• Focus on outcomes, not requirements - What is the desired outcome and objectives of the technology? What do you want it to do? Answering these questions provides far more insight than providing a list of 200 requirements that need to be met. Too many organizations just try to replicate what they are currently doing only using a fancy new system. Focus on outcomes and then you can determine the best way to achieve them.
• Provide flexibility around solutions - The typical RFP process forces companies to respond to a specific issue or set of requirements, but what if that company knows a better way? Run a competitive process that allows participants to provide the best way they know of to achieve the desired outcomes. They are the ones who are the experts and do this for a living so give them a chance to show you that expertise.
• Build more dialogue into the process - Meeting with a few choice companies will provide additional insight into what options a company has and what the solution may be. Provide participants an opportunity to have a discussion with your key people to gain insight on what might work best for them so they can provide the best response possible.
• Don't overlook key components - Most technology RFPs I see overlook some obvious parts that are key to success, namely change management and training. As a part of the process, ensure that any company you select can help with these areas. Most technology implementations fail because internal users were not effectively trained and the change management effort was poor or even non-existent. Ensure this becomes an important component of the decision-making process.
• Find out specific results from other customers - No one should be implementing new technology just for the sake of it. Ask process participants to provide you with specific results that other clients have achieved as a result of working with them. This shows that there is an actual return on investment and helps to determine which companies are actually able to deliver on their promises.

Last week, I called one of the local pizza places to order my favourite food (you guessed it, pizza). They told me that they could not take my order because their information system was down. I said, "so, write down my information on a piece of paper and make my pizza." They said that they could not take any orders until the system was back up. He told me the system had already been down for more than 45 minutes and they had to keep asking customers to call back...how many do you think called back?

Of course, we all have a very heavy reliance on technology, so what do we do when that technology fails us? You need to have a plan on how you are going to run your business. Prudent business owners have backup systems in order to save their data, but they also have business continuity plans for running their business. How do we take orders when the computer does not work? How do we ensure deliveries are still on time when our distribution system is down? How do we keep our customers loyal in the event of a technological event?

We have become so reliant on technology and expect it to be perfect, so many businesses do not deal with the questions above. Let's hope there is never another blackout or power outage or major snowstorm so that those businesses can survive.

Why is it that we have technology that allows us to have global meetings without ever leaving our home office, yet when we plug a laptop into a projector it never works? We seem to have started to master the technology of having live conversations with people from all over the world through a few cameras, microphones and TV screens. There are now temporary facilities that offer global conferencing for a rental fee, what a brilliant business concept as companies cut down on business travel.

Contrast that to the fact that we have all watched people spend 15-20 minutes trying to get their laptops successfully projecting on a wall and you see the dichotomy of technology. We are constantly innovating and improving on what we have, yet where we invest time and effort depends on the innovators. The issue of plugging a laptop into a projector and making it work has been an issue for years, why has no one fixed this problem? This has led to hundreds of hours of lost productivity while we try and get that image up on the screen.

No one has fixed the problem because there is no additional revenue in fixing the problem. Would you sell more projectors if you sold the perfect connection? Probably not. But you can sell the advantage of holding a meeting with teams from around the world with the ability to save significant travel costs.

Like everything else, innovations in technology focus on where the revenue can be generated, not necessarily where the productivity drains exist. If we could focus more on fixing things to increase productivity and less time on things that are cool, then technology would do a better job of helping companies improve performance.

I guess for now, we will have to stick with cool apps….