In Praise of "Pivot Technologies"

Our clients are often pushed to adopt new technologies to accommodate political or financial time lines. More and more, we find that our clients are pushed to move from one paradigm, system or methodology to the next one in a single, terrifying leap.

In fact, I wrote a post about that a little while ago which you can find here if you are so inclined. The executive summary in this context is simply that making technology transitions can be done faster, safer and better with evolution instead of revolution, with smaller, well-defined steps instead of jumping out of the airplane, pulling the rip cord and praying for a soft landing.

So if large leaps of faith make me queasy, what do I propose instead? I propose what I call "pivot technologies." To me, this term means technology which can operate in more than one mode. In practical terms, I mean stepping stones from one technology or methodology, which is being phased out,  to another replacement technology of methodology.

For example, in our consulting practice we often provide on/the-fly translation from one set of codes to another set of codes. This allows users to enter transactions from the old set of codes into the new information system.

Until recently, getting approval for pivot technology projects was relatively easy; technology shifts were common and everyone understood that pivot technologies were cheap insurance against painful transitions or even failed transitions.

Recently we have run into a new conventional wisdom. Now we hear that pivot technology projects are a bad idea for two reasons: they are a crutch and they never go away.

Executives say pivot technologies are a crutch because they enable users to avoid making the mandated transition. I am not clear about how easing a transition is the same as impeding it, but there you are.

Executives say that pivot technologies never go away; I assume that the point is that one ends up with an environment cluttered with no-longer-needed pivot technologies which are never retired and cleanly removed.

It is true that I have seen that vicious cycle: a pivot technology is rolled out a crutch, then the transition to the next technology falters, or is even held up by people clinging to the pivot, then you have the pivot but not the transition. But that scenario is not inevitable; indeed, it should not even be likely. After all, the whole point of deploying a pivot technology is to have greater control over the transition, not have less control or no control. So make a plan and stick to it. And cover your bets with a pivot: you might be able to jump the stream in a single bound, but why take the chance?