Driving from the Business

Have you ever noticed how many projects originate with the technology?
 
Have you also noticed how many that originate with the technology, fail?
 
Many people feel that problems can be solved by throwing a piece of technology at it -- often a new piece of technology. In my experience, this is exactly the wrong approach.
 
Business problems are solved by business solutions. The technology applied to the business solution is merely the tool to implement the solution. We often, don't take time to produce the business solution before attempting to implement some technology to solve the problem. It seems difficult for people to admit that what they are doing or not doing is the actual cause of the problem. "If I could just get a system . . . " seems to be the mantra for this approach. By going directly to technology, it's like people are saying that its technology's fault and not my fault that things aren't going well.

 
Throwing technology at a business problem is like coming to a home construction site with only saws. As long as you're cutting lumber, everything goes OK. But, when you have to connect two boards together, things stop working -- no hammer.

 
The key to developing a viable business solution is to define the business requirements to solve the business problem. And by business requirements, I don't mean naming the technology you want to purchase. The business unit should be able to define the business process and identify the business requirements without consideration of technology.

 
A business requirement is not "sub-second response on a page". A business requirement is "be able to process the transaction while the customer is on the phone" or "allow the customer to enter all personal information securely and receive confirmation that is has successfully completed during their session".
 
The answer to a successful technology project is often to ignore the specific technology and concentrate on the business problem. By understanding the requirements in business terms, you will be able to select the correct technology to support them.