Innovation Reference Architecture

Authors

Gary Zimmerman – CMO / Principal Consulting Analyst

Abstract

Innovation is a concept that most organizations aspire towards, but haven’t formally embraced. The rewards can be immense, but most organizations have no clear path towards innovating. This report is designed to give organizations a model for systematizing innovation leveraging TechVision’s innovation reference architecture.

We start with the premise that innovation shouldn’t be a one-time program; it is a continuous process that becomes a source of competitive advantage in a rapidly changing market. Innovation should be a business function just like accounting, marketing, or operations. And as such, innovation requires a distinct set of tools, processes, and skills that are different from the management of an existing business. We can’t expect serious innovation results if we don’t give people who we ask to innovate sufficient skills, resources, time and space. In this report, TechVision Research introduces a reference architecture for innovation to help enterprises organize their innovation efforts into a continuous, sustainable process.

TechVision has defined this reference architecture to help our clients better organize and manage their continuous innovation process. This reference architecture is not meant to be prescriptive in that each organization must develop their innovation capabilities according to their own strategy.  That said, we do offer recommendations and a framework for your consideration.

This report covers

• The innovation spectrum; the timeframes and types of innovation efforts
• Strategy and capabilities; the fundamental starting point for innovation
• Methods and processes; the necessary components for a viable continuous innovation process
• People and networks: the human side of innovation
• Execution guidance including specific tools to use in an innovation program.