it's not already. Only research can help you avoid buying on the obsolescence end of the curve and instead buy the right technology that will last awhile. Beware the lurking technology transition!

On a more serious note, here are some ideas on how to survive the avalanche of technology, avoid the lure of its pitfalls, and hopefully succeed with it as the enabler to true process innovation.

3Pe. Long before you've reached the point of considering a technology acquisition, you should have performed the necessary policy and process analysis and exhausted all actions to climb the improvement curve before you need technology innovation to stimulate a new curve. The old adage which still resonates today is "simplify, integrate, and then automate." Furthermore, only by designing new policies, processes, and people requirements can you assure that you will achieve the benefits of the new technology. Many of us have experience with software implementation failures, never achieving projected benefits or "islands of automation" created in factory processes whose benefit is constrained by the unexamined limitations of the upstream or downstream process. In my experience at Dell, we initially worried that software providers or the competition would imitate our much prized configure-to-order IT functionality, until we finally came to the realization that we could give it to them, and it would make little difference, as most were not willing or able to make the fundamental changes in their business model and processes to successfully utilize it.

When the improvement curve flattens, then can innovation spur a new one?

Document Requirements.

Amazingly, even in the corporate environs, many still fail to perform due diligence with this important first step. Without completing the important analysis and determination of critical core requirements, technology acquisition decisions will be based on emotion, intuition, or some unspoken logic. Once you have decided that you need a technology enabler, distill the requirements list down as much as possible, notating critical needs versus "nice to haves". Get external consulting help if needed, as there are specialists in this field who can provide assistance in focusing and accelerating your technology search (e.g., TechnologyEvaluation.com).

Technology Partnerships are a Marriage.

Don't view this as a one-time purchase, but more of a long-term relationship where you will continue to depend on them for not only technical support, but also future development. Check out the potential partner's financial viability, install base, industry reputation, etc. to ensure that your new partner will be there when you need them.