Seven Keys to a Successful Presales Innovation Project

For the past five years I have been leading an amazing team of presales engineers covering North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Our work has included the design and development of hundreds of Proof of Concept (POC) projects.

While we continue to see customers asking for more traditional POC use cases (e.g. performance, connectivity, etc.), we have seen a big shift toward Innovation POCs in the past few years.

Innovation POCs can be tricky.

They often involve clients who are awash in data, but short on insights.

And they can require coordinating resources across organizations and regions. And managing a mix of specialized roles and skills.

They require an up-front investment to understand the client's processes and data in order to identify a problem that can be solved.

And then applying enough brain power, time, technology and elbow grease to solve it.

Fortunately, I have some good news to share:

It is possible to execute Innovation POCs quickly and effectively!

But you will need the right people, the right process, and effective and committed leadership to get it done.

Below are a few recommendations to help move you in the right direction...

Innovation is about Value

The first thing to understand is that innovation isn’t just about rolling out a new product feature or function. It is about using our products and services to bring value to our customers.

Staffing Must Be Stable

Innovation projects need a stable core group of resources from start to finish. They need to be in the room, or on the phone, in order to understand the vision, and to streamline communication in order to reduce time and effort, and avoid errors and rework.

Execution is Data Driven

No team can deliver on innovation if they can’t acquire or create the right data, and then clean, transform, analyze, and use it to solve the customer’s problem. 

Iterate using Ideation + Execution

Successful innovation projects don’t end with a great idea, and they don’t start without one. Generate your ideas, then follow an iterative development process, and make sure each cycle involves some thinking AND some doing.

You Must Maintain Momentum

Innovation projects will quickly lose momentum if the project team is not engaging with the customer, even after a successful ideation workshop. Keep the client in the loop. Keep

The Story is the Solution

Analyzing and understanding data is important, but innovation projects require a team that can take that analysis and use it to tell a story about the customer’s business, and the power of technology to solve important business problems.

Communicate Visually

Build a prototype and get it in front of the client ASAP. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It will provide an unambiguous way for the customer and the project team to discuss the requirements and to provide feedback.

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Joe Mismas runs the SAP Global HANA Solution Center for North America and Latin America.