Practical Roadmapping

Roadmapping Tools

2009-04-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

One thing that is very difficult to find is a decent roadmapping tool at a decent price. If you have access to Excel and Powerpoint, I suggest you take a look at the 280 Group's "Requirements Prioritization Matrix and Roadmap Templates", available at the following site:

http://www.280group.com/shareware/freerequirementsroadmapmatrix.htm

Another way to get around the tools problem is to realize that there are four key aspects to the roadmapping process (and that each aspect can be automated separately):

- identification of the roadmap elements (e.g. candidate technology features)
- prioritization of the roadmap elements
- grouping of the roadmap elements (e.g. grouping technology features into products)
- creation of the roadmap artifact (pretty pictures)

The first aspect can be addressed using tools that allow us to perform a brainstorming exercise, such as Mindjet's MindManager (or 3x5 index cards if we don't want to drop 500 crispy samolias for MindManager).

The second and third aspects can be addressed using tools that allow us to capture attributes of roadmap elements to inform our prioritization, such as Excel or Access.

The final aspect can be addressed using a tool that allows us to paint pretty pictures, such as Powerpoint or Visio.

Note that the 280 Group's offering described earlier in this post basically consists of templates to expedite our use of Excel and Powerpoint.

Review - Sopheon Vision Strategist

2008-01-02T08:13:00.001-08:00

The purpose of this article is to take a brief look at a roadmapping application (Alignent Vision Strategist).

As you have probably discovered, the degree to which the roadmapping process is automated is really up to you.

At the low end, you can get by with a word processing application (e.g. MS Word) and some basic drawing tools (e.g. MS Visio). The implication here is that the roadmapping process is completely manual. In this scenario, the roadmap itself is more suited to communication than analysis. The extent to which the roadmap is a living arifact boils down to how often you decide to conduct the manual process (e.g. quartlerly) and update the associated roadmap documentation.

In the mid-range, you can use a tool or tools to support the semantics of roadmapping. For example, although MS Project was not intended as a roadmapping tool, the semantics of project management are sufficiently close to those of roadmapping that you can use MS Project to create and maintain a (basic) roadmap. Alternately, you might consider some freeware/shareware that supports basic roadmapping (leave a comment with your email address and I'll be happy to suggest one).

At the top end, you can use a tool that was specifically designed with roadmapping in mind, such as the Alignent Vision Strategist.

After trying the tool out, here are my observations:

Pros
- this is more than a roadmapping tool, it is really a general-purpose repository with built-in support for roadmapping concepts, hence you will find all the features that you would normally associate with a bona fide repository
- supports analysis as well as communication
- roadmap is a living artifact
- product is easy to use (if you already understand roadmapping concepts)

Cons
- since this is more than a simple roadmapping tool, the price tag may cause you to faint off momentarily, hence you should remain seated when reviewing a quote from the vendor
- the graphics are effective but not flashy, hence if you want to make a presentation to the board, you will still need to retain the services of a graphic artist to embellish the output

Key Points - NRM Medical Systems Roadmap

2007-11-05T13:19:00.001-08:00

Due to the combination of personal compatibility with pharmaceutical effectiveness, it will be increasingly possible to harmonise the particular therapy with the patient's genetic makeup for drug metabolism, absorption, transport, and elimination, leading to a predictive medicine.

Nanoparticles will play one of the most important roles in future drug based therapy, due to their unique biological, chemical and physical properties.

The magnetic/ thermal behaviour of certain types of nanoparticles combined with other specific properties opens a wider spectrum of therapeutical methods such as nanoparticles based thermotherapy.

The deepened and more distinctive knowledge about the very specific acting agent, its predictable interaction with the target, its kinetic and predictable metabolism within the body in the forefront of any drug internalisation will lead to shortened experimentally validated approvals.

Against the background of an expected annual growth rate of the medical devices market by 5 -- 6% and medical imaging systems representing about 8 % of the total devices market7, this is a surprising result because the segments imaging tools and imaging agents, including contrast media and radiopharmaceuticals, can certainly benefit from an advanced technology, based on a deeper understanding of materials and cellular activities.

Key Points - Gen IV Nuclear Energy Systems Roadmap

2007-11-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

There are currently 438 nuclear power plants in operation around the world, producing 16% of the world's electricity---the largest share provided by any nongreenhouse-gas-emitting source.

The organization and execution of the roadmap became the responsibility of a Roadmap Integration Team that is advised by the Subcommittee on Generation IV Technology Planning of the U.S. Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee (NERAC).

As preparations for the Generation IV Technology Roadmap began, it was necessary to establish goals for these nuclear energy systems.

In addition to overall summaries regarding fuel cycles and overall sustainability, the section describes missions and economic outlook, approach to safety and reliability, and path forward on proliferation resistance and physical protection.

As a reference case, the FCCG determined waste generation and resource use for the once-through cycle.

The traditional mission for civilian nuclear systems has been generation of electricity, and several evolutionary systems with improved economics and safety are likely in the near future to continue fulfilling this mission.

Eight candidate reactor designs were evaluated with respect to six commercialization and regulatory readiness criteria, including advanced boiling water reactors, pressurized water reactors, and gas-cooled reactors.

Crosscutting R&D for evaluation methods is found in the Crosscutting R&D sections on fuel cycles, risk and safety, economics, and proliferation resistance and physical protection.

Key Points - Biopharmaceutical Industry Roadmap

2007-11-05T13:11:00.000-08:00

The proposals are aimed at strengthening early-stage companies so that they can advance further along the development chain: from proof-of-principle to Phase I, II and III clinical trials and finally to full regulatory approval of their therapies.

Cancer, the second leading cause of death exceeded only by heart disease, is poorly served by traditional chemotherapies and a major opportunity area for drug development.

Research to find connections between diseases, molecular targets such as an enzyme or receptor protein implicated in the disease process (biology phase), and drug molecules (chemistry phase) capable of modulating the biological activity of the target.

Drug discovery is often perceived as a process that proceeds linearly from gene discovery to gene function (target identification) followed by target validation, combinatorial chemistry, high-through-put screening, hit selection, and lead optimization.

Review - Biopharmaceutical Industry Roadmap

2007-10-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

This post is a review of the Canadian Biopharmaceutical Industry Technology Roadmap.

The roadmap document presents a detailed analysis of the challenges facing the Canadian biopharmaceutical industry today. It concludes with a set of recommendations to overcome these challenges.

Pros:
- The roadmap document provides an excellent overview of the industry so that the casual reader can understand the background and context of the discussion.
- The roadmap document describes not only the challenges facing the industry, but provides insight into why those challenges exist.
- The roadmap document abstracts the challenges facing the industry into two qualitatively different areas: scientific challenges and commercialization challenges; a useful abstraction for other technology roadmaps as well.
- The roadmap document contains an excellent (recurring) graphic which presents challenges along dimensions which represent the lifecycle of both drug development and company development (click on image to enlarge).

Cons:
- The bulk of the roadmap document discusses the challenges facing the biopharmaceutical industry, representing only the top layer of the canonical roadmap (i.e. "why"). The middle layer (i.e. "what") is addressed only to the extent of providing a list of recommendations addressing the scientific and commercialization challenges. The bottom layer (i.e. "how") is not addressed.
- There is no real timeline, either explicit or implicit within the document, hence the term "roadmap" is not descriptive of the document.

Summary:

In summary, the Biopharmaceutical Industry Roadmap is an excellent reference for anyone who would like to understand the state of the industry today and the challenges that it faces. It provides a vehicle for follow-on work to paint a) the goals and objectives of the Canadian industry partners over a strategic timeframe (i.e. what the industry is going to do) and b) the R&D efforts that will support those initiatives (how the industry is going to do it).

Z

Review - Gen IV Nuclear Energy Systems Roadmap

2007-10-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

This article is a brief review of the Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Roadmap.

The roadmap represents a joint effort among participating countries who are hoping to develop the next generation of nuclear reactors by the year 2030.

Overall, the roadmap document is of excellent quality, addressing all elements of the canonical roadmap (why, what, how and when).

The roadmap develops a series of timelines representing the activities and decision points within each of the most promising research areas associated with nuclear reactor technology (click on image to enlarge):

Of particular note is the identification of outstanding issues that need to be addressed/resolved in order for each of the selected technology alternatives to (ultimately) pan out.

Another important contribution of the roadmap is the identification of research activities that cut across and therefore have the potential to support multiple technology alternatives.

If there is a deficiency with this document, I can't find it.

Your comments are welcome.

Z

Review - Aluminium Transformation Roadmap

2007-10-10T09:37:00.000-07:00

This is a high-level review of an excellent technology roadmapping example -- the Canadian Aluminium Transformation Technology Roadmap.

Pros:

- The roadmap document contains an informative and authoritative overview of the aluminium industry in Canada, effectively presenting the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the industry today. In the canonical roadmap model, this overview represents the top-most layer, capturing the business drivers.

- The roadmap document contains an innovative and effective way to present the canonical middle roadmap layer, representing "what" the industry plans to do in response to the identified business drivers. While referred to as "opportunities" as opposed to "products and services", the idea is the same; each opportunity includes textual and graphical symbology which tells us the priority, timeframe, complexity and economic impact associated with it (click on image to enlarge):

Cons:

- The roadmap does not delve into the canonical bottom layer representing "how" we might execute on the opportunities identified previously, but instead presents a set of four overall recommendations. The net result is a lack of focus or insight into the potential solutions to specific challenges facing the aluminium industry.

Summary:

- The Canadian Aluminium Transformation Technology Roadmap is an excellent artifact, effectively capturing the "why" and "what" layers of the canaonical roadmap. The ground work has been laid for follow-on efforts to address the "how" layer.

Review - Quantum Computation Roadmap

2007-10-10T07:47:00.001-07:00

A particularly good roadmapping example is the Quantum Computation Roadmap (QCR)

The purpose of the QCR is to coordinate research in quantum computing across a number of laboratories and institutions around the world.

Two semantic elements used to great effect in the roadmap are "status" (denoted by green, yellow and red bubbles) and "promise" (denoted by green, yellow and red triangles); each approach to overcoming obstacles in quantum computing is associated with subjectively-assigned status and promise values. Status tells us how far along a particular idea has come (ranging from "it's still an idea" all the way to "we are good to go"). Promise tells us the likelihood that a given idea, if implemented successfully, will actually address the problem it is supposed to solve (ranging from "this might possibly work, but who knows" to "if this idea works, we are gold").

The only thing that is really lacking in the roadmap is a graphical timeline view, which must be reverse-engineered from the documentation (click for larger image):

Nonetheless, this is a minor deficiency and the result is a living document that provides a vehicle for coordination and communication within the quantum computing community.