Senior managers will generally be unhappy with a 'cheap' solution if it results in an unreliable service or other problems which might have been avoided if a somewhat more expensive approach had been adopted. Some organisations may not include all the information technologies within the scope of their technology architecture. However, with the rapid convergence of all the information technologies it is advisable to think carefully before excluding any technology from the scope the technology architecture. The deployment of new technologies needs to be carefully managed. This applies to innovative technologies and to well established technologies of which an organisation has minimal experience albeit the approach varies a little between the two situations.
Most organisations go through an initial experimentation phase.
The approach adopted to managing this phase can be similar to the approach used to manage applications in the high potential quadrant of McFarlan's matrix. If the initial use is successful then there is the possibility that the technology will proliferate as is shown in Fig 1. This is a critical phase. If the proliferation phase runs for too long it is likely that a number of incompatible systems will be acquired throughout an organisation. The cost of subsequently moving to a set of compatible systems is likely to be expensive in organisational terms not to mention the out of pocket expenses that will be incurred.