Can technology really be managed?

There is a view, often put forward, that technology introduces so many changes and so rapidly that it is impractical to formally manage it: the only realistic stance is to provide a responsive management approach which can react to any particular outcome. This is the firefighter approach. In practice this approach can be adopted to some degree, but it will not provide optimum results and, in particular, it will not take full advantage of the upside of technology.

The essence of the management process is to have a realistic plan which lays out a plausible path from start to finish. It clearly identifies the critical points which will establish at an early stage the likely success or failure of the plan. It will provide a firm basis for introducing modifications to the management process which will coherently enhance the prospects of success.

There are always external, uncontrollable factors which will cause a plan to fail, no matter how well it is thought out. A new breakthrough may come from some third party which renders a plan obsolete. But a good technology management approach allows such external information to assessed systematically and the appropriate management decision to be made.

The higher the level of management the broader the view required and the clear identification of the key aspects of the process, outcomes and risks, is essential.

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