One way to establish market differentiation is through the introduction of innovative new products. Establishing market differentiation is one thing, but maintaining it is quite another. We have put together a ten part series on how to generate higher returns from your innovation investments.

From our series of highly informational articles, companies will learn: how to treat innovation as a cross-functional business process, how to align innovation execution and business strategy; how to create sustainable innovation; how to train your senior executives to successfully execute innovation initiatives; how to effectively manage process and project management; how to measure performance of your processes; how to ensure broad stakeholder buy-in; how to understand the importance of product roadmaps; how to provide the tools necessary for successful product innovation; and finally, how to ensure that portfolio management coincides with process management.

Here is one of the ten practices that leading innovators use to increase the payback from innovation spending: Understanding the Importance of Product Roadmaps

Understanding the Importance of Product Roadmaps

Innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Most new product ideas are connected to or dependent upon other projects in the development pipeline. By having visibility to the entire product portfolio and all the proposed projects on the table, decision makers can instantly see the impact of adding or removing a given innovation initiative.

For example, let’s imagine that a proposed product is expected to be a large revenue generator, but it is dependent upon the completion of a technology development project that has been delayed by a lack of resources. It follows that further steps must be taken to ensure that the faltering initiative is completed on time.

One proven technique for addressing this challenge is to create visual roadmaps of the inter-relationships among projects, including high-level graphical markers identifying the following components that could impact the timing and delivery of a particular product:

• External market,

• Technological events, or

• Customer events

This allows decision-makers to quickly assess the overall effect a decision will have on the project and guards against unwitting sabotage of connected initiatives.

Software-based roadmapping and portfolio management solutions are available that provide this kind of visualization and also help companies link their long-term roadmaps to their short-term product pipeline. Assessing the best roadmapping and portfolio management solutions for your company should include a thorough analysis on all components as it relates to your processes in which success relies heavily on:

• Product and technology roadmapping,

• Idea generation and management,

• Stage- or phase-based product development methodologies

• Resource planning, and

• Portfolio management

Once you have determined the best solution, implementing the necessary tools and software is the next step to moving forward with prospective products and realizing profits for those deemed profitable. In our next article, we go over how to provide the tools necessary for successful product innovation.

While more than half of senior corporate executives have recently indicated (through recent studies) their dissatisfaction with the returns their organizations have generated from investments in innovation, some organizations are realizing as much as forty to sixty percent more revenue and profit from new products than their industry peers. How are these companies set apart?

For more information on the top practices that leading innovators use to increase their returns on innovation spending, look for the next article in our ten-part series: Providing the Tools Necessary for Successful Product Innovation.