FM Walsh & Associates Inc.

New Technology Adoption

I wrote this morning in the Out-Smarts blog about an interview I had just listened to regarding the Skype crash last week, the effect it had on one local individual and how his lesson can be applied to new technology adoption in business.

The guy, a consummate Skype user had been dismayed last week when Skype crashed on the very day of his Grandmother’s birthday. He talked about his frustration in trying to get through to her using the Skype VoIP technology (phone over the web in layman’s terms!) and finished by mentioning that it was days after her birthday when he finally managed to reach her. It appeared to me that he was too consumed in new technology to remember the ubiquity of older technology like the land line. Could he not have picked up an actual phone and called Granny? There’s lots of them around.

This got me thinking about how companies should approach new technology adoption. New technology brings with it a whole slew of new, more effective ways of doing things and its vital to make the most of these opportunities but NOT at the complete of sacrifice of traditional methods. A mix of old and new is often best, at least for now.

I would have loved to hear his explanation to Granny!