Albright Strategy Group helped a global market leader in consumer
medical diagnostics develop a five year
Product-Technology Roadmap to clarify objectives and direction and
to gain management approval for the product team’s plan.
Situation: A global market leader in consumer medical diagnostic
diagnotic devices faced a highly competitive market that is rapidly
being commoditized, putting pressure on margins. There were opportunities
to differentiate product offerings with improved performance and
value added services; in fact these services may hold the key to
the company's survival in the industry.
Need:
The diagnostic product team needed a five year product and
technology plan for the consumer diagnostics product line to gain
management approval and funding.
Solution: ASG helped the client’s product team develop a five
year roadmap for the consumer diagnostics product line,
incorporating evolving customer needs and anticipated new technology
developments.
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A cross-functional team convened for several
facilitated working sessions. The team identified three key
market segments, identified key customer drivers based on available
market research, and analyzed competitors' strategies, strengths and
weaknesses. Based on the key needs and market positioning, the
team drafted a strategic direction for product evolution and
introduction of value-added information services associated with
the core diagnostic devices.
- The team identified the key product
attributes and drivers that would address the customer drivers and
set performance targets for the highest priority drivers. The
team then developed a product evolution roadmap, plotting out a five
year plan for new feature introduction. They also designed a
product and services architecture, incorporating new elements that
would link consumers with their physicians and other care-givers
using the internet.
- In the next phase, the product team
developed their five year technology roadmap to realize the product
evolution, identifying the highest priority development projects and
technology elements where development could be outsourced or the
technology acquired.
- Finally, the team met
to identify the development projects most important to realizing
their objectives. The team also identified key risks to their
plan along with indicators of market change that the team would
watch to signal a
need to revisit their plan.
The team used their roadmap to gain
approval and funding for their new direction from corporate
management and to manage resources available to them. They
also used the roadmap to explain and gain support for their plan
from leaders of other product lines and from the larger team who
would execute their plan.
ASG provided a proven roadmap format,
advised on the make-up of the team, directed team planning
sessions, and analyzed existing market data in new ways to identify
customer drivers (this analysis was used in several interim
briefings to senior management to prepare the way for the full
roadmap). ASG prepared a detailed roadmap based on the team’s
working sessions, and provided support for a final presentation to
management. The team continued to use the roadmap as
development progressed, and used the roadmap in cross-roadmapping
exercises across multiple product lines.
