Technology Evaluation and Selection

Technology Evaluation and Selection is a core responsibility for an Enterprise Architect, and interviewers often want to see whether you follow a structured, objective process rather than “gut feel.

Here’s a step-by-step framework you can use (and present in interviews) — I’ll also explain which tools/frameworks to apply, what outputs you produce, and how you show CXOs the decision traceability.

1) Define the Business Context

Before evaluating technology, clarify why you need it:

• Business drivers: e.g., improve time-to-market, support digital lending, reduce infra costs, meet compliance.

• Scope: Is this tech meant for 1 project (point solution) or enterprise-wide adoption?

• Constraints: Budget, regulatory restrictions (e.g., RBI, SEBI, HIPAA), skill availability.

Artifact: Business Requirement Document (BRD) / Architecture Vision.

2) Define Evaluation Criteria (Multi-dimensional)

Use a balanced scorecard approach. Criteria are grouped into business, technical, operational, financial, security/compliance buckets.

✅ Typical dimensions:

1. Strategic Fit / Business Alignment

   • Does it support the business capability roadmap?

   • Industry adoption (is it a niche or mainstream tech?).

   • Vendor roadmap aligned with enterprise vision?

2. Technical Fit

   • Interoperability with existing stack (e.g., Java/Spring Boot + Azure).

   • Scalability, resilience, performance.

   • Cloud-native support (containers, serverless, APIs).

   • Standards compliance (REST, gRPC, OAuth2, OpenAPI, ISO).

3. Operational Fit

   • Availability of skills in the market.

   • Ease of integration with DevOps pipelines, monitoring, observability.

   • Support & training ecosystem.

4. Financials / TCO

   • Licensing (subscription vs perpetual).

   • Infra cost (compute/storage/network).

   • Migration cost (people + tools + change management).

   • ROI within 3–5 years.

5. Security & Compliance

   • Encryption, IAM integration (Azure AD, SailPoint).

   • Compliance certifications (ISO 27001, SOC2, GDPR, RBI).

   • Vendor risk (data residency, SLAs, DR).

Artifact: Technology Evaluation Criteria Matrix.

3) Longlisting & Shortlisting

• Longlist: Research all possible vendors/tech options (via Gartner Magic Quadrant, Forrester Wave, IDC, peer benchmarks).

• Shortlist: 2–4 candidates that fit core needs.

Tools:

• Gartner Peer Insights / Forrester Wave (market scanning).

• RFP/RFI documents.

• Enterprise Architecture repository (LeanIX, Sparx EA).

4) Apply Structured Evaluation (Scoring/Weighting)

• Assign weights to criteria (e.g., Strategic 25%, Technical 25%, Ops 20%, Financial 15%, Security 15%).

• Score each technology 1–5 for each criterion.

• Multiply → calculate weighted total.

Example Table:

Criteria	Weight	Tech A	Tech B	Tech C
Strategic Fit	25%	4 (1.0)	5 (1.25)	3 (0.75)
Technical Fit	25%	5 (1.25)	4 (1.0)	3 (0.75)
Operational Fit	20%	4 (0.8)	3 (0.6)	3 (0.6)
Financial (TCO/ROI)	15%	3 (0.45)	4 (0.6)	5 (0.75)
Security/Compliance	15%	5 (0.75)	4 (0.6)	3 (0.45)
Total	100%	4.25	4.05	3.3

→ Tech A wins (score 4.25).(Important: even if Finance pushes for Tech C, you have a transparent, data-driven rationale.)

Tools: Excel, PowerBI dashboards, or EA tools with decision matrix templates.

5) Pilot / Proof of Concept (PoC)

Before finalizing, test in real-world conditions:

• Deploy on sandbox.

• Run performance & security benchmarks.

• Integrate with CI/CD & observability stack.

• Evaluate developer productivity.

• Gather feedback from end-users & ops teams.

Artifact: PoC Evaluation Report.

6) Risk & Vendor Assessment

• Vendor lock-in risk.

• Support & SLA risk.

• Regulatory non-compliance risk.

• People/skill risk (hard to hire).

Artifact: Risk Register with mitigation.

7) Recommendation & Approval

• Prepare Architecture Decision Record (ADR) or Technology Selection Report.

• Present to EA Review Board / Cloud CoE / CXOs.

• Gain approval for adoption.

8) Adoption & Governance

• Update EA Standards & Blueprints (add chosen tech to approved tech stack).

• Define sunset plan for rejected/legacy tech.

• Train teams & update onboarding materials.

9) Tools & Frameworks You Can Quote in Interview

• TOGAF ADM → Technology Architecture phase.

• Gartner TIME (Tolerate, Invest, Migrate, Eliminate).

• 6R framework → cloud migration.

• Architecture Decision Records (ADR) → traceability.

• Gartner Magic Quadrant / Forrester Wave → market scanning.

• EA Repositories: LeanIX, Sparx EA, Alfabet.

• Scorecards: Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan & Norton).

✅ Interview-ready one-liner summary:"In our org, we evaluate new technology using a structured multi-criteria scorecard across strategic, technical, operational, financial, and compliance dimensions. We use CAST, vFunction, APM tools, and EA repositories for technical inputs, Gartner/Forrester for market scan, and run PoCs for hands-on validation. The final recommendation is documented in an ADR and approved via the EA Review Board, ensuring transparency and business alignment."