How do you get started with technology projects? How to you establish priorities?
- Determining need
- Tech survey – what are the trends? What are others doing (or not doing)?
- In your department/institution/home – Is it a need or a want? Does it solve a problem or create efficiency? Is it a replacement for aging or obsolete technology?
- Analyze existing technology – what is working? what is not? For the things which are not working do they meet a need ? If so, how and to what extent? There are some technologies that are very hard to abandon because they have such a loyal following. For those, you may want to capitalize on that to exploit potential. If you abandon technologies, what is impact? Can you scale back some technologies with minimal impact to provide resources for new technologies?
- Is the need immediate or critical?
- Determining feasibility
- Can you afford the technology (cost, staffing, time, support, maintenance, training)?
- What resources are needed to get started? How long will it take? What about maintenance and upkeep? Are there opportunities for collaboration?
- What is the expected ROI? Will it be a service? If so, what will be the goal of that service (e.g., increasing attendance, providing services to a community, education, etc.)
- Can you maximize existing technology – add on, upgrade, are their tools to streamline work or make products more efficient?