News Feature | September 15, 2015

How The Gartner Hype Cycle Can Help You Navigate Your Healthcare IT Client's Technology Interests

By Megan Williams, contributing writer

How The Gardner Hype Cycle Can Help You Navigate Your Healthcare IT Client’s Technology Interests

With healthcare technologies rolling out faster than they ever have, it can be difficult to manage not only your focus, but your clients’. One of the best informational tools you can use in navigating this problem is the Gartner Hype Cycle, whose application was referenced in the keynote at the Smart VAR Healthcare Summit by “Healthcare IT Guy” Shahid Shah, CEO of NetSpective Communications, an IT professional services and custom software development firm.

The Hype Cycle

The Gartner Hype Cycle provides a visual representation of the trends that technologies and applications go through, as well as how relevant they might be to solving business problems and addressing new opportunities. It can also be used to predict how a technology or application will evolve over time. The five stages through which a technology moves are

  • Technology Trigger: The breakthrough that gets everything going
  • Peak Of Inflated Expectations: The period where success stories are common in public conversation — some companies take action during this period but most do not.
  • Trough Of Disillusionment: The point where interest falls off and implementations fail. You’ll only see continued investment in this stage if technology providers improve their products and satisfy early adopters.
  • Slope Of Enlightenment: The masses begin to understand how the technology can bring benefit to the enterprise — Second and third generation products appear while conservative companies stay cautious.
  • Plateau Of Productivity: This is where the mainstream jumps on board. Assessing provider viability becomes clearer and market applicability and relevance begin to pay off.

Smart VAR Insight

Shah specifically addressed Gartner’s 2015 healthcare hype cycle insight, emphasizing how important it is for healthcare technology companies to understand, since it lets you know where technologies are in the customer’s mind. Of the five stages, he stressed that the final three are the best place to be when it comes to selling technology. He recommends using the Gartner Hype Cycle to shape the conversations you have with your customer, specifically around care delivery technologies.

“They're busy saving lives, and if you can't explain why your technology should work in their environment, that's not their fault, that's your fault,” Shah said. “They want to make sure people live longer — that's their job.”

“If you think that a technology is going to make their jobs easier and you can't prove it, don't blame them for being technophobes,” he commented.

The Aug. 11 Smart VAR Healthcare Summit was held at the Renaissance Dallas Richardson Hotel. Smart VAR Healthcare Summits, powered by ScanSource and Business Solutions, are sponsored by: Honeywell, Datalogic, and Zebra.

The Aug. 11 Smart VAR Healthcare Summit was held at the Renaissance Dallas Richardson Hotel. Smart VAR Healthcare Summits, powered by ScanSource and Business Solutions, are sponsored by: Honeywell, Datalogic, and Zebra.