Aiming to take a leadership role in defining structured processes and technologies that manufacturers can use to spur innovation, Microsoft Corp. recently launched an Innovation Process Management initiative. "Customers we talk to say they feel they can't rely on ad hoc innovation any longer," said Don Richardson, Microsoft's director of worldwide innovation management sales strategy. "Innovation needs to be driven by a more structured, formal process." The initiative enlists Microsoft consulting and reseller partners to develop solutions on top of existing Microsoft products that can help manufacturers improve three aspects of innovation, Richardson said. Those aspects are:
- Idea and knowledge capture, including collaboration around problem solving.
- Process and knowledge management, including transformation of an idea into a sanctioned project and the capture of related digital content.
- Project and portfolio management, including tracking real-time progress against forecast metrics.
The IPM initiative, Richardson said, will leverage existing Microsoft products, including Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft Project, and Microsoft's Unified Communications suite of products. Using those products - including features such as the SharePoint Server's workflow and search capabilities - Microsoft and its partners will demonstrate how customers can automate and integrate the entire innovation process, from idea creation to program management and measurement. Microsoft and its partners also will advise customers on best practices for developing their innovation strategies and culture, Richardson said. Among Microsoft's partners on the initiative is The George Group, an innovation consultancy that Accenture acquired last September. "We can help customers jump-start innovation processes," Richardson said. "It's not just about collaboration. It's about backing collaboration with formal processes, and it starts with developing a corporate innovation strategy." The IPM initiative won't directly incorporate product lifecycle management tools, Richardson said. That's because, typically, PLM tools focus on the downstream portions of the innovation process rather than on idea and knowledge capture, where Microsoft is focused. "The challenge with PLM tools is that they are design-centric. The way they think about innovation is through design," Richardson said. "We believe innovation can happen much further up the chain, much earlier in the organization, and that it should not be constrained by 3D design notions." The IPM initiative will, however, focus on streamlining the transfer of new product ideas and projects developed using Microsoft's collaboration tools with 3D design tools, Richardson said.
This article originally appeared in the July 2008 issue of Managing Automation.