Preparing for Vendor and Technology Disruptions

This IDC Perspective provides insights on how to prepare for disruption in an organization due to technology and provider changes. The simple answer is to regularly review the technology stack for two things:First, which technologies and products have high "switching costs" and determine whether it is worth finding ways to reduce those switching costs. For example, allocate a portion of resources to find and test alternative technologies and providers so that, should a change be necessary, the organization has done the work to know the replacement options and what it takes to implement the replacements.Second, for the elements in the technology stack, identify the likely alternatives and do a lightweight assessment as to their architectural fit and costs to implement, administer, and maintain - and perhaps identify new candidates for those in the high switching cost category. Or determine that the best course of action is to absorb the changes to the existing product.According to Niel Nickolaisen, adjunct research advisor for IDC's IT Executive Program (IEP), "Given how quickly technology, the market, investments, mergers, acquisitions, and new product innovation is happening, technology leaders should prepare for technology provider disruptions. One way to assess the possible disruptions is to consider the costs to switch from one provider or technology to another and, based on this, identify and, in a lightweight and simple way, assess the alternatives and their costs. Based on this assessment, define the disruption options."