Which comes first- The Chick, The Egg, or Innovation Software

June 3, 2014 - PRLog -- Article Written by: Noel Sobelman- noel.sobelman@kalypso.com.
“Do I design improved innovation processes before I implement innovation software tools, or do I start out implementing innovation software tools that claim to have best practice innovation processes built in?” This is one of the most frequently asked questions I get from companies working on innovation improvement.

The Process Geek Argument

Buying an innovation software system and expecting to improve your innovation performance is akin to buying an exercise bicycle and expecting to lose weight. You need to do the hard work to establish an appropriate development process structure, set up a governance approach with project investment and portfolio decision-making ground rules, ensure reliable data and rigorous data analysis, identify cross-functional interdependencies, and establish high-performance project teams. Without these critical innovation elements working in a synchronized, systematic way, software tools have limited utility.

Too often, companies looking for a quick fix are dazzled by software claims of improved R&D productivity and faster development cycle times. In reality, the roadside is littered with false starts, failed implementations, and seemingly endless spending to “get the software tool right.” And when innovation productivity shows little or no improvement, the software immediately gets the blame, when in reality, the fault was due to a botched implementation.

Attempting to implement software tools before the basic elements of your innovation process are in place will only lead to the ability to execute an inefficient process faster.

Waiting until your basic innovation processes are designed and, more importantly, operating at a consistent, advanced level of maturity allows a company to work out the kinks and show measurable results ahead of the software. As a company’s processes mature and the company grows, software can be layered in as an enabler of those processes. At that time, the benefits to enterprise software solutions become more obvious.

The Software Tool Geek Argument

The innovation process benefits greatly from the implementation of software tools. These tools can accelerate development activities, drive timely decision making, improve data analysis, improve communications across functions and business units, and enable seamless collaboration with development partners.

Waiting to design and implement an innovation process before implementing innovation software tools will delay the benefits of the tools while increasing the likelihood of extensive tool configuration and customization. The tool configuration will need to be adapted to the existing process design, extending time to value while adding significant tool implementation cost.

You are better off going with the pre-configured “out-of-the-box” solution (workflows, document templates, data models, etc.) and using the software implementation as a catalyst for making necessary process changes along the way. Most Innovation software solutions are configurable and provide flexibility to tailor the tool to specific process needs. But if tool customization is required, vendor support may be compromised and future upgrades may be unnecessarily complex.

Which Approach Is Right For My Company?

The answer to the process-tool design question is not as black and white as these arguments imply. In fact, it’s helpful to think about a spectrum of possible approaches(Fig. 1). At one end, you design and pilot innovation process elements and wait until you reach a comfortable level of process maturity and discipline before starting to enable those processes with enterprise software tools. At the other end, you use the software tool out-of-the-box and modify the innovation processes to accommodate the tool.

1. Innovation processes and software tools represent opposite ends of the same spectrum. There are seven items to consider when developing your improvement strategy.

Chances are, the best approach for your company lies somewhere in between. Approaches closer to the “process first” end may start implementing a configurable Innovation software solution part of the way along the process maturity journey. Those closer to the “tool first” end heavily leverage out-of-the-box tool work flows, maturing processes and software together, over time, using more of a parallel path approach. Developers should take stock of seven considerations before deciding on an approach.

Leading Practices For A Successful Software Tool Implementation

• Leverage out-of-the-box functionality with minimal configuration where possible, and avoid software customization.

• Involve tool and process experts early on in process design. Otherwise, there is a high risk for process rework or extensive tool customization.

• Design with the “end in mind” and map out your process-tool journey. Understand the overall goals and business objectives.

• Pilot new tool functionality first and adjust your next steps as you learn.

Getting Started

Innovation process design, pilot, and rollout initiatives can take months to see initial benefits, years to see step function performance improvement, and multiple years to become institutionalized as world class. You will need to decide when along your overall improvement journey (timing), how much (scope), and which processes (highest impact) to enable with software tools as you travel down the innovation improvement path.

Regardless of where along the process-software spectrum you choose to begin your journey, it is important that you understand both the process and tool sides of the equation, and if you don’t, get help. To achieve real results from your initiative, look past software system components and take a more strategic approach.

Being strategic does not mean attempting to “boil the ocean” or driving the best new tool that has been mandated from above. Marry a comprehensive knowledge of your desired future-state process, people, and culture to ensure that business objectives are met and the software is adopted as an enabler for improved business performance.

Create an innovation improvement roadmap that maps both process and tool pathways toward your desired future-state. But don’t stop there. Identify critical milestones where software can enable the next level of performance. The most successful companies define a transformation vision and take an incremental approach to implementing software as an enabler for their journey with an unrelenting focus on business results.

The above article was originally posted at- Electronicdesign.com.

At Innovbook, we believe that ideas can come from anywhere at anytime, and to capture the best ideas, low barriers of entry are necessary. This is where an innovation software tool can be extremely helpful, but just as a hammer is a tool, it still needs someone to pick it up and use it.  To find out more about Innovbook click here (http://www.innovbook.com/how-it-works/).