11. Choose the right tools and technology

Choose tools and technology that let you create a high quality service in a cost effective way. Minimise the cost of changing direction in future.

Why it’s important

When you make a decision about technology, you’re making a significant investment. The choices you make will have a huge impact on your ability to create, iterate and operate the service in a sustainable way.

What it means

When considering technical architecture, choice of programming languages, development toolchain and other technology choices, service teams should:

• use appropriate tools and technologies to create and operate a good service in a cost effective way - for example, by automating things where possible
• be able to show that they’ve made good decisions about what technology to build and what to buy
• understand total cost of ownership of the technology and preserve the ability to make different choices in future - for example, reducing the chances of getting locked into contracts for specific tools and suppliers by using open standards
• have an effective approach to managing any legacy technology the service integrates with or depends on