The decision process is the one from Enterprise Architecture.
It looks like the following:
- Consider the requirements and the business case
- Check the alternatives on the market
- Always evaluate the option to build the technology based upon the Corporate Strategy and the IT Strategy, and the internal capacity to build
- Do architecture design to pinpoint the impact and how the technology will fit in the company
- Run an RFP if needed
- Consider the availability of the skilled workers on the market
- If the technology is sold by a company consider the economic health and the trustworthiness of the company
- Consider the ROI of the acquisition of the technology
- Organize a board to officially decide the acquisition of the technology and how it will be integrated to the enterprise landscape.
The alternative is in the scope of pure innovation/r&d. When a technology is very promising but there is no market proof, you run a Proof of Concept project to validate some hypotheses and learn in the process in order to plan the integration of the technology in the overall landscape.
No matter what, a CIO or CTO must be driven by a business need/opportunity (I include here that IT is also a business)
