IfM Roadmapping Solution

Who is the solution for and why?

This solution is for senior strategy, innovation, technology and business leaders with responsibility for managing innovation, R&D and/or process/product development, in small, medium and large organizations.

Roadmapping is a powerful strategic planning technique that is integral to creating and delivering strategy and innovation in many organizations. Its flexibility and utility mean that it is used extensively across industry, government and academic organizations to bring clarity to complex problems and alignment of purpose.

Put simply roadmapping is a process that enables a group of people to explore a topic based on where they are now and where they want to get to. In forming a plan on how to get there, through the process you consider why you need to take action, what you need to do, how you do it and by when.

At the IfM, we have helped more than 300 organizations with their strategic and technology innovation planning through roadmapping.

Six reasons your organization could benefit from strategic roadmapping:

Collective knowledge - it brings together expertise from across your organization to work together to build a visual map towards their desired future. Decisions are made through a highly collaborative process encouraging commitment from participants as well as an understanding of their role in the wider picture.
Opportunities and Challenges - Roadmapping provides the platform for new ideas and opportunities but it can also highlight potential barriers your organization may face and can't ignore.
Integrations - Roadmapping can integrate with other tools to bring additional knowledge and understanding in key areas e.g. scenario analysis, SWOT analysis, portfolio management, bringing new insights to help you to make better informed choices improving your chance of success.
Flexibility - it's flexibility means that you can use roadmapping for most challenges and problems whether you are focusing on a specific area like product development, innovation or functional strategy or on an organization-wide business strategy.
Efficiency - workshops can be completed in a day so that you can get quick win with minimal time and resource investment, helping gain commitment to the process within your organization
Responsive - the speed of the approach also helps organizations become more responsive to internal and external changes, such as adjusting strategies in light of changing markets legislation and organizational restructuring.

Why our customers love this approach

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Agile and iterative

Agile and iterative approach for strategy and planning.

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Flexible and adaptable

Flexible and adaptable to fit the needs of any business, organization or sector.

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Research excellence and industry expertise

The latest research combined with human expertise and thinking.

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Stakeholder consensus

Consensus-building approach to decision-making for key stakeholders to action workshop outputs.

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Visual communication

Visual outputs enable easy to understand and effective communication of strategic intent.

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Alignment

Alignment of commercial and technical strategy.

Activities and steps to get started

There are 3 groups of activities to help build out your Roadmap, powered by SharpCloud.

Map the Trends and Drivers Impacting your Business

1. Create Trend and Driver statements.

2. Organize the statements into groups.

3. Vote on Trend and Driver statements and groups.

4. Build out the most important Trend and Driver groups with additional information.

Map the Value Streams you Expect from your Roadmap

1. Enter Value Stream ideas which are written in response to a Trend or Driver.

2. Cluster Value Stream ideas with similar themes to create a Value Stream Group (VSG).

3. Vote on Value Stream Groups by assigning opportunity and feasibility values for each Value Stream.

4. Discuss voting results and select Value Stream Groups for further development.

Build your Value Stream Group Topic Roadmap

1. Select the Value Stream Group to evaluate.

2. Define the successful future opportunity.

3. Link Value Stream Groups to Drivers.

4. Create the Roadmap - map activities to dependencies.

5. Build out key activity in the Roadmap.

6. Add Enablers that will enhance Roadmap activities.

7. Add any Risks that could impact Roadmap activities and evaluate probability and impact for each risk.

8. Enter mitigation actions to reduce the most pressing risks.

Talk to us to find out more

This solution is based on latest roadmapping research and practice activities at the IfM, part of the University of Cambridge. The combination of the highest quality research, alongside expert application and delivery, sets the IfM approach apart from other roadmapping methods and practitioners. These templates have been designed and are supported by expert practitioners from IfM Engage, the knowledge transfer arm of the IfM.

Get in touch

For more information on how IfM approaches and frameworks can be applied on the SharpCloud platform, please contact John Saiz, Industrial Associate at IfM Engage.

John, former Chief Technology Officer at NASA's Johnson Space Center, leads collaborations with manufacturing and technology-intensive companies worldwide to enhance their innovation capabilities.

Contact John Saiz

IfM Engage Services

For more information on IfM Engage services, including case studies, webinars, and insights into how IfM approaches support organisations across industry, government, and academia, visit the IfM Engage website.

Find out more

Roadmapping is an agile strategic planning technique that enables the development and communication of strategy and innovation.

Who is the solution for and why?

Activities and steps to get started

Talk to us to find out more

Ready to get started?

Take the first step towards implementing the perfect solution for your needs by reaching out to us.