Find the right starting point
You don’t need to know which technology you need. Start with what you’re trying to get done, and I’ll help you find the right starting point. The tools support the conversation. They don’t replace it. Most projects start with a Technology Needs Assessment, built for one known area.
Assessments
Discovery isn’t a Technology Needs Assessment. It’s where most people start when the need isn’t clear yet:
- Discovery helps me understand where you are.
- A Technology Needs Assessment defines what you need.
- Evaluate Providers compares providers against those requirements.
- You decide which provider fits best.
If you already know the technology area, you can start with a Technology Needs Assessment.
Technology Needs Assessments
The assessment captures your requirements in one place, so my network of engineering specialists has what it needs to find providers that fit. It covers what you have today, where you want to go and which technologies matter most to you, and it grows or shrinks with the answers you give. You do not have to complete every question. If my multidisciplinary network of engineering specialists needs more detail to recommend providers that meet your requirements, the engineers or I will follow up with a few questions. When you do talk with the providers that fit, they already know who you are and what you need, so you don’t have to repeat yourself.
How a Technology Needs Assessment works:
- Complete it in one sitting. The form can’t be saved partway, so gather your information first or reach out and I’ll help you prepare. The more complete the picture of where you are today and where you’re headed, the better the match.
- Engineering specialists review it. Engineers with the right areas of expertise look over your answers and your requirements.
- You get a shortlist by email. It recommends providers that meet your requirements.
- We talk it through. I walk you through the recommendations with those specialists on a results call.
- We narrow it together. You tell me what matters to you, including any past experience with a provider, and I remove anyone who isn’t right for you.
- Providers compete. The remaining providers give demos and proposals in a process I run, and none of them contacts you on their own.
- You choose. You pick the provider that fits best and sign with them. After your service is installed, I stay with you.
Watch the Technology Needs Assessment video
A short walkthrough of how the assessments work. You’ll hear the distributor’s name for the same assessments in the video.
For a Technology Needs Assessment: Have your locations, current providers and services, contract end dates, and approximate number of users or lines handy.
Note: The assessment opens in a new tab on an outside assessment platform, at a different web address than gotechtree.com. After you’ve finished and submitted it, close that tab, or use your browser’s Back button, to return to Tech Tree.
- More detail means fewer follow-up questions.
Tools
Evaluate Providers
Evaluate Providers is a side-by-side comparison I run with you on a video call or in person. It checks the providers in one technology area against your must-haves and lines up the ones that fit.
The names that market the most aren’t always the ones that fit. Every provider is checked against the same requirements. You keep the results.
Watch the Evaluate Providers video
A short walkthrough of how Evaluate Providers compares providers. You’ll hear the distributor’s name for the same tool in the video.
Pick a technology area to see the criteria I use to filter providers.
Discussion categories
Categories I review with you in Evaluate Providers to narrow the field to providers that fit the project.
- Provider shortlists load from Tech Tree Evaluate Providers
This is the comparison your IT team would otherwise build on its own. I build it from data that stays current.
Ever met with a provider three times before learning it couldn’t meet one of your must-haves? Evaluate Providers checks your must-haves first, so the providers you meet are the ones that can.
You get the shortlist and the reasons behind it, in a form you can hand to your leadership: which providers were considered, which were ruled out, and why.
Want a comparison built for your requirements? Tell me what matters most, such as regions, compliance, the apps you rely on and must-have features. I line providers up against it and show you who meets your needs, who comes close and who doesn’t. Already have a shortlist? I can run it through Evaluate Providers to check it.
Provider Directory
This is a directory of the providers in my Tech Tree. You’ll see names you already know, and strong providers you may never have heard of. Some of them may fit you better.
Type a name or pick a letter to see providers.
Broadband Internet Search
Broadband Internet Search. I check which providers already offer broadband internet (cable) at each of your business addresses, whether you have one location or a whole list. I check the providers’ own systems in real time, so you get real availability, not a ballpark estimate. Each location is flagged green, orange or red by how ready it is for service, so you know early if construction is needed. I can then pull side-by-side quotes across your locations, matched to your speed and static IP needs. If a result looks off, I take it straight to the provider support team behind the tool. The list here shows the 4 broadband internet providers I can search.
Watch the Broadband Internet Search video
A short look at how I check broadband internet availability. You’ll see the distributor’s name for the same tool in the video.
Fiber Finder
Fiber Finder maps where dedicated, unshared fiber is already built, showing which providers can reach your business locations. I check availability at each of your sites and pull side-by-side quotes across them.
Fiber Finder maps where dedicated, unshared fiber is already built, showing which providers can reach your business locations. I check availability at each of your sites and pull side-by-side quotes across them.
A short walkthrough of how I find fiber near your sites. You’ll hear the distributor’s name for the same tool in the video.
Data Center Finder
Data Center Finder. I search colocation data centers worldwide, around a city or business address and within the radius you choose. For each one I can see what’s inside: colocation, private and public cloud, the networks in the building, and the compliances it meets. I can compare facilities side by side, and I can overlay the map with public cloud regions, earthquake risk and power cost. You don’t run the map yourself: I search for you on a live map of facilities and the networks that reach them.
Watch the Data Center Finder video
A short walkthrough of how I search data centers. You’ll hear the distributor’s name for the same tool in the video.
AI Readiness Check
AI readiness is how prepared your business is to put artificial intelligence to work. It covers more than software: clear goals, information that is organized and easy to reach, rules for how staff use AI tools, systems that can share information, and a team that is ready to learn something new. This short check looks at all of those and shows you which areas are in good shape and which need attention first.
Wondering where AI fits?
Answer a short set of questions and see where your business stands on AI across eight areas, from goals and data to security and your team. I’ll suggest the conversation or assessment that makes sense next.
Your AI readiness profile
This profile is based only on your answers. It’s a starting point for a conversation, not a grade.
Connectivity Check
The Connectivity Check is a quick look at which providers can serve your address right now. It doesn’t commit you to anything, and it helps you decide whether a deeper search or assessment is worth it.
I can check which providers already offer connectivity at your address (or a list of addresses). You tell me the type of connection you need and the location. I pull the current options from the providers that can serve that address.
This is a fast look at what is available right now. It is not a formal quote and it does not commit you to anything. If the options look useful, we can dig deeper with a Broadband Internet Search for cable, or Fiber Finder for dedicated fiber, to confirm what’s available at the address. If they do not, we move on.
Want firm quotes? Use Connectivity Lite. For more detail, use the full Connectivity assessment.