Too often technology choices are made upon a parochial basis. We develop loyalties to certain vendors, platforms, languages, tools or interfaces -- or mere extensions of an existing technological base. This is not necessarily inappropriate -- it's natural to be hesitant of the unfamiliar and to choose that with which we are familiar. In general we will be more productive when we choose a tool we have learned to use well, but from time to time, we must consider the alternatives on a rational and objective basis. This is especially critical since the choices we make affect an entire institution and its culture for many a year to come.
One of the most vital things we all do is to make technological choices. There are three major pitfalls in making such choices:
Picking winners. We will not always be able to predict what the technological winners will be let alone what new technologies will emerge. While this makes our jobs challenging, it will not prevent us from establishing strategic directions and principles that will help us make technical judgments when we are faced with subsequent tactical decision points.
More and more options. Every day we have tempting new alternatives. It is easy to spend more time shopping for solutions than implementing them; more time implementing them than using them. With increasing frequently our choices will not be deciding what projects we will undertake, but deciding which projects, though appealing and worthwhile, will not be undertaken so that the necessary resources can be allocated to higher priority needs.
Revolution vs Evolution. Some technological choices we make are intended to"make the leap," instead of just "retuning" the old ways. We must decide when not to merely figure out how we can do what we are doing now in an enhanced way, but in a fundamentally different and clearly superior way.