| To make a good decision on technology (to make a good decision about anything, really), you have to know what you want. If you know what you need from a product and how much time, money, and effort you're willing to invest in it, you're more than halfway toward the right decision. Before you choose a new technology: Know what you need. Know what you can live without. Think about how you'll grow. Get technical advice!
know what you need This may sound simple, but it's the most common mistake people make when choosing technologies. Your first step shouldn't be assembling a line-up of products, but figuring out what you would need from one. "Start with your need," says Dave Thau. "You don't want to go into a store not knowing what you need, because you're going to end up getting something you don't want." And the same goes for web technologies. You should know exactly what you need from an application before you go looking for it. Otherwise, you may snap up an expensive product that doesn't actually make sense for your site. know what you can live without You probably won't find a product that precisely matches all your needs. So it's a good idea to know beforehand what might be negotiable. Which features are pertinent, and which are preferred? "Focus on what you really need," says Pamela Statz, former production manager for HotWired and Lucasfilm. "And don't get starry eyed, thinking you need more." think about how you'll grow Although it's essential to remain focused on your key needs (and not get carried away), you should also keep an eye on the future. Your site will grow and evolve, and you may need the product to grow with it. Audience size alone could change your technological needs. Will your audience grow? Will you expand the scope of your site? Will you partner with other sites? All these changes could alter what you need from the technology and how well it can serve you. It's important to have foresight when you choose a technology, because it can be hard to change course later on. "Once you start with a system, it's almost impossible to undo it," says Tim Ziegler, founder of FamilyAlbum.com. "You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube." get technical advice "Make sure you get technical advice on technical products," advises Lance McDaniel, VP of Creative at SBI and Company. It's a simple suggestion, sure. But "it's a good one, and it seems not to be followed much." avoiding potential pitfalls What kind of problems might you have with the technologies you buy? Well, to quote the wise witch in the musical Into the Woods: "They disappoint, they disappear, they die...but they don't." The Witch was talking about parents, actually. But web sites have the same problems with their chosen technology partners: Potential problems in buying technology: The technology doesn't live up to your expectations. The vendor doesn't provide adequate support. The vendor goes out of business.
You can't always predict or prevent these problems, but you can do your best to avoid them by asking the right questions before you buy. See evaluating a new technology, p. 229. evaluating a new technology You'll need someone technical to help you evaluate potential technologies. But most of what you need to know has less to do with technology and more to do with business. What you want to know | What you should ask (or look for) |
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How good is the product? | How long has the product been in development? How many customers does it have? Is the technology currently used in any working sites?
| How well does the product fit your company's needs? | Who are their other customers? Does it have other customers with needs like yours? Are they the most important customers? Is its marketing material geared toward you? (If not, that's a bad sign.)
| How hard will it be to integrate the product with your existing systems? | Will the product integrate with your existing system? Will the integration require custom work? How long will the integration take?
| If customization is required, how difficult will it be? | What is the development environment like? What programming language does it use? Are your staff engineers familiar with it? Does the development environment require special training? if so, are there consultants available to help with customization?
| Will the company stay in business? | How long has the company been around? Who is the management team? What's their track record? How many employees does it have? How was the company funded? How many customers does it have? How many paying customers does it have?
| What is the company's commitment to the product? | What other products does the company produce? What is its biggest money-maker? What products are promoted on its web site?
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action section: 10 questions to ask before choosing a new technology Before you buy a new technology for your site, make sure you know what you need. What will this technology do for you? __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ What are your specific needs? __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ What can you live without? __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ Will your needs change as your site grows? __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ What kind of scale are you talking about? (Number of users served, emails sent, products or documents in the database, etc.) __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ Does the new tool need to work with any other technologies you use? What is your budget? $ ___________ Who will work on implementation?  I have a full staff of engineers to customize it for my needs.
I have some limited resources to install and perhaps customize it. Implementation?!? No one said anything about implementation! Taking all your answers into account, is it more important for this tool to be flexible or ready-to-use? Flexible. My site's going to grow and change, and the software needs to grow and change with it. I don't mind waiting awhile before I get to use the new technology. And yes, I have the engineering support to make this happen Ready-to-use. I need to use it right away, and my site's needs will probably remain the same over time. Besides, I don't have the staff, time, or money to work on customization. Answer this, and be honest: Are you hoping this technology will solve a non-technological problem? (Like getting people to follow office procedures or write documentation or play more nicely with each other?) No. Yes. And here's how I should solve that problem instead: ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________
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