The most expensive technology mistakes...

One of the biggest surprises of my consulting career is that the most expensive technology mistakes I’ve seen weren’t caused by poor procurement. They were caused by decisions that had already been made before procurement even began.

In fact, it’s often the case that procurement exposes problems that already exist.

Starting with the technology

Far too frequently, organisations focus immediately on the technology. “We need a new LMS / LXP / CRM / CMS / CSM[substitute preferred platform acronym here]”

Instead, it’s far better to start with these two questions:

• What’s the problem we’re trying to solve?
• What evidence tells us this is the right problem?

Technology may be the answer. But it might also be solved through focussing on people or processes - the other two components of a successful operation.

Assuming everyone agrees on the problem

Procurement documents can frequently hide unresolved disagreements within an organisation. Buying in a solution won’t solve those disagreements. It’ll probably exacerbate them.

Each group within an organisation will have different perspectives on the problem. It’s important to involve all stakeholder groups in the conversation. They will help you to gain a holistic view - which may lead you to different conclusion than if you’d just relied on your own viewpoint.

Investing time in building a shared understanding will bring benefits later.

Confusing symptoms with causes

We’ve all come across organisations that suffer from issues like low engagement, poor reporting and manual or error-prone processes.

Technology may solve part of these symptoms, but it’s important first to dig into the causes of the symptoms. For example:

• Unclear processes
• Governance
• Culture
• Capability
• Lack of ownership

Once the causes are identified, then we can find solutions that will deal with the causes and reduce the symptoms.

Not understanding the current environment

Replacing, or introducing, technology can bring in more problems than it solves. Before bringing in something new, it’s important to know the environment you’re bringing it into:

• What already works well?
• What should be retained?
• What systems already exist?
• What constraints exist?
• What skills already exist?

Technology doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Having an awareness of the environment will make it much more likely that you’ll choose the right technology and implement it well.

Failing to challenge assumptions

We all make assumptions, often unconsciously…

• New technology will solve our problems
• Everyone wants the same thing
• More functionality is better
• AI is the answer

By bringing these assumptions into the open - identifying them and considering how we can validate them - we reduce the risk that we’ll make the wrong decision.

Every major project should include deliberate assumption identification and testing.

Looking for answers before gathering evidence

Evidence provides the foundation on which you can make and back up your decisions. Yes, you’ll never have all the evidence. But, still it’s important to have some. Otherwise your decisions will be made on gut feel - which may work for some people, but is probably not to be recommended.

You might want to consider evidence from sources like:

• Stakeholder interviews
• User research
• Benchmarking against similar organisations
• Usage analytics
• Document reviews
• External good practice and standards

Good evidence improves decisions.

Going to market before defining success

I see far too many organisations setting out their requirements and interacting with the market before they’ve even considered what they’re trying to achieve. This goes back to the earlier problem definition. Once you’ve defined the problem, you can define success:

• What will success look like?
• How will we measure it?

Without clear success criteria, vendor comparisons become difficult.

Procurement should confirm a decision, not make it

Just like buying a house, technology procurement is a multi-stage process.

Before you start talking to the suppliers, you should have:

• Defined the problem (our garden is too small)
• Gathered evidence (we can’t grow the vegetables we want to grow)
• Identified the options (look around at what’s available)
• Defined the evaluation criteria (what does good look like?)

The procurement exercise then validates that work (obviously with the option to revisit some of the conclusions drawn as you learn more)

Conclusion

Technology projects rarely fail because procurement was poorly managed. (Although I do know that can happen…)

They often struggle because the thinking before procurement was incomplete.

Those organisations that make the best technology decisions usually spend more time understanding their situation than comparing products.

Before you start your next technology procurement, perhaps ask yourself one simple question:

Do we understand our problem as well as we’re trying to understand the market?

The answer to that question might indicate whether you’re ready to find a solution, or whether you need to do some more thinking first.

[Editor’s note: This article was structured with the aid of AI, based on original ideas provided by the author]

If you'd like to discuss this article, or how I can help you, get in touch.

Posted: 19 July 2026

Tags: Problem identification Supplier selection Assumptions Success criteria

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