It seemed like a good idea at the time
When good technology goes bad.
Talk synopsis
Most businesses don't set out to create a technology problem. They solve one problem at a time.
A new system fills a gap. A team adopts a tool that makes their lives easier. A workaround gets everyone through a busy period. The business grows, requirements change and new technology gets added to what was already there. Each decision makes perfect sense at the time.
Until, collectively, they don't.
Information ends up scattered across different systems. Functionality overlaps. People develop workarounds to make things talk to each other. Nobody is quite sure who owns what, and changing one thing risks breaking three others. Technology that was bought to make the business work better starts making it harder to run.
In this talk, Alan explores how good technology goes bad – not because the individual systems are necessarily wrong, but because technology decisions made at different times, by different people and for different purposes start to interact in ways nobody intended. He looks at the warning signs that complexity is becoming a problem, why simply replacing old technology or adding something new rarely fixes the underlying issue, and how to start untangling what you've accumulated.
Because the answer isn't to rip everything out and start again. It's to understand the systems, dependencies, information flows and business processes you already have, how they work together and where simplification will make a meaningful difference.
Who is this talk for?
Leaders in established businesses where technology has accumulated over time – particularly those experiencing duplication, disconnected information, manual workarounds, frustrated teams or a creeping sense that nobody quite understands how everything fits together any more.
What will they take away?
A way to recognise when technology complexity has become a business problem, understand how it happened and start simplifying without embarking on an unnecessary transformation programme.
About Alan
Alan Paterson is the founder of AIK Advisory and has spent more than 30 years helping organisations make sense of data, technology and information. His experience spans businesses of very different sizes, sectors and levels of maturity, including highly regulated environments. Find out more →
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Interested in this talk?
If you're considering Alan for an event, conference or leadership session, get in touch to talk about your audience and what you're looking to explore.
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