15 Criteria for IT Purchases

Deciding which technology solution to buy is never an easy task. The decision-making process for IT purchases often is clouded by hype, unrealistic time constraints and budgetary concerns.

To cut through the uncertainty, Steve Andriole, a senior consultant with Arlington, Mass.-based Cutter Consortium, recommends a checklist of things to consider before making technology investments. The checklist comprises a set of quantifiable criteria that lends itself to situational weighting to accommodate investment perspectives, he relates.

"In a perfect world, every technology investment decision is made with perfect information gathered by a perfect team of experienced due-diligence professionals," Andriole said in a release. "In the real world, the due diligence process is often rushed, plagued by the unavailability of information, and conducted by people who have limited experience or, worse, have already decided that they love the technology."

Below are the 15 criteria for which all technology investments should be weighted, according to Andriole:

1. Products and services that are on the right technology/market trends trajectory.

2. Products and services that have the right infrastructure story.

3. Products and services that sell clearly into budget cycles and budget lines.

4. Products and services whose impact is quantitative.

5. Products and services that do not require fundamental changes in how people behave or major changes in organizational or corporate culture.

6. Products and services that, whenever possible, represent total end-to-end solutions.

7. Products and services that have multiple default exits.

8. Products, services and companies that have clear horizontal and vertical strategies.

9. Products and services that have high industry awareness recognition.

10. Products, services and companies that have the right technology development, marketing, and channel alliances and partnerships.

11. Products and services that are politically correct.

12. Serious people recruitment and retention strategies.

13. Products and services that have compelling differentiation stories.

14. Company executives that have wide and deep experience.

15. Products, services and companies that have persuasive products/services packaging and communications.

Source: Cutter Consortium