Why Technology Strategy Should Come Before Technology Procurement

Many organisations discover mid-project that the technology they purchased does not integrate with their existing systems, cannot support their actual workflows, or has ongoing costs that were not accounted for. The technology itself is rarely the problem — the problem is that it was selected before the requirements were properly understood.

A technology strategy does not need to be a lengthy formal document. At its core, it is a clear answer to four questions: what are we trying to achieve, what does our current technology environment look like, what are the gaps, and what is the right order of priority to address them?

Getting this right before procurement saves money, avoids wasted implementations, and means that every technology investment compounds on the ones before it rather than creating a patchwork of disconnected tools.

Key Takeaways

• Define the business problem before evaluating solutions
• Understand your current environment before adding to it
• Prioritise technology investments by business impact
• Independent advice is worth the upfront cost