Why Prioritization Matters When Buying Technology

When a company initiates a process to select a new technology platform there is an internal discussion that sounds something like this: “We are not looking for the Cadillac, we can get by with a Toyota…..We just don’t need all the bells and whistles, we’ll never use all that functionality.  If it meets 80% of our requirements we will be just fine.”

80% is always the threshold. I think it is because of our familiarity with the Pareto principle or 80/20 rule. But in this case it is a misapplication of the rule.  Here is what I mean:

• Pareto says that 80% of your results are generated by 20% of your activities.
• Applying this to your functional business requirements means that 80% of your needs will be met by 20% of the functionality.
• A product that has 80%, might be missing the 20% that matter most.

So in reality you should be happy if the system meets only 20% of your requirements. Just make sure it’s the 20% that you will use 80% of the time.