Managers generally like to buy systems from organisations with a strong track record of supporting local users and of investing in the development of their products. Vendor issues such as these can have a significant influence of the choice of technology architecture and more significantly on implementation decisions. It is interesting to note how few of the factors listed above, if any, might be referred to as 'technology' factors. Most however have a major influence on the design of the technology architecture. This is entirely appropriate when considering the topic from a boardroom perspective.
Senior managers can relate to most of the factors identified.
It is up to the IS department to come up with an architecture that meets the requirements expressed in terms such as those listed above and to be able to demonstrate that the recommended architecture is appropriate in the context of organisational requirements such as those listed above. The criteria used by a board to evaluate technology investments is often quite different to the criteria which an IS person might use. Evaluate a proposed technology architecture and related implementation decisions from a boardroom perspective and not from an IS or personal perspective. The boardroom perspective will tend to be the appropriate perspective to use when assessing whether or not a proposal is in the best interests of the organisation. Technology' factors represented a minority of the factors identified.