Technology is a tool to be used to achieve your own goals, though unfortunately, technology can also become the decision-maker in many businesses. We believe that technology has no rôle to play in making decisions about how your systems should operate; that is a decision for you to make.
There are a number of technology decisions to make in the process of designing an IT solution to a particular business problem. These may prove critical later on when the solution requires maintenance or extension and the negative effects of vendor lock-in and incompatibility start to become apparent.
All too often, the solution to these problems is to compromise on functionality: this is where the technology starts driving the development, and where your control starts to wane.
Our belief that technology should not be the driving force behind an IT solution has fostered our adoption of open standards as we have largely turned our backs on proprietary solutions.
Open standards make for successful software in the long term, reducing ongoing maintenance costs and expenses, and ensuring that you are not tied to a particular vendor.
In the end, you decide.
