The Essential Guide to Technology Strategies

About this Publication

Technology development projects are the foundation for many new products and processes. They also provide the crucial breakthroughs, disruptive or radical innovations that can create the big growth opportunities and profits.

Unfortunately, these projects have a high failure rate.  Most companies having been burnt by technology developments that have led to nothing after large investments, or which have have been prematurely cancelled, with the potential loss of significant profits. As a result, technology developments – despite their obvious importance - are becoming much rarer, as managers focus on safer short-term projects such as product updates, modifications and fixes.

However, it is possible to avoid the mismanagement that leads to failure. The reality is that pre-development phases are called the fuzzy front end because ideas are yet to be fixed. This does not mean that the management of technology development needs be fuzzy!


Leading companies employ a structured approach to the planning, appropriation and integration of the technology that will effectively contribute to the competitiveness of the company. These Technology Strategies typically incorporate three key stages:

1. The identification and recognition of emerging technologies
2. Directing activities and investment towards the technologies that will meet customer needs
3. The externalisation of these technologies, or their integration with the internal product development process

Table of Content

Chapter 1 - The case for Technology Strategies

Chapter 2 - Technology Foresight, successfully anticipating Technology Futures
                         a. Trends
                         b. Technology Insight
                         c. Core competencies
                         d. Disruptive Technologies

Chapter 3 - Embedding and maintaining customer focus in a technology-driven world

Chapter 4 - Planning for Success
                         a. Roadmapping
                         b. Portfolio Management

Chapter 5 - Scouting - When the Technology you need is sitting in someone else’s business

Chapter 6 - Bringing new Technologies in
                          a. Collaborative Research and Alliances
                          b. IP Issues

Chapter 7 -  Leveraging non-core Technologies in the Market
                          a. Licensing out Technology
                          b. New start ups
                          c. Joint Ventures
                          d. IP Issues

Chapter 8 - Stage-Gate and other management tools for technology products
                          a. Linking technology research and product development
                          b. Technology project management
                          c. Stagegate for technology products

Key Insights

Readers of this Essential Guide will understand the key requirement for putting in place an effective technology strategy – for better managing the fuzzy front end - and the core tools and techniques needed for making well informed decisions when it comes to selecting and developing the right technologies.

The Essential Guide to Technology Strategies specifically covers:

• leading practices for managing tricky technology and platform projects together in one place for the first time – from pre-development to stage gate integration
• illustration with unique real examples and interviews with leading experts and practitioners

If your company is working on technology based products this guide needs to be in your R&D content library.