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Tracking changes and improvements and cost reductions in technology requires many hours a week of reading industry newsletters, trying things out, comparing approaches that make sense for small organizations, and updating information on older solutions. It is not an easy or simple thing to do. Organizations that are trying to decide on a technology solution are very unlikely to be able to devote this amount of time and expertise to the research. As a result, organizations select technologies based on advice from the suppliers they already have, or by looking at a few ads, or by reading web logs and reviews, or by informal advice from enthusiasts.

If you already have a good, trusted and reliable supplier, it makes sense to stay with them. Just make sure that you do a scan of other options once in a while to ensure you're not locked into an expensive or obsolete platform.

If a client needed phone interpreting, the service provider would hand him/her a cordless phone with a headset to plug into his/her ear. The service provider would then call the interpreting service, and bring the client into the conversation in a 3-way call. The client and provider would be talking directly to each other, in any part of the building, with the voice of the interpreter going directly into their headsets. They could walk into different offices carrying these phones, or switch service providers by transferring the call to another staff member's headset. At the end of the visit, the client would give the phone back. This would save on phone costs and make interpreting almost transparent. It's worth trying...

Whenever we design an information system for an organization, we have to acknowledge that people are irrational, and that information never flows rationally through organizations. Technology initiatives often fail because their designers don't take into account how people actually learn, and who they are willing to learn from.

For example, in our study of settlement agencies in Ontario, many agencies told us that formal off-site training sessions were ineffective in learning new technologies. In contrast, small-group or one-to-one sessions that helped learners figure out how to use computers in their own offices, doing their day to day activities, were extremely effective. This is just one demonstration of a well known tenet of adult education; that learning is most effective when it is in the context of actual use.

Computers cost a minimum of $250/month per workstation including all direct costs such as networks, replacement, maintenance, technical support and user training. If agencies are not spending that much on managing their technology, they are probably spending more on the indirect costs of wasted time and lost productivity. In other words, a poorly-managed system may seem to cost about the same as a well managed system in terms of obvious direct costs, but will cause great amounts of wasted staff time and lost productivity.

The benefits of virtual work are wonderful - reduced travel time, more flexibility, and less exposure to office politics. However, it's not easy to move from a set of work skills that we've spent most of our lives developing (since kindergarten we've been commuting to a separate building at regular times of the day, working in groups and being supervised by a boss or teacher.) You have to develop a whole new set of skills and rules of business etiquette to be successful in this new situation.

The term best practices is often misused in talking about the uses of technology. Best practices can be a powerful research method that identifies successful approaches in any field. In practice, best practice research often ends up being a collection of cute stories about organizations sharing their interesting ideas. The ideas are not examined critically or evaluated for effectiveness.

This is a serious problem for agencies that are trying to decide about investments in technology. Many technology programs may seem like a great idea at the time, but lead to disaster or prove to be a giant waste of time after a couple of years. Before accepting any best practices at face value, it's a good idea to determine what evidence underlies them.