How To Wisely Manage Tech Platforms: 20 Expert Tips

Finding “the perfect fit” in a software platform or hardware setup can play a huge role in helping a business streamline processes, boost productivity, keep team members on the same page, and better serve customers. Still, becoming overly reliant on a single tool or system comes with risks, including vendor lock-in, service disruptions, ever-increasing costs and more.

Carefully managing tech platforms to avoid overdependence can help ensure a company remains agile and innovative and open up possibilities for savings and enhanced solutions. Here, members of Forbes Technology Council share their expert tips for wisely managing the tech platforms that drive your business.

1. Have An Exit Plan In Place Before Adopting A New Platform

It is crucial to have an exit strategy in place prior to adopting a given platform. Having an exit strategy gives you the ability to adopt alternatives if a given platform does not work out. In addition, avoid heavy customizations of a platform so that, if you exit the platform, you won’t have to start all over again. – Abhi Shimpi, Fidelity Investments

2. Follow A ‘Software-Defined Everything’ Strategy

Follow a strategy of “software-defined everything” (as far as feasible). Virtual servers, storage and networks have become easy and inexpensive to purchase, own and manage. With this approach, you are no longer beholden to any one hardware manufacturer, which provides more negotiating power and flexibility for your IT team. – Bruce Kornfeld, StorMagic

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3. Duplicate Crucial Information Across Several Platforms

One practical step a company can take is to duplicate crucial information, files and data across several platforms. By storing important resources in multiple locations, a company ensures that if one platform experiences issues or becomes unavailable, its team members can still access necessary information. – Yuriy Berdnikov, Perpetio

4. Consider Containerization, Virtualization And/Or Abstraction Design

Containerization, virtualization and abstraction design can all reduce cloud service dependencies. Containerization allows you to run on any cloud platform via Kubernetes, and virtualization supports cross-cloud portability. Abstraction removes dependencies on underlying base services, which makes switching easy. All these methods maintain performance and quality while preventing vendor lock-in. – Pankaj Chawla, 3Pillar

5. Collaborate With A Vendor-Agnostic Partner

One way to reduce dependence is to collaborate with a vendor-agnostic integration partner who understands your sector. This trusted partner can bring together the best components from the most suitable AI providers to create optimal, evergreen solutions for your organization. This approach provides much-needed flexibility and horizon-scanning capability in a rapidly changing AI marketplace. – Martin Taylor, Content Guru

6. Implement A Multicloud Strategy

One practical step is implementing a multicloud strategy. By leveraging multiple cloud providers, companies can avoid reliance on a single platform, ensuring flexibility and resilience. This diversification maintains high performance and service quality through redundancy and optimized resource allocation while reducing the risks associated with vendor lock-in. – Savitri Sagar, Kenzo Infotech

7. Confirm A Platform’s Compatibility With Your Full Tech Stack

Many organizations run various systems in silos. Consolidating into one comprehensive platform is the only way to achieve true end-to-end process automation and gain a clear, unified view across the organization. To avoid platform dependence, confirm a platform’s compatibility with all systems and applications in your tech stack and its ability to adapt as technologies evolve. – Charles Crouchman, Redwood Software

8. Use Open APIs Whenever Possible

Stick to using open APIs, or if that is not possible (for example, if you’re using a native cloud platform service), ensure that any platform-specific code is in its own module or library and is not deeply embedded throughout the codebase. By wrapping platform-specific code in a generic façade, you limit how much rework will need to be done if you change platforms, and it will all be in one place. – Adam Sandman, Inflectra Corporation

9. Implement A Microservices Architecture

One practical step a company can take to reduce platform dependence is to implement a microservices architecture. By breaking down applications into smaller, independent services, a company can leverage multiple platforms and technologies while maintaining overall performance and service quality, enabling easier updates, scalability and flexibility in choosing or switching platforms. – Hashim Hayat, Walturn

10. Use Containerized Testing

To reduce platform dependence, use containerized testing. This entails running tests in separate “containers” that work on any system. This strategy makes it easy to switch platforms without losing performance or quality, as the tests stay consistent no matter where they run. – Margarita Simonova, ILoveMyQA

11. Build With Open APIs

One practical way to minimize platform dependence is to follow an API-first approach. Build applications with open APIs that allow different services and tools to work together—in this way, as your platforms change, your performance never does. Organizations can thus pick best-of-breed solutions instead of monolithic approaches, minimizing vendor lock-in without sacrificing service quality. – Luboslava Uram, Solvd Group

12. Set Up Contracts With Yearly Renewals

A practical recommendation would be to establish vendor contracts with yearly renewals. Focus on the lessons learned each year and apply them to the new contract. Build strong expertise within your in-house team, ensuring team members understand the service delivery and service-level agreements, and collaborate closely with the platform vendor’s experts to attain platform stabilization and successful deliveries. – Sandeep Kumar

13. Build An In-House Team Of Experts

One of the best ways to drastically reduce platform dependence while also maintaining (and potentially improving) performance is to build an in-house team of experts. Find existing employees or hire folks who know about software development, data management, security or system maintenance. Get them together and start brainstorming, and you can build a single private, alternative platform. – Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster

14. Focus On Purpose And Function

Create an internal lexicon that focuses on purpose and function rather than platform or tool brand names. Changing how people refer to platforms changes the way everyone thinks about the platform. Focusing on purpose and function will lead teams to reassess the pros and cons of a platform. This approach will lead to a gradual reduction of dependency as components are moved to separate services. – Jonathan Doughty, Mentat, LLC

15. Conduct Internal Capability Reviews

Build internal capability reviews into your quarterly planning. Map out which platform features you actually use versus what you’re paying for, and consistently evaluate whether simpler, platform-agnostic solutions could provide those features. This proactive assessment prevents feature creep and unnecessary platform lock-in while keeping core services lean and performant. – Chandra Kuchi, Robinhood

16. Create A Serverless Architecture

To minimize platform dependence, try creating a serverless architecture. This setup allows you to build and run applications without thinking about servers. By using cloud functions from multiple providers, you maintain high performance and reliability while ensuring each piece can independently scale as needed. – Dmitry Mishunin, HashEx

17. Adopt Modular Architecture

Companies should break down systems into independent, but tightly connected, services. This strategy will reduce platform lock-in and provide more flexibility in choosing the best solution for each task—without the need to be attached to one provider—and it will protect performance and the quality of services. – Sandro Shubladze, Datamam

18. Define A Clear Data Strategy

Given the vast amounts of data being collected, define a clear data strategy before you start architecting a new platform or transforming an existing one. Ensure that any chosen platform enables singular data sources (for example, customer purchases) to feed multiple use cases (for example, a customer portal, billing and service delivery). It’s easy to get this wrong, and fixing it once you scale can be daunting. – Glenn Katz, Telesat

19. Diversify Your Tech Stacks

One practical step is diversifying tech stacks—use a mix of cloud providers and open-source tools. This reduces reliance on a single platform while maintaining flexibility, performance and service quality. It also gives you leverage in negotiations and backup options if one provider has issues. – Evgeny Popov, Verve Group

20. Leverage Open-Source Tools

Leveraging open-source tools is a smart step to reduce platform dependence. By integrating open-source software into core operations, companies can avoid vendor lock-in while maintaining full control over customization and updates. This approach ensures flexibility, fosters innovation and maintains high performance, all without sacrificing service quality. – Vamsi Vemoori