Best practice: what is innovation?

According to Forrester Research, true innovation should radically transform the way tasks, processes or interactions occur. If not, then it is just an improvement. IT innovations include:

* A new service derived from existing components or capacity – existing infrastructure, databases and applications can all fuel new offerings. Firms should encourage IT staff to identify ways to improve or create a product, expand a market or introduce a new business model.

* A technology that transforms an internal or external process. The IT department’s interest in, and exposure to technologies used elsewhere and for other purposes can be transformed into go-to-market improvements. For example, Proctor & Gamble uses virtualisation technology to reduce time to market by eliminating the need for extended lab testing of new products.

* A solution to a latent problem that has not been fully expressed. Encourage communication about problems and solutions. As part of IBM’s technology adoption programme, an online expertise locator allows staff to send an instant message to pre-qualified staff who solve problems. Before, IBM staff on the phone to a customer would have to search a directory to find someone who might know an answer and be online.

* Existing data used in a new business model. More firms are realising the potential to use customer service and maintenance information to create new high profit margin services and longer-term relationships with customers.

Source: Forrester Research

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