1. Cutting through the marketing hype
Marketing saturates everything. To arrive at the true practical value of a piece of new technology to the business, we need to filter out the spin from the truth.
The approach to purchasing technology and web services still has an element of "buying the coolest toy", which is not conducive to making the best choice for the business.
This is further compounded by brand fanaticism such as Apple's cult-like following. The level of blind belief can hamper a decision-maker's ability to objectively evaluate and implement a piece of technology.
2. Avoiding the "magic fix" trap.
Vendors like to say their technical solution will make all your problems go away, and many customers still simply prefer to believe that so they don't have to think about it too much, or ask too many questions.
But technology alone seldom fix anything. Most if not all business challenges inevitably involve people and process elements as well.
3. Not understanding enough of the technology
This limits a decision maker's ability to fully take charge of projects and make strategic decisions. Often key decisions are left to the web developer who often has no idea about or interest in the needs of the business.
This makes avoiding the fashion trend trap really difficult. A business tool has to serve the needs of the business first and foremost. Fashion trends in visual design, interface design and even programming languages come and go overnight. Left to their own devices, designers and programmers can unthinkingly following the current trends (because it is new and fun!) The results may be trendy, but often do not serve the business at all, nor are sustainable.
