Innovation Management

To properly evaluate innovative concepts, an HTE company must first define its core strategy, business drivers, and metrics. Only after these are captured and prioritized can ideas be evaluated within the context of the business. Without this framework, ideas cannot be assessed for their alignment and strategic relevance.

Using Microsoft technology, a framework can be set up to easily measure ideas against corporate strategic drivers. This framework can also be used to communicate these drivers to all levels in the enterprise. With scorecards, employees can see at any time how their company is doing against its innovation goals, what ideas are contributing, and what areas need attention. The "innovation health" of the company can be measured at any time.

Especially with the distributed, diverse workforce found in HTE companies, a mechanism is required to formally capture ideas. Otherwise, a company's most important asset, its people, will not be effectively leveraged. Companies need a way for all employees and stakeholders to submit their ideas and have them evaluated against the company's goals.

Innovation Management solutions from Microsoft provide a means for people in all roles to submit their ideas. These ideas then can be viewed, prioritized, evaluated, and promoted. The process is uniform, balanced, and structured to capture all ideas and go/no-go decisions. What-if scenarios can be played out to determine ahead of time what the impact of changing internal or external conditions will be on the strategic value of an idea.

In most companies, the problem isn't having enough ideas-it's knowing which ideas have the most value, which align with corporate goals, which should be funded, and whether rebalancing is needed. The constant evaluation of ideas is especially important in HTE companies, where conditions can rapidly change, and yesterday's can't-miss product is obsolete before its introduction.

With scorecards, key performance indicators, and performance measurement tools, Microsoft Innovation Management solutions ensure that the highest-value ideas are being promoted. Changes in conditions, corporate priorities, or customer requirements can be instantly taken into account, and the resulting re-prioritization of ideas can be easily accomplished. At-a-glance data presentation can inform executives in real time whether their concept investment portfolio continues to be properly balanced or adjustments are required.

Because HTE companies depend on their ideas, the protection of their intellectual property is absolutely critical. Yet these companies need to share information with their operations throughout the world-and with supply chains that also do business with their competition. Further, companies need to ensure that ideas don't get lost, because changing conditions can mean that what was a low-priority innovation in the past is suddenly critically important. Protection of intellectual property is a key ingredient to success in Innovation Management.

Innovation Management solutions from Microsoft provide secure, role-based access to information. While SharePoint supplies content management features, Rights Management Services safeguard digital information from unauthorized use. Eliminating manual and unsecure methods of communication within the company means that the best ideas can be promoted and protected.