It’s the start of a New Year, and a new decade, and time to reflect on the key developments of the last year and think about how you can improve your innovation performance in 2020 and beyond.
Looking back over our client’s advancements, we see five key features that have improved innovation processes and support. So, what can we expect to see more of in 2020?
Improved data visualization
Decision making is key for Innovation Process Management, and without precise up-to-date information, choosing the right projects becomes difficult. Previously, project managers were relying on infinite spreadsheets with tedious amounts of data presented in rows and columns. Today, thanks to the latest solutions, you can create customized dashboards with vibrant and engaging visual representations, including colourful charts, graphs and histograms, presenting the most up-to-date information in a visual and digestible format.
Cloud based hosting
The latest Innovation Process Management software is cloud based. Cloud based hosting is a continued trend, with more and more companies, along with giant multinationals all moving towards a cloud-based approach. Because of the availability and ease of deployment of those tools, this can reduce costs, while increasing business agility, flexibility and innovation. Cloud systems can deliver results faster and cheaper than ever before, reducing projects time to market. It enables better use of your resources, with less capital expense, and increases collaboration within your team.
Agile ready solutions
There has been an increasing need to apply the benefits of Agile Innovation, beyond the original usage of software development. Markets are faster, tougher and less predictable with a lot more competition. There are many more uncertainties and risk in new product development, and true innovation is much harder to come by. Speed and agility are key in these fast-paced, ever changing markets. We are seeing an ever-increasing need for faster and more flexible approach that can handle dynamic and innovative projects.
Stage and Gate Style Software
Stage and gate processes are not new. However, the need for stages and gates, or Phase Gate models is on the rise, especially Agile Phase Gate approaches. The basic idea of Phase Gate is to break the project down into key stages, each with a key focus to help define and progress the development of the new product. Implicit in this is the concept of reducing risk and managing investment to avoid costly and wasteful mistakes. Between each of the stages are the gates – decision points on whether to allow the project to continue further, into the next stage. Undoubtedly the benefits of phase gate software are substantial. Without a clear process, New Product Development is hard to do well.
Out of the box configured solutions
We have seen an increase in out of the box solutions that are delivered pre-configured to meet specific business process needs, offering a flexible and personalised solution that is ready to use. These solutions are tailored to specific business needs and priorities, incorporating best-practice approaches, installed and configured quickly and easily, thus saving time and reducing costs.
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