Technology Management

Technology Road Mapping

Technology Road Mapping (TRM)
a technology roadmap is a display, document, or diagram that illustrate
the technology adoption plan at a given organization. Technology road
maps are created to help business leaders plan and strategies which,
when, and why certain technologies will be on boarded while avoiding
expensive mistakes and even planning for while avoiding expensive
mistakes and even planning for technologies becoming obsolete.

An effective technology roadmap should also outline a strategy to reach

short and long term digital transformation goals, if applicable.
Technology Road Mapping (TRM)
There are many methods and models of technology road mapping.
However this type of visual usually falls into two categories.

a) It system road maps

b) Technology road maps
It system road maps
An IT systems roadmap is a diagram or model designed to set the
parameters that enable key functioning acrossthe business or
organization. An effective IT roadmap will lay out current capabilities,
projected IT needs, and any improvements you plan to make execute
against your business strategy.
Generally, IT roadmaps are meant to communicate plans about the major
systems that keep your business running. These systems include, but are
not limited to, customer relationship management systems (CRM),
enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data analytics systems,
identity management systems, cyber security systems, and more.
Technology roadmap
A technology roadmap illustrates the technology presently available and
emphasizes scheduled improvements. A technology roadmap should also
consider which technologies will become obsolete or are scheduled for end
of life. For example, a work management software system will show when
the previous system will sunset and when the new one will be
implemented.
As organizations lay out their strategy and implementation to help execute
on their vision, a technology roadmap will help them determine which
technologies to invest in and how to implement them. Technology
roadmaps should enable technological infrastructure improvements to meet
both long-term and short-term targets of the business organization in mind
Why do you need a technology roadmap?
The overall function of a technology roadmap is to align your target
stakeholders, like IT, software engineering, operations executives, and
even sales teams, by creating a course of action to on board new
technology solutions or maintain existing ones. This method helps
teams visualize, prepare for, and execute the desired outcomes for the
organization. Creating a thorough technology roadmap gives you the
ability to:
Why do you need a technology roadmap?
Have a clear picture of your company's IT infrastructure abilities and how they align
with business outcomes.
• Address any current IT issues
• Cut costs by removing any unnecessary technologies and applications.
• Increase productivity by implementing technology that serves your immediate
needs.
• Improve IT and cyber security
• Avoid or mitigate against system failures by learning any weaknesses in your IT
infrastructure.
• Resolve any conflicts around business priorities.
• Prepare for digital transformation
Key components of a technology roadmap
Goals: Your technology or IT roadmap should include both long-term and short-
term goals that the business or organization wishes to achieve through the
technology implementation.
New system capabilities: These are the new capabilities provided by the
implementation of the technology enhancement. As an example, adding a chat
bot to a customer-facing platform like a website or mobile app will provide
scalability and enhance both inbound and outbound marketing strategies
Release plans: Release plans highlight the requirements to enhance the
systems to support new capabilities provided by the new technology. They are
generally predictable and may be scheduled months in advance. Release plans
should be shared throughout the business organization
Key components of a technology roadmap
Milestones Milestones are the key benchmarks achieved in the technology
onboarding process. When stakeholders track milestones, they can assess and
understand the progress toward their long-term goals, plus evaluate the success of
the new technology in achieving those goals.
Resources Resources exhibit the time, capital, energy, and personnel needed to
onboard new technologies and maintain existing technology systems. For example,
IT teams must plan how to simultaneously roll out a new operating system while
updating existing systems as needed.
Training Whenever rolling out a new technology system, a training period must take
place to ensure that personnel is adopting the new system efficiently. In fact, your
technology/IT roadmap should always account for training time, as training includes
the guidance needed for internal teams to adopt and support a new system.
Key components of a technology roadmap
Risk factors
Risk factors describe the potential internal or external threats that may
prevent successful implementation of new technologies. Risk factors
may include limitations in the technology itself, difficulty adopting the
new technology such as a substandard user interface, or market
disruptions that affect the needs and goals of the business or
organization.
Status reports
Status reports are necessary to keep all relevant stakeholders abreast
and informed of the progress of the new technology adoption
PROCESS OF TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP
• The technology road mapping process conducts three phases:-

• Preliminary phase,
• Development of the roadmap,
• Follow-up activities phase.
Preliminary Phase-
• The first phase, the preliminary phase, consists of 3 steps: 1. satisfy
essential conditions, 2. provide leadership, and 3. define the scope
and boundaries for the technology roadmap.

• In this phase the key decision makers must identify that they have
problem and that technology road mapping can help them in solving
the problem.
Preliminary Phase-
• Satisfy essential conditions In this step it must become clear what the
conditions are (they must be identified) and if they are not met, who
takes actions to meet them. These conditions include, for example:-
• A need for the technology roadmap-
• Input and participation from different parts of the organization (e.g.
marketing, R&D, the strategic business units) with different planning
horizons and perspectives.
All conditions should be satisfied (or an agreed-on party takes
necessary actions)to continue to the next step
Preliminary Phase-
• Provide leadership
Committed leadership is needed because of the time and effort
involved in creating a technology roadmap. Additionally the leadership
should come from one of the participants, one of them provides
leadership and sponsorship. This means that the line organization must
drive the process and use the roadmap to makere source allocation
decisions
Preliminary Phase-
• Define the scope and boundaries
In this step the context for the roadmap is specified. In the company a
vision should exist and it must be clear that the roadmap can support
that vision. If the vision does not exist one should be developed and
clearly stated. When that is done the boundaries and the scope of the
roadmap should be specified. Furthermore, the planning horizon and
the level of details should be set.
Development phase
• The second phase, the development of the technology roadmap phase consists
of 7 steps:

1. Identify the product that is the focus of the roadmap.

2. Identify the critical system requirements and their targets,
3. Specify the major technology areas,
4. Specify the technology drivers and their targets.
5. Identify technology alternatives and their timelines
6. Recommend the technology alternatives that should be pursued,and
7. Create the technology roadmap report.
Development phase-
• Identify the product focus of the roadmap
In this step the common product needs are identified and are agreed
on by all the participants. This is important to get the acceptance of all
groups for the process-
• Identify the critical system requirements and their targets
Once it is decided what must be roadmapped, the critical system
requirements can be identified; they provide the overall framework for
thetechnology roadmap. The requirements can have targets like
reliability andcosts
Development phase-
• - Specify the major technology areas
These are the areas that help achieve critical system requirements. For
each technology area several technologies can be found. Example
technology areas are: market assessment, crosscutting technology,
component development, and system development.-
• Specify the technology drivers and their targets
In this step the critical system requirements from the second step are
transformed into technology drivers (with targets) for the specific
technology area. These drivers are the critical variables that select the
technology alternatives.
Development phase-
• Identity technology alternatives and their timelines
At this point the technology drivers and their targets are specified and the
technology alternatives that can satisfy those targets should be specified. For
each of the alternatives a timeline should be estimated for how it will mature
with respect to the technology driver targets-
• Recommend the technology alternatives that should be pursued
Because the alternatives may differ in costs, timeline, etc., a selection must
be madeof the alternatives. These are the alternatives to pursue. In this step
a lot of trade-offsmust be made between different alternatives for different
targets: for example, performance over costs and even target over target
Follow-up activity phase-
• This is the moment when the roadmap must be critiqued, validated
and hopefully accepted by the group involved in any implementation.
This requires a plan developed using the technology roadmap. Next,
there must be a periodical review and update point, because needs
from the participants and the technologies evolve.
Technology Roadmapping Application Areas-
• The technology roadmapping approach is very flexible, and the terms
'product‘ or business' roadmapping may be more appropriate for
many of its potential uses.
• 1. Product planning
This is by far the most common type of technology roadmap, relating to
the insertion of technology into manufactured products, often including
more than one generation of product
Technology Roadmapping Application Areas-
• Service / capability planning

Description: Similar to Type 1 (product planning), but more suited to

service-based enterprises, focusing on how technology supports
organizational capabilities.
Technology Roadmapping Application Areas-
• 3. Strategic planning

Description: Includes a strategic dimension, in terms of supporting the

evaluation of different opportunities or threats, typically at the business
level.
Technology Roadmapping Application Areas-
• Long-range planning

Description: Extends the planning time horizon, and is often performed

at the sector or national level ('foresight').
Technology Roadmapping Application Areas-
• Program planning

Implementation of strategy and more directly relates to project

planning (for example, R&D programs).