Abstract
- Embrace change. Companies must prioritize sustainability in their technology investments to deliver lasting value in a dynamic world.
- Flexibility is key. Look for technology that offers long-term adaptability, easy integration, and portability to stay agile in the face of change.
- Protect your assets. Security, stability, and compliance are paramount to protecting your investments and customer data.
Gartner's 2024 Strategic Technology Trends report made one theme clear: businesses need to be positioned to withstand change. The report advises leaders on how to “ensure lasting impact from technology investments,” and the concept of “sustainability” is fundamental to its call to action.
Sustainability no longer just means being environmentally friendly. It's about providing lasting value in a changing world. Let's look at some concepts to consider when making strategic technology investments.
All organizations need to prepare for change, whether they explicitly address environmental, social, or governance objectives. Here are four questions to ask yourself to ensure your technology investments will maintain value for your business over the long term.
4 Questions to Ask About Strategic Technology Investments
1. Are your technology investments prioritizing long-term flexibility?
If organizations want to deliver lasting value, they need to be agile. It's difficult when you're stuck in a technology that takes weeks, months, or even years to adapt or change.
Horrible replatforming
If you've ever mentioned the words “replatform” to a member of your IT team, they've probably reacted with a look of horror. That's because upgrading a technology stack has historically required years of switching systems, building custom code, and fixing what's broken.
Changes should be easier
Change shouldn't be so difficult. When considering investing in new strategic technology, don't just think about your current requirements. Requirements inevitably change with your company and the world around you. Look for tools that will help you on an ongoing basis.
flexibility is key
Technology should facilitate flexibility across the stack. We want to be able to easily connect it to other systems built by companies that aren't afraid to collaborate with other companies to give their customers what they need.
portability
Don't forget about portability. Even if you end the relationship, the vendor should be kind to you. No matter what product you buy, it should be easy to transition to a replacement.
Related Article: Top AI Customer Experience Investments with Big Returns
2. Is the vendor ready to protect your technology investment?
Gartner points out that sustainability, security, and stability are closely linked. Technology needs to protect your data and keep you operational so you can stay focused on delivering value to your customers.
technology security
Work with information security and legal teams to determine security requirements and select technology to meet your needs. At a basic level, this means making sure you can meet basic industry and regional requirements, such as PCI DSS compliance for payment data and GDPR for companies handling personal data in the EU.
Check vendor performance
Look for a vendor whose security practices and operational stability are easy to learn. For example, choose a company that maintains a public-facing status page and provides detailed post-mortem analysis after an outage. Even better, see if you can find a track record of performance during times of high traffic and demand (like Black Friday). Do you maintain reliable uptime metrics or do you find a record of complaints or questions?
Related article: Underutilization of the Martech stack is a big problem
3. Will technology vendors continue to innovate?
Technology vendors must continually deliver new features to meet the evolving needs of the industry.
Engineering department with talented human resources
Look for a company with a well-staffed engineering department that can quickly implement new technology. The rise of generative AI is a great example of why this is important. Many businesses benefit through vendors that quickly deliver new functionality built on technologies like ChatGPT.
(Of course, product updates should not only depend on the state of the underlying technology; the vendor should have a strong track record of providing meaningful product updates on a regular basis.)
Customer engagement on roadmap
You should also look for vendors that involve their customers in the development of their product roadmap. The best partners proactively seek insights from their customers, whether informally in conversations with their managers, or formally through surveys and customer advisory boards. You are an expert on what your business and industry needs from technology. So, look for companies that ask for your input.
Related article: How to maximize return on technology investment
4. How long does it take to see value?
The fear on the faces of IT pros when we talk about “replatforming” is not just a matter of effort. It means recognizing that it may take months or years for organizations to see the value of technology again.
Rapid implementation and benefits
Organizations need to be able to quickly realize value from their new strategic technology investments. Gone are the days of spending months implementing systems that would take years to deliver tangible benefits to business users. Today, you can easily integrate cloud-native, API-first technology into your existing stack. It’s just a matter of prioritizing quick implementation in the procurement process.
The speed of change is fast
This is especially important in terms of maintaining business in a changing world. If you urgently need new functionality, you can't wait until outdated tools that aren't built for the modern world are installed and configured.
Related article: Why investing in CX can lead to poor customer satisfaction and ROI
Sustainable technology investments depend on high standards
By prioritizing sustainability in strategic technology investments, you can maintain and increase the value you deliver to your customers. Don't settle for anything less than the flexibility, stability, and innovation you need to survive in today's unpredictable world.
Find out how to join our contributor community.
