Migrate To New Technology
Migrate To New Technology
Migrate To New Technology
Learning
Guide
Unit of Competence Migrate new technology
Module Title Migrating new technology
LG Code: EIS ABS4 18 0812
TTLM Code: EIS ABS4 M18 0812
Trade and business magazines such as Technology and Business constantly introduce
IT professionals to new technologies.
The Internet
The Internet, giving access to World Wide Web, forums, newsgroups and mailing
lists, is also a valuable source of information about new technologies.
Networking
Technical skill
Once a new technology is identified, it is fundamental that you gain the technical
skills necessary before migrating to it. These technical skills may relate to:-
1. Hardware,
2. Software,
3. Network,
4. PC support or programming knowledge.
Building technical skills is an ongoing and never-ending process for an IT
professional
Managerial skills
It is important that the IT professional be conversant in managerial and design
skills so that new technology is chosen and implemented in line with business
objectives.
To ensure that IT is totally aligned with business objectives, IT managers need to:-
The IT leadership must be connected to business management
Think about the impact of tasks on business as a whole rather than provide
solutions for individual tasks
Concentrate more on end-user experience with new technologies rather than the
technology itself.
Focus on the business goals and let the technology follow.
Play a strategic role in the future of the organization.
Technologies in design
Design technologies include:-
technologies that are used to design or develop a new product or service
such as :-Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) and Computer Aided Systems
Design (CASD)
technologies that promote modernization by introducing new, more
efficient, cost effective and improved quality services or products to the
consumer.
Locating information
Where can you find information such as mission statements and organization charts?
Many organizations publish these documents and can provide them when requested to do so. A
source is the company’s annual report which may be available on the company’s website. You
can see examples of these documents on Global Platform website http://www.globalplatform.org
by following the link ‘About Global Platform’
The product selection process establishes a set of criteria that must be matched by new
achievement. The product selection criteria are drawn from business requirements of an
organization.
An organization’s business requirements will state high-level outcomes of any new
technology. Often, new business requirements arise when organizations experience problems.
Problems are expressed in different ways by organizations, and, as we mentioned previously,
they can be found in documents such as:
From these high level outcomes stated in the business requirements, a set of criteria can be
established for selecting any new technology that the organization will acquire.
For example, the high level outcomes of the business requirements could implicate
all or any of the following criteria for selecting the new technology.
1. Compatibility
New technology will need to work with existing hardware, system and application
software with minimum changes to both.
2. Interoperability
The new technology must be able to interoperate with the existing network.
3. Maintainability
4. Centralizations/accessibility
The new technology must be accessible by multiple users at various sites.
5. Security
The new technology must be accessed by authorized users only.
6. Ease of use
Existing users must be able to operate new technology with minimum re-training.
7. Scalability
The system introduced using the new technology should be able to cope with growth
of the business, expansion of networks, and a growing number of employees, etc.
consultants,
colleagues and other IT professionals,
IT supplements of newspapers,
magazines and trade papers,
demonstration versions of software
and vendor catalogues containing drawings, designs and product
specifications
A test case
Let’s take the supermarket example again and develop a test case of the feature ‘Produce a
weekly establishment working hours report’. Table 1 presents a test case for the supermarket
Shift Management System.
Users for whom the new technology is an integral part of their work
Representatives from IT personnel supporting the new/upgraded equipment
Individuals who understand the business objectives and the rationale behind the
implementation of the new equipment.
equipment. With the integration of new equipment into any existing system, change is unavoidable
and it is usually accepted in the expectation that it would bring about improvement. Therefore, the
first rule in managing technology is to ensure that the desired outcomes are aligned with
The following questions will help you to identify the organizational requirements with regard to new
technology:
Is the organization expecting to grow in the near future? If so, what is the extent of the
expected growth?
How capable are the end users with regard to adapting to the new technologies
Most new technology fails when it is implemented without proper assessment of the factors that
caused the technology to be introduced in the first place. For successful technology implementation,
you must first analyze the business requirement that alerted the need for new equipment in the first
place. This is usually found in the IT strategic plan and business strategic plan.
Strategy is defined as an elaborate and systematic action to get something done. Once a company’s
goals and objectives are established, each division must establish strategies to support the company
Strategic planning is essential for the successful running of any business in order to improve
customer service and increase efficiency. Strategic planning gives direction to the acquisition and
integration of new technology. All important equipment implementations must be carried out with
When introducing new equipment into any existing system, you must conform to the technology
Reduce completion time and accelerate the progress by providing a framework for
equipment into an existing system. You can develop procedures appropriate to your organization by
Identify all stakeholders and take their input into account when formulating a strategy for
Map the organization’s business goals into the information technology requirements.
Check the readiness of the IT infrastructure to accept the new equipment. This is critical
Measure success. Strategies must be established to measure success of the new equipment
LO3
Evaluate new or upgraded technology performance
Planning evaluation
The evaluation plan should be flexible enough to accommodate new questions and
information sources. Here are some strategies in planning evaluation:-
Obtain a list of all stakeholders of the new technology.
Identify stakeholders that must be consulted to evaluate the performance and
usability of the system.
Identify any other data sources to collect information such as documents, reports,
performance logs, etc.
Identify key performance indicators with regard to performance and usability of
the software applications and hardware.
Determine the resources that are needed to carry out the evaluation.
Identify the methodologies that will be used to conduct the evaluation.
The possible methodologies are:
observations,
questionnaires,
walkthroughs,
Interviews focus groups, etc.
Analyses the information collected and compares it against the targets of
performance and usability.
Gathering feedback
The goal of collecting feedback from users and gathering information from other sources is
to enable the technology committee to assess how well the software and hardware
implementation is satisfying the key usability and performance indicators.
Sources of information
You can gather data from people, documents, performance data, observation of events or any
other empirical method such as experiments and benchmarking.
Interviews
Here are some tips for conducting interviews:
Choose stakeholders who would have greater or unique involvement with the new
system.
Communicate the purpose of the interview to the interviewee.
Ask brief questions relevant to performance and usability of the system.
Don’t interrupt.
Be a good listener.
Take notes.
Focus groups
These are group interview situations where discussions can take place about the
usability and the performance of the hardware and software. Here are some tips for
conducting focus groups:
Reward the attendees by providing refreshments as this could be a good motivator.
Start and finish on time.
Be prepared to hear positive and negative comments.
Be prepared with prompting questions to start the discussions about usability and
performance of the system.
Let the participants communicate and listen carefully.
Avoid being defensive.
Listen to all comments.
Engage a note-taker.
State the objective of the survey as evaluating the performance and usability of
the new technology.
Keep the survey to a manageable length.
Use both open-ended and closed questions.