Technology radar

As a company with a range of customers in a variety of sectors that all have completely different problems, Ergon can't restrict itself to continually developing and perfecting a single application. One of the most important technical decisions for every individual solution is choosing a suitable combination of technologies. Like most providers, we employ our preferred technologies from the catalogue of open-source software. The quantity of components available there is vast. However, it's hardly surprising that the quality of the components varies greatly. It's therefore challenging to find a suitable mix of technologies for the applications.

It's very tempting to only use technologies that are already familiar, thereby minimising risks. However, if you want to build modern solutions, there's no way of avoiding having to also evaluate and implement solutions that haven't necessarily been tried and tested. It makes sense, especially for long-lasting solutions, to add innovative components corresponding with the state of the art and that may lead to competitive advantages, to tried-and-tested technologies.

We support our development teams with these decisions with our own technology radar. This comprises a consolidated picture of technologies and their level of suitability. Twice a year, experts from all departments and teams get together for a workshop, in which they discuss and assess technologies and software components. This results in recommendations for the programming teams, on the basis of practical experience and careful monitoring. They help assess the chances and risks that are associated with the use of certain software components. This relates to tried-and-tested components that are reaching the end of their period of operation, as well as new components appearing on the horizon, which enable more sophisticated solutions for established problems.