Technology portfolio
On this page 9 topics
Overview
Topics
- Standardization
- consolidation
- adoption
- retirement
Learn first
3.5 h of practice (estimate)
Learning outcomes
- Build a technology radar for the organization (adopt, trial, assess, hold) with clear criteria.
- Decide when to standardize, consolidate, or allow diversity.
- Run a technology retirement with migration support and deadlines.
- Balance innovation with operational cost and skills.
Lessons
Lab and exercises
Lab
STF-007-LAB1 · Portfolio review
Outcomes: 1–4 · Time: ~2.5 h
- Inventory Platform 2.0's languages, frameworks, datastores, and CI tools from the case materials.
- Define ring criteria and publish a radar with an owner for each entry.
- Decide standardize, consolidate, or diversify for each area and justify.
- Plan one retirement with migration path, support offer, and deadlines.
- Review the radar and the plan with role-played tech leads.
Acceptance: radar entries have criteria and owners; retirement plan has a migration path and support offer.
Exercises (case-based; six exercises)
| ID | Outcome | Task |
|---|---|---|
| STF-007-EX01 | 1 | Write ring criteria (adopt, trial, assess, hold) for a radar and apply them to four sample technologies. |
| STF-007-EX02 | 1 | A radar was built from one architect's opinion. List three ways to make it evidence-based and shared. |
| STF-007-EX03 | 2 | For CI tools (five in use), message brokers (two), and datastores (six), recommend standardize, consolidate, or diversify. |
| STF-007-EX04 | 3 | Write a retirement plan for a legacy workflow engine used by six teams, with milestones and support. |
| STF-007-EX05 | 4 | A team wants a new language for one service. Write a trial charter with success measures and exit plan. |
| STF-007-EX06 | 4 | Describe how you would find the balance between innovation and operational cost for the next year. |
Show solutions
- EX01 Adopt: production use in at least two teams, owner, support, security reviewed. Trial: bounded use with a charter. Assess: worth exploring. Hold: stop new use.
- EX02 Publish criteria, use adoption data, add a proposal process, include several tech leads in reviews.
- EX03 CI: standardize. Brokers: consolidate if the cost exceeds migration. Datastores: allow a small set matched to access patterns.
- EX04 Inventory, target, migration guide, support squad, per-team dates, dual run, switch-off checklist.
- EX05 Goal, one team, three months, measures (operability, hiring, performance), exit plan if unsupported.
- EX06 Reserve a small fixed capacity for trials, require charters, review portfolio cost yearly, retire at least as many as adopted.
Outcome coverage: all four outcomes appear in exercises and lab.
Workplace evidence: a technology standardization or retirement you led.
Quiz
Outcomes: O1 technology radar · O2 standardize, consolidate, diversify · O3 retirement · O4 innovation versus cost.
A self-check for you: nothing is graded, saved or sent anywhere. Choose an answer, then check it. You can try again as often as you like.
Practical part
Six case exercises STF-007-EX01 to EX06 plus the lab, reviewed as a radar and retirement plan. Pass: at least five of six exercises correct, quiz at least 8/10, and a radar with criteria and owners plus a retirement plan with a migration path and support offer.
Common mistakes
Radars that reflect personal taste; retirements announced without help; never trialing anything new.
Assessment
Radar and retirement plan review.
Workplace evidence
A technology standardization or retirement you led.
Career relevance
Technology assessment (ARC-008) and legacy modernization (ARC-010).