presentation by shreyas bhargave
TRANSCRIPT
Mantra for leveraging Emerging Trends
Shreyas BhargaveSr. Technology ConsultantIGATE Global Solutions Ltd.
Incubating Emerging Technologies – A Lever for Service Excellence
Shreyas Bhargave, Prasad Ramanathan, Ph.D and Madhusudhan Reddy NukalaResearch and Innovation, IGATE Global Solutions Ltd.
Unit 62, SDF-2, Seepz, Andheri (East), Mumbai – 400 096
Email ids: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Submitted for
PMI India National Conference 2014
Theme
Mantra for Leveraging Emerging Trends
ABSTRACT
IT service providers have to do a balancing act to offer services around emerging technologies, while
continuing to excel in providing traditional IT services. R&D Labs or equivalent groups in these
organizations continuously explore the emerging technologies landscape. The research teams, with
their limited resources, may explore a technology, build a few proof-of-concepts and move on to
research on another technology. On the other hand, delivery units are usually neck-deep in project
execution, meeting customer deadlines and deliverables. They do not see an immediate ROI from
these technologies, and do not invest time and resources in building these capabilities. This gulf
between the delivery and R&D teams has to be minimized, in order to apply relevant
emergingtechnologies to address customers’ business needs.
IGATE has devised a process that encourages the business units to actively participate in building
services around application of emerging technologies, and thus remain competitive in the market.
Besides the technology focus, its relevance to the customers serviced and buy-in from business units
are equally necessary and influential factors to drive acceptance across a larger audience.
The above process, as applied to real-life case studies is documented in this paper. This resulted in
the R&D team being more productive in solving business / domain problems. Executive management
also has an effective way to monitor the progress of technology adoption across the organization.
Such a systematic approach for technology adoption can be a key mantra for ITservice providers to
demonstrate excellence in service delivery.
Keywords: Emerging technologies, Technology adoption
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract..................................................................................................................................................................................... i
Introduction............................................................................................................................................................................1
Emerging Technologies For Business Benefits.................................................................................................2
How To Evangelize and Build Capability..............................................................................................................3
Gulf between R&D Labs and Delivery Units...................................................................................................3
Deep Dive First Approach........................................................................................................................................3
Case Studies.............................................................................................................................................................. 5
Hand in Hand Approach............................................................................................................................................5
Case Studies.............................................................................................................................................................. 6
Crowdsource the Challenges.................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
References......................................................................................................................................................................... 11
INTRODUCTION
IT service companies world-wide provide various IT & IT-enabled services and solutions to global
businesses. Most of their revenues typically come from pure-play services in Application Development
and Maintenance,Packaged Software Implementation, Infrastructure Management, Assurance
(Testing) and Business Process Outsourcing. Over the past decades, IT service industry was largely
driven by cost and labour arbitrage and the number of people employed. However, the cut-throat
competition in the recent years has forced the companies to scout for innovative and alternative
strategies, to address the impending need for differentiationand continuallydelivering astronger
business value at minimal risk.
Innovation and path-breaking Information Technology offerings have been at the heart of technology
giants such as Apple, Google,Microsoft, Samsung and LG. For software service providers, it actually
comes down to how well they leverage the emerging technologies with innovative applied research to
create service differentiators for their diverse global customers.Research focus groups in most IT
service companies explore and identify relevant upcoming technologies and evangelize them across
the organization. The intent is to synergize with the larger delivery organization to invest in and adopt
these technologies for business benefit. The adoption of emerging technologies to deliver innovative
solutions addressing business needsis considered as a lever towards achieving this objective.
IGATE has experimented with a few approachesto create interest and delivery capabilities at different
timestobuildcapabilities on some of the emerging technologies. These are exemplified here with
thesteps, pros and cons and some case studies.
1
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR BUSINESS BENEFITS
It is widely accepted that effective application of technology drives, enhances and strongly influences
businesses and gives them a competitive edge. The global economic turbulence is compelling the
software service companies to innovate and add value in their services as they strive to move up the
value chain.This places an increasing emphasis on innovation and applied research with a focus on
emerging technologies to redefine the way services are delivered.
The various strategies to drive innovation are classified as:
Proactive: with a first-mover advantage, this requires a technology and market leadership with a
strong research foundation. Technological innovations hereare both radical (breakthrough potential for
products/services) and incremental (process improvements for performance/efficiency). The risk
quotient here is high.
Active:is not necessarily being the first to innovate,instead continueusing existing technologies.
However, a Fast Second or Fast Follower approach is taken once the technologies are proven. Co-
innovation with technology leaders, customers and other stakeholders brings incremental benefits.
The risk appetite here is medium to low.
Reactive: is for the followers or those with more operational focus. As laggards, theytake a wait-and-
watch approach and imitate their more competitive peers or customers, going for purely incremental
innovations and low risk opportunities.
Passive: is one where the firm waits for customers to ask for a change or do what is demanded.
There are primarily order-takers and carry minimal risk.
IT service companies tookmore of a passive approachearlier. Subsequently,theyshifted focus to adopt
the reactive and active strategies. And today, theyare moreinclined to proactivelyuseemerging
technologies forinnovative service offerings.
Emerging Technologies are those that have appeared on the horizon and created a buzz.Though not
fully commercialized, a few early applicationsstart debuting with a perceived potential to create
asignificant impact incoming years. Some contemporary examples of emerging technologies include
Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, Big Data& Analytics, etc.
Incubation or adoption of technologies refers to the decision to leverage themto address business
requirements and build capabilities to scale-up and apply them in multiple instances. This involves a
set of continuous, judicious decisions, weighing the uncertainties of costs and benefits, toaccepta
technology across different business units.
2
HOW TO EVANGELIZE AND BUILD CAPABILITY
In the global market dynamics and stiff competition, companies need to continually innovate and re-
position themselves. They mustadopt technologies relevant for their customers and have the right
resources to deliver. A well-defined technology strategy aligned to the overall business strategyis
necessary.
The Gartner’s Hype Cycle of Emerging Technologies presents one starting point for organizations
looking at the evolving technological landscape. Itgives a cross-industry perspective to
business/technology strategists on the trends and technologies to adopt and enhance their service
lines.
GULF BETWEEN R&D LABS AND DELIVERY UNITS
Most IT companies have dedicated research teams, technology centres of excellence (CoEs),
innovation cells or equivalent groups under a similar or different identity. These groups are essentially
considered as the Research & Development (R&D) Labs. They comprise of a core team of
technologists acting as the torch-bearers and technology consultants for the delivery organization and
customers.They usually monitor the emerging technologies landscape and evaluate those relevant to
their organization. These groups are limited in strength and do not remain tied to a particular
technology. They may explore a technology, build a few proof-of-concepts and move on to research
on another technology.
On the other hand, the delivery units across organizationsare commonlyentrenched in project
execution, meeting customer deadlines and deliverables.Moreover, emerging technologies typically
have a gestation period for actual realization of their benefits. The delivery units do not perceive
animmediate ROI from them and hence are less appreciative to invest time and resources for building
capabilitiesin these technologies.
To achieve the common goal of enhancing the services provided to customers, it is necessary to
bridge this gulf between the research and delivery units. It is no secret that a healthy synergy between
these groups can greatly benefit the organization as a whole and its customers. Some approaches to
engage with the delivery units andevangelize emerging technologies for further adoptionare discussed
next.
DEEP DIVE FIRST APPROACH
In this technology-centric approach, the identification of a technology is largely driven by the market
hype around it. This approach may be taken by those companies wherein such decisions are made by
a select few senior executives as part of their technology strategy.
Adopted as a result of a directive from the top, the typical stepsin this approach are:
3
1. Identify a technology based on the hype
Going by the hype surrounding a forthcoming technology in the market, possibly based on its position
in the Hype Cycle, senior executives take a judgemental call to invest in and pursue the technology.
The R&D Labs are instructed to build experience around the technology.
2. Build a Proof-of-Concept
R&D Labsbegin exploring the technology capabilities and features. They identifysomebusiness use
case and build a proof-of-concept showcasing the use of technology.
3. Showcase it to the Management
The proof-of-concept is demonstrated to the R&D Labs Management and senior executives who had
given the initial directive and their feedback is sought. In a way, this establishes that R&D Labs has
built some capabilities on the technology and adequate next steps can be taken.
4. Evangelize with Delivery Units
As an important next step, the R&D Labs start evangelizing the technology acrossthe organization.
The intent is to arouse their interest and get them to investin building delivery capabilities around the
technology. It is here, that the domain and delivery experts get to validate the proof-of-concept and
applicability of the technology for their customers.This may lead to several iterations of knowledge
exchange between the delivery units and R&D Labs, including any updates to the concept solution,
before itgets accepted or rejected. If convinced, one or more delivery units may decide to invest time,
money and resources to adopt the technology.
5. Take it to Sales and the customers
Next, the concept solution is shared with customer-fronting, sales representatives and eventually with
customerstakeholders. The intent is to proactively showcase capabilities on the emerging technology,
coupled with the domain expertise to address business requirements.
FIGURE 1 DEEP DIVE FIRST APPROACH
4
CASE STUDIES
→ In2010-2011, Cloud Computing was at the peak of the Hype Cycle.Many IT service companies
took the Deep Dive First approachand builtCloud Computing CoEs. A few companiestook a Big
Bang approach to invest in infrastructure for offering Platform-as-a-Service and Infrastructure-as-
a-Service. Others chose to focus on consulting and software, and built Cloud Practice expecting
continuous revenue. However, businesses and enterprises were still coming to terms with the
associated new business models, levels of engagement with traditional service companies,
security and cost implications. The expected amount of revenue and demand going purely by the
hype did not materialize. Even today, the revenues of traditional IT service companies from Cloud
Computing services fall short in comparison to the investments made in terms of resources, time
and money. Therefore, somecompanies chose to scale down the teams offering pure Cloud
services and the technology-enabler got subsumed within other business units.
→ The hype was high for Enterprise Mobility around 2011, but the demand for enterprise mobile
apps was low. Adopting the Deep Dive First approach, IT service companies set-up Enterprise
Mobility CoEs with teams focussing on rapidlygrowing mobile technologies- iOS, Android, HTML5,
etc. The demand started picking pace by mid-2012, varying for different sub-technologies. But,
due to short project life cycles and inconsistent demand, the BUs preferred to depend on the
limited CoE resources rather than building their teams.This was the right time to evolve the CoEs
into a larger Enterprise Mobility Practice with a focus on building the scale and revenue. However,
the companies that continued to rely on the limited CoE teams were left lagging due to the
inability to build capability in-line with the demand.
One difference between theseexamples is that while Cloud is largely an enterprise-driven technology,
Mobility has primarily been driven by consumer demand. Hence, the way the demands witnessed in
each case is diametrically opposite. Another interesting underlying fact is that enterprise-centric
technology decisions are primarily taken by CIO/CTO, whereas the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer)
could be drivingdecisions for consumer-centric technologies.
HAND IN HAND APPROACH
This is a more collaboration-centric approach wherein cross-functional teams interact early. The
viability of a technology and its application to relevant business cases is brought out through a
synergy of various specialized groups within the organization. This ensures optimal cognizance of
various internal and externalinfluencing factors, to take more informed decisions and actions. The
typical steps in this approach are:
1. Identify a relevant technology and build a technical proof-of-concept
R&D Labs explore the emerging technology landscape to shortlist those ofrelevance to the
organization and its business units. They create a technical proof-of-concept to build an
understanding of the technology features.
5
2. Evangelize at this stage with the Business Units
Next, R&D Labs evangelize the technology and the proof-of-concept across the BUs including the
sales team. They also seek use cases from domain experts and customer-fronting folks within the
BUs. If convinced, the teams revert with specific problem statements or a wish-list item for a
customer. That customer thus becomes a β-customer for the exercise.
3. Build a pilot solution in collaboration with the BU
The involvement and accountability of the BU domain and delivery teams is higher. They readily
invest in terms of time, money and resources to build the pilot solution together with the R&D Labs.
4. Take it to sales and the β-customer
Next, the pilot solution is taken to β-customer. The customer can get to see a real problem-at-hand
addressed or a wish-list item fulfilled through the use of a new technology.This could boost the
chances of the customer being inclined to develop a full-fledged solution.
5. Cross-sell and grow into service offering
Armed with the pilot solution and validation from a β-customer, the sales team actively pursues other
customers in a bid to cross-sell the solution. As the scale grows, this can extend to become a service
offering in itself.
FIGURE 2 HAND IN HAND APPROACH
CASE STUDIES
→ By 2013, Location Intelligence had become fairly common in consumer and enterprise applications
using the satellite-based GPS technology paired withthe proliferation of smartphones. Since then,
there is a growingbusiness demand to be able to identify points of interest and proximity in an
indoor context, where GPS is not useful. Adopting the Hand in Hand approach, R&D Labs paired
6
with Retail/CPG business unit to address the requirement with the help of an emerging technology.
The domain experts elicited the use case and the technical team explored the Indoor Positioning
System technology using Wi-Fi access points and Bluetooth Low Energy devices. A Retail summit
was identified as the demo ground for delegates from the industry. This was equivalent to getting a
β-customer. The solution was built as a co-innovation exercise involving cross-functional teams
and several customers expressed interest at the event and signed up for similar pilot
implementations.
→ Today, Internet of Things is at the peak of Hype Cycle. R&D Labs started exploring the technology
ecosystem to study the aspects of this promising technology of tomorrow.Technical team
interfaced a few hardware sensors with software applications to build proof-of-concept solutions.
Taking the Hand in Hand approach, Retail/CPG unit shared a real business issue of the On-Shelf
Availability (OSA) of products in a retail outlet. R&D labs built an innovative contraption and
identified state-of-the-art customizable third-party products to address the requirements. However,
this failed to elicit enough interest and buy-in from the business unit to collaborate and build a
solution. The likely causes were noted to be the complexity and the lack of a β-customer. The
solution concept was perceived to be far futuristic and costly to scale given theunpreparedness of
the ecosystem. As a result, the use of technology was parked till a more opportune time in the
future.
The stark difference in the acceptance of technologies in these two examples is the readiness of the
ecosystem or the lack of it, and the importance of having a β-customer subscribed to the idea. The
same collaborative approach helped toadoptionone technology of but did not garner the same level of
traction foranother, relatively newer and more intricate technology.
CROWDSOURCE THE CHALLENGES
In this approach, a set of directed challenges are put forth to across the organization. Based on the
crowdsourcing concept, this involves seeking solutions on pre-identified real-life business issues that
specify the problem statement and indicate a potential emerging technology to be applied. The best
responses and concept solutions are shortlisted and consolidated to be taken up for building an
enriched solution offering. This process comprises of the following steps:
1. Seek focused problem statements from domain and customer-fronting teams
Solicit customer pain-points or wish-list items from the business heads and customer-fronting teams
across business units. The inputs received are filtered for clarity on a specific problem in a domain
area and some pointers on potential technology-enablers. These inputs help to create a set of
focused challenges and direct energies in streams relevant to the organization.
2. Broadcast select challenges as a contest
Releasethe pre-identified challenges as anorganization-wide contest with clear deadlines to elicit
responses from participants.A multi-stage process with milestones is set for the participants to
7
respond and elaborate on their ideas in a time-bound manner. E.g. Idea concept, Business case and
Working prototype
3. Shortlist and evaluate the ideas from senior leadership
The promising ideas are shortlisted based on the contentand thought-process of the participants.
These are graduated to the next stage to develop business cases that are checked for viability. Next
those viable are encouraged to build working prototypes that are scrutinized and evaluated by senior
leadership. The ideators get support for their pursuit from their respective business units.
4. Reward and Incubate the top ideas to build service offerings
Besides rewarding the top ideators, the respective business units begin incubating the winning ideas
with support from the R&D Labs. The goal is to create service offerings that can be taken to multiple
customers.
FIGURE 3CROWDSOURCE THE CHALLENGES APPROACH
8
CONCLUSION
The approaches to building scale and capabilities across the service lines and business units give a
perspective with real-life case studies. The Deep Dive First Approach can be typically observed in
smaller-sized companies wherein technology related strategic decisions are driven from the top. The
Hand in Hand approach brings the cross-functional teams in an IT service company together for a
common goal. The concept of a β-customer and seeking an early buy-in from business units, sales
and customer-fronting teams, provides an IT service company to execute technology adoption
measures with a higher success ratio.The pros and cons of both the approaches are as follows:
Deep Dive First
↑
A technology-savvy management can foresee the technology potential, the opportunity and drive organizational units accordingly
Early exploration by R&D Labs with a focus on the technology can accord early-mover advantage relative to the competition
Technology consulting opportunities can be addressed early
Thought leadership & evangelization across service lines can help to build skillset and scale within the business units
Focus is on getting in-depth knowledge about the technology and its nuances, rather than the business problem being solved with the technology
↓
May turn out to be a myopic approach without validation on the applicability of the technology to the existing business units and customers
Domain experts may find the use case inappropriate or inadequate. Business units may not be convinced to invest time and resources
Delayed validation from business units may result in loss of time and efforts
Customer-fronting and sales teams may not be enthused enough to take it to the customers
No immediate related business may be forthcoming from the customers
Hand in Hand
↑
A more collaborative approach through early interaction and validation on viability of the technology to the business units and customers
Promotes a culture of co-innovation amongst technologists and domain experts
Increased ownership, accountability and higher chances of acceptance and success
A β-customer implies buy-in from customer and greater chances for subsequent business
Higher level of interest from sales and customer-fronting teams likely
The β-customer story, if successful can be extended to other prospective customers as well
Focus is usually on the solution for a business problem, rather than the technology-enabler alone
R&D Labs can adopt a 'fail-fast' strategy. If not enough traction is seen
9
from BUs for a technology-enabler, it may be parked temporarily and be re-invoked at a more opportune time in future
↓
Mutual agreement by cross-functional teams on the technology and use case may get delayed
Matching the priorities and interest level of all teams involved is difficult.
Getting a β-customer may not always materialize
Teams may not consent easily on any trade-off required, on technology or business case.
In absence of a healthy collaborative work environment, required synergy may be missing.
Crowdsource the
Challenges
↑
Actual customer pain-points or wish-list items are sought upfront from the right people
Enables tapping into otherwise hidden potential within the organization, motivating teams through rewards and recognition
Directed challenges with indicative technology helps to keep focus on problem at hand and the technology enablers
The fact that participants choose to opt in, results in higher interest levels. And, support from supervisors and business units encourages participation.
Customers truly facing the problem can automatically sign-in to seek a probable solution, i.e. β-customer available by default.
↓
Likely to be a time-consuming process, given that it over and above the routine work
Enthusiastic ideators may find it difficult to progress through later stages of creating the business case and developing a working prototype.
Ideators may lose track, focus or drop off, due to work pressures or lack of necessary resources to proceed.
The hit rate of solutions truly materializing to offerings compared to the number of ideas run may be dramatically low.
To summarize, a different approach could be employed in different scenarios, based on a careful
study along the above points, together with the technology characteristics and organizational factorsto
effectively drivethe adoption of emerging technologies.
10
REFERENCES
1. Types of Innovation Strategy. Innovationtoolbox. [Online] [Cited: 25May 2014.] www.innovationtoolbox.com.au/strategy/types-of-innovation-strategy.
2. Hype Cycle (General). Gartner.com. [Online] [Cited: 27May 2014.] www.gartner.com/technology/research/methodologies/hype-cycle.jsp.
3. Markides, Constantinos, and Geroski, Paul.Fast Second. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint, 2005.
4. Khalil, Tarek, and Shankar, Ravi.Management of Technology: The Key to Competitiveness and Wealth Creation. New elhi : Tata McGraw Hill, 2013.
5. Tassey, Gregory.Beyond the Business Cycle: The Need for a Technology-Based Growth Strategy . s.l. : Economic Analysis Office, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2012.
11