Technology Change Management (TCM)

In today’s world, change is an ongoing process and Information Technology (IT) has contributed to changes in every aspect of life (such as business and education). This is due to the emerging technologies. Nowadays, the business environment needs to use the new technologies available in order to be successful and compete with similar organizations in the market. To incorporate new technology into business activities, Technology Change Management (TCM) is used. TCM is a process of identifying, selecting, and evaluating new technologies (such as tools, methods, and processes) to incorporate the most effective technology in a software system.

To perform TCM, an organization establishes a group who is responsible for assessing emerging technologies as well as managing changes that occur in existing technologies. The technologies that tend to improve the capability of the standard software process of the organization are significantly considered.

TCM is advantageous to organizations as it helps in maintaining awareness of new software related technologies. In addition, it assists organizations in selecting the most suitable technology to improve the software quality and productivity of software activities. Before incorporating new technologies in the organization, both advantages and disadvantages of implementing the technology are checked with the help of a prototype (pilot) that helps to assess the output of new and unproven technology. The technologies that seem desirable for the organization are suggested to the organization for approval and after they get approved, they are incorporated into the standard software process of the organization.

In addition to the above mentioned objectives, other common objectives of TCM are listed below.

1. Minimize Total Cost of Operation (TCO): TCO is concerned with the identification of total cost incurred to develop a software system. This cost includes the cost of hardware, software, support services, and hidden costs required to develop the entire software system. The cost is determined to estimate the actual cost in providing the technology to the end user. The factors that affect TCO are listed below.
2. Technology-centric utilization policies: The total cost of operation is affected by hardware, software, and operational standards. The organization policies that are followed for a single technology and are not replaced according to the latest technologies result in increased costs. This happens because the organization spends time and cost on evaluating the hardware required along with the software rather than on making decisions on the replacement of technologies on expiration of a warranty. In this case, TCM provides a solution to organize business rules and corporate technology standards to ensure that the maximum value is achieved from each asset.
3. Discontinuity and delay: Inefficient employees affect the performance of the organization due to which the process of software development suffers. As a result, the organization needs to spend large amounts of money to avoid delay. On the contrary, if a good project management approach is used, the expenses and delays are minimized to a certain extent. In addition, prior knowledge of the user requirements and communication between users and the organization are essential to manage TCM.
4. Maximize asset utilization: To ensure optimal utilization of assets, it is essential to minimize the stock of components (such as hardware and software) for the software system that are reserved for future use. In addition, the collection of new components should be kept to a minimum and the components that are not required should be avoided or disposed off. This approach maximizes the asset utilization as only the required components are used.
5. Reduce expenses: TCM minimizes the expense of components that are generally not considered in total cost of operation. This is done by automating the exchange of information such as asset repository and transmission and approval of documents in business process. This information also includes checking the components of a software system before their purchase and installation. Minimization of such expenses reduces the expenses of the organization.