Technical/IT Product Evaluation Criteria

We've been doing a couple of technology/product evaluations recently. Following is a list of useful evaluation criteria that can be considered generally for any kind of product evaluation.

• Adherence to standards
• Latest version
• Resource monitoring
• Optimization tools and capabilities
• Testing/Debug capabilities
• Integration with external systems
• Integration with frameworks
• Server/OS compatibility
• Performance
• Community (developer and user)
• Product Support
• Pricing\Product Model
• License (tricky restrictions?)
• Clients
• Maturity
• Ratings by independent product evaluators (Forrester, Gartner etc)
• Road-map
• Stability
• Documentation
• Usage of proprietary technology (Risk of vendor lock-in)
• Expert Availability
• Security Criteria
• Deployment Methods
• Light weight vs feature rich