6 Steps to Clarify Technology Strategy Issues: Internet of Things Example

Announcement of new gadgets and especially wearables at the recently concluded Mobile World Congress 2015 is a reminder that the Internet of Things (IoT) is a reality. And this reality is just at its start. Gartner estimates the installed IoT Base will grow to 25 billion units by 2020. These numbers reflect the anticipation of the users, their dreams and their aspirations. Because mobile technologies are considered a key enabler for IoT, mobile operators have a role to play in turning these inspirations into something practical for the users. Imagine what would happen if the mobile networks had so many outages that the connected devices could hardly communicate. Or if the users could not trust the security of the connectivity.

Mobile operators need to respond to this increasing demand for connectedness and heightened consumer expectation with innovative ideas. But creative and innovative ideas do not just happen. They are more hard work than inspiration as Peter Drucker argued in his 1985 HBR article, ‘The Discipline of Innovation’. Innovation results from conscious, purposeful search for innovation opportunities. For Telecoms, frequent industry and market changes present opportunities constantly. IoT is one specific opportunity. The operator will need to be deliberate to identify how they can leverage it, the specific value they can give their customers and how they can overcome the challenges they will undoubtedly face.

However, identifying and clarifying the real opportunity and its related challenges is not always easy. This is true for IoT and for many other strategic issues. Because of that, it would be useful for the Telco to use a systematic approach to identify strategic issues and solve them holistically. One such framework can be adapted from creative problem solving models such as the Isaken and Treffinger model. This model outlines 6 steps for understanding a problem and developing creative solutions. It is not necessarily brand new, but acknowledging the structure and following it systematically in developing technology strategy helps to clarify the problem and evaluate possible solutions without getting overwhelmed.

Below I adapt the model to demonstrate how it can help to bring clarify. We will use the IoT example.

Step 1: Mess finding: This is an investigative step that seeks to uncover the issues and problems generally to provide an overall perspective including conflicting views and opinions. The output of this stage will be a generalized view of the situation listing possible issues and problems. For IoT this could include detailing the different participants from different industries, the new services expected to emerge, the devices involved, the connectivity environments expected, industry specific M2M (machine to machine) solutions envisioned and the enabling platforms among others.

Step 2: Data finding: This step primarily analyzes stakeholders and their perspectives of the situation to ensure that all the dimensions of the problem are understood. One approach of doing this is CATWOE, an approach that considers perspectives of Customers, Actors, Worldview, Transformation processes, owner and Environmental constraints. The output of this stage will be the different stakeholder perspectives, business activity models and the desired systems and more importantly, what the business considers strategic and why it is considered strategic. Specific business outcomes for IoT could mean a focus on a solution for a specific vertical market say health industry.

Step 3: Problem finding. This stage narrows the issue by identifying the specific needs the Technology strategy must respond to. It Identifies the customers in the selected space and seeks to understand what these customers perceive as value and what their desired outcome is. The output of this stage will be the specific factors that must be addressed in order to achieve the vision of the Business and to meet the needs of the customer. For the IoT example, the output of this step could include a need to ensure zero downtime, need for enhanced security, a need to provide connectivity for remote devices as a differentiator etc.

Step 4: Idea finding: The purpose of this step is to generate a wide range of ideas and potential solutions to respond to the real strategic issue identified in step 3. Because the underlying principle here is to challenge assumptions, include all options. It is not unusual for a solution that appears inappropriate initially to be developed into a very effective solution. For the IoT example, these would involve listing all the different options in which security could be provided, options of delivering service ubiquity, all possibilities for providing roaming etc.

Step 5: Solution finding: This step entails evaluating each potential solution generated in step 4 to pick a recommended solution and also road-map those to be implemented in future. It is important to consider impact and risk in this stage and to develop business cases for the recommended solutions. The output of this step is the recommended solutions supported by financial, business/ customer and technical feasibility. For example to provide ubiquity, the operator could opt to enhance their coverage with WIFI while in future plan to implement LTE-M.

Step 6: Acceptance finding: Here you focus on the selected solution and prepare for implementation by defining specific requirements and identifying all the steps necessary to implement the selected solution. Metrics for monitoring how effectively the solution meets both the Business and customer needs are also defined in this step. The output of this step is validated requirements and action plan.

Problem solving is a cycle and this process can be repeated iteratively to improve the solutions obtained.

The strength of the framework in clarifying Technology strategy issues is that it ensures that the Technology is capability driven by considering the Business and the Customer’s perception of value from the start. It also ensures the right stakeholders are identified and that all perspectives are considered.

Do you see this approach practical to bring clarity for your technology strategy issues?