Emerging technology (ET) is on the rage, and enterprises need to be careful with the trends they invest in. ET’s need to be carefully evaluated against business cases and an understanding of how solutions are unique established. However, evaluation can be difficult when the ET, by nature, is so wildly different from anything currently in use by the organization. To protect enterprise resources and increase the impact of investments, enterprise’s need to define a common model for evaluation.
Ideally, enterprise architecture (EA) is leveraged to ensure that investment decisions are made within the scope of the business context, but what happens if you do not have an EA practice or it is not mature enough for business-outcome-driven support? Establishing that common model is your shortcut. An approach to evaluating how an ET is different from a mature technology and the long term affects. Gartner recommends 7 factors to account for in your business justification model:
- Evaluate influencing external market forces
- Understand the impact on business scenarios
- Evaluate IT’s strategic opportunities and risks
- Evaluate the technologies role in the IT portfolio
- Understand the impact on Program and Project management
- Define key business metrics
- Define governance policies
The key is to not get caught up on the cool new features or functions. Defining a business case based solely on one dimension will lead to fragmented and unbalanced results. This is a cross-organizational task and an excellent opportunity to begin development of EA artifacts.
References:
- Burton, B. (2008) Toolkit Best Practice: Seven Factors to Evaluate When Justifying Investments in Emerging Technologies. Gartner.
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