In this third piece in this four-part series, we will explore how you can practically identify and compare the best technologies for driving value across your business, as this will be crucial for implementing an effective, value-driven, and realistic IT strategy that transforms your business.

In the first article, we explored what “value” is, how you can find opportunities for driving value using technology, and offered a number of areas and ways for getting started with this.

In the second article, we discussed how to create an IT strategy that identifies the best opportunities for driving value using technology, and how to structure these opportunities into projects that bring your technology roadmap to life.

Remember that the technologies that drive value in your business are numerous, encompassing a wide range of software, devices, on-premises and cloud infrastructure, and more. If you know some of the key areas where technology can really move the needle for your business, you can begin your research from there; alternatively, you can read the first blog in this series for inspiration.

Without further ado, let’s get into it!

How to find new technologies that drive value

There are numerous ways to scout for new technology solutions that can drive value within your business, with certain pros and cons to each of them. We recommend a blended approach that can help you to get the best from each of these methods.

Internet Search

If you have some idea of what you’re looking for, such as business process automation solutions, you can begin to explore the web for the best solutions that match the needs of your business; examine price points, features, compatibility, and the scalability of the solutions to build a picture of what types of solutions, and which specific providers, appear best-placed to add value.

The pros of this method are that it is quick and there are a variety of sources of information. On the downside, navigating some of this information and identifying important technical nuances that are relevant to your business quickly, could be a limitation.

Consult with Technology Experts

Whilst technology experts are not definitive oracles, they can add a lot of value and nuanced insights into your search for the best technologies for your business. In this way, they can complement your internet search and other activities with extra expertise, knowledge of less common options, and advice that’s tailored to your business.

On the negative side, to get in-depth insights it will likely cost you money to get the time and specialist input of technology experts to do justice to your technology strategy. This said, this investment can add a lot of value in the form of time savings, and it might help you identify the most optimal solution that you’d otherwise overlook.

Seek Recommendations

Leverage your network to find recommendations for the technological areas you’re researching. This could involve posting on forums, on social media, or by consulting with your business peers. This method can yield results fairly quickly, and especially relevant ones if you are asking peers in your industry about the best solutions.

Conferences and Events

Conferences and events are fantastic ways to keep up with technology trends that are shaping how businesses create value. Find technology conferences for businesses, including ones that focus on specific areas of technology that can add the most value and attend them for insightful presentations and the chance to network with other business leaders and technology experts. This method does take time and financial investment, but it is a great way to network and to get insights that get your business ahead of the curve.

With these methods you can find solutions and assess them to find best-fit technology for your business.

How to assess the potential value of technology solutions for your business

Assessing the value of potential technology solutions involves many dimensions of analysis, including ROI, interoperability, scalability, assessing ownership costs, and more. With this done, you will have a much clearer idea of which solutions to prioritise in your IT strategy. Here are some ways to do this:

Use Vendor Evaluation Tools

You can use vendor evaluation tools to assess the usefulness and suitability of multiple technology solutions at once; these tools include comparison mechanisms, free trials, demos and proof of concept deployments to test the technology (in this case digital technology) in a controlled environment. With the help of these tools, you can get closer to quantifying the potential value that they have to offer to your business.

Proof of Concept Projects

For more complex technology solutions, you may want to run pilot projects to attain a proof of concept that validates their effectiveness and real-life value. With a proof of concept, it becomes much easier to quantify the value of potential solutions and to choose and prioritise them in your technology roadmap.

Estimate the Return on Investment (ROI)

By estimating the ROI of potential technology solutions, you can evaluate the expected benefits of your technology across a range of factors, including enhanced productivity, saved time, and improved customer satisfaction. Alongside this, you will want to calculate the Total Cost of Ownership for a more complete picture of the profitable value that technology can offer to you.

Assess the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

A sometimes-overlooked aspect of assessing technology solutions, is the Total Cost of Ownership beyond the initial investment into them. Consider factors such as licensing fees, implementation costs, maintenance and support expenses, training requirements, and potential integration complexities. By estimating the TCO of various solutions, you will be able to compare them to get a full picture of the financial implications of the technology solutions that your business adopts.

Examine its capacity for scalability and meeting future needs

While evaluating the possible technology solutions available to your business, a forward-thinking approach can also help you to make the most optimal choices. As your business grows, the technology it uses may need to be adapted and expanded, so ensuring that technological solutions will be compatible with your growth plans and other technologies, is crucial. By doing this, you can expand your business more seamlessly, whilst avoiding inefficiencies and disruptions.

We hope this piece has proven helpful to you for practically finding ways to identify and assess how different solutions can drive value in your business. In our final piece, we will examine how to undertake technology projects in a way that avoids disruption and arrives at a timely, successful outcome.

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