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8. How much and when do you expect a return on investment (ROI)?
This is why so many IT departments work for corporate CFOs. Technology costs money. Usually, it costs A LOT of money. If there isn’t a clear gain to the business (and in most cases that gain must be realized very soon!) then go back through the list and re-visit some of the earlier considerations. A business must be able to see something for having invested in technology. If the ROI is far away or hard to calculate, then more than likely, the need has not been clearly defined, the solution has not been cleanly integrated, or something else on this list is amiss.
9. Do you have the infrastructure to support the technology?
All too often, companies think they can just wind technology up and let it go. But in truth, there are significant issues regarding what happens after the technology is delivered. Questions of maintenance, user support, upgrades, defect correction, new functionality, intellectual property and licenses. These considerations influence the solution in technical terms as well as financial. They influence the way in which technology will be used and the role it will play in the company. How reliant do you want the company to be on the technology or the vendor who provided it? How much responsibility do you want to assume and at what cost?
10. Finally, can you effectively articulate your business in technology terms?
Can you describe what you want to get from a technology provider in terms that give you what you want, need, and will use? Does your description give the vendor enough infor-mation to accurately estimate when it will be delivered and how much it will cost? Are you ready to go directly to a specific technology vendor? Will you need a full-service IT firm to handle the entire project? Will you need to perform some internal process analysis before seeking a technology solution? Some vendors only provide product, some only consulting, others provide all of the above but at significant cost or other risks of involvement.
You’ll want to move forward after considering the above list and those resulting from combining items. Cost-efficient and productive technology projects are those that keep a steady pace facilitated by allowing technology to make progress without languishing in protracted decision-making. It’s best to have these decisions made before you begin.
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