Knowledge 4.4

KSB 4.4 — How to monitor technology related market trends and research and collect competitive intelligence


Situation

Technology decisions often require awareness of industry trends and the strengths and weaknesses of different tools and development approaches. During my work at 100AND10%, several technical discussions required evaluating available technologies in order to determine the most appropriate solutions for both internal projects and development workflows.

Task

My responsibility was to research and evaluate relevant technologies so that informed recommendations could be made about development practices and system architecture. This involved analysing available tools, comparing alternative approaches, and considering how current technology trends could influence the organisation’s development strategy.

Action

One example of this was my version control strategy proposal, where I compared the use of a managed GitHub Pro platform against self-hosted Git infrastructure. This evaluation considered factors such as infrastructure maintenance, security responsibilities, collaboration tools, and long-term scalability. By analysing these options, I was able to recommend the approach that best aligned with the organisation’s needs.

Similarly, during the planning of the JettsOS platform I evaluated the suitability of developing the system as a WordPress plugin versus building it as a standalone Laravel application. By considering industry practices around application architecture, scalability, and maintainability, I recommended a framework-based approach that better supported the long-term goals of the platform.

Result

These activities demonstrated the importance of monitoring technology trends and evaluating available solutions before making architectural or workflow decisions. By researching and comparing different technologies, I was able to contribute recommendations that aligned with industry best practices and supported the organisation’s ability to deliver reliable and scalable digital solutions.

Evidence

DOCX Discussing the pros and cons of self-hosting version control vs using Github

Discussing the pros and cons of self-hosting version control vs using Github

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DOCX Stakeholder consultation and technical findings presentation

preliminary requirements document for Client_2's internal platform

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