Technology roadmapping allows a firm to develop a “no regrets” strategy that helps plan, position, budget and understand the implications of its investment decisions across a specified timeline.
Additionally, the goal is to create an organizational alignment as to strategic direction and allows for a look at a broader horizon that the normal 1-3 year tactical plans—but in an actionable timeframe.
While no vision of the future is perfectly clear, a solid technology roadmap places a company on the path to understanding its future, making capital as well as maintenance decisions in line with its strategic direction and creates the opportunity to optimize hardware and software investments over a long timeframe. Often technology decisions are made in a vacuum created by organizational structure, rather than across a horizon that creates opportunity for lowering capital costs and increasing benefits.
Technology roadmapping benefits all stakeholders:
- From a regulatory perspective, a technology roadmap allows a company to portray its longer term vision and establishes a foundation for a jointly understood pathway.
- Employees gain confidence in the bigger picture view of the company’s activities and can see where the technology investments are going
- Shareholders also gain confidence in the critical capital investments and recognize management has its technology vision well in hand
- The public can be well informed and advised as to the company’s direction and made to understand the direction is not a short term decision but rather a well thought out plan.
The process of creating a technology roadmap starts with the understanding of the current state in terms of the system, current capital plans, politics as well as regulatory situations and management’s goals and desires. The next phase is visioning in which the participants develop a jointly shared picture of the company and system ten years in the future.
Roadmapping can be easily applied to a wide range of issues and types of firms and can be used for technology, carbon, sustainability as well as strategies for future capital needs.