Four key strategies for enabling innovation in the age of smart

IBM Software Thought Leadership White Paper
Rational

Four key strategies for enabling
innovation in the age of smart
Using integrated product management from IBM

2 Four key strategies for enabling innovation in the age of smart

Contents products need to address the needs of a wide variety of differ-
ent users, whether the differences are a result of unique geo-
3 IPM for collaborative, comprehensive development graphical requirements or unique user preferences. Smarter
4 Global optimization of business and development products are transforming the way the world works in new
processes and organization ways virtually every day. This is true not only in the way
products are used but also in the way they are built.
5 Processes and tools that deliver product value and
differentiation Product innovation has certainly evolved over the past few
years. Whereas it used to rely primarily on advancements in
8 Automation of processes across the ecosystem of
system contributors hardware and electronics, it is now much more dependent on
software. It has also evolved from being primarily managed
10 Visibility and control over assets to improve efficien- within a single company to a more collaborative model involv-
cies and value ing design partners and suppliers. As a result, innovative prod-
uct development requires an approach that supports tight
11 Support for tight collaboration within increasingly
collaboration and increasingly complex value chains—an
complex value chains
approach IBM calls integrated product management (IPM).

Executive summary
On a smarter planet, intelligence is infused into the products,
Smarter products are intelligent, interconnected and
systems and processes that comprise the modern world. These
instrumented—creating high-value integrated systems,
include the delivery of services; the development, manufactur-
such as:
ing, buying and selling of physical goods; and the way people
actually work and live. Nowhere may this transformation be ● Smart electric grid systems.
more evident than in the creation of smarter products. ● Online navigation systems.
● Traffic management systems.
Smarter products are the building blocks for a smarter planet. ● Fleet management systems.
Embedded with increasingly sophisticated software and instru- ● Healthcare management systems.
mentation, they can connect and communicate with other ● Integrated defense systems.
● Border control systems.
devices and respond intelligently to user needs. Smarter

IBM Software 3

IPM for collaborative, comprehensive Moreover, IPM can help organizations maintain product qual-
development ity, demonstrate regulatory compliance and pass audits. It
To help organizations design and deliver increasingly complex helps keep costs under control by decreasing the number of
products and manage their life cycles, IBM created an IPM warranty claims and better managing the product supply chain
approach that combines capabilities, tools and best practices and product development—thus lowering the cost of end
from across IBM and IBM Business Partner organizations. products and boosting the bottom line.
This strategy can address some of the most prominent
product development and delivery goals and challenges today, As a leading product development technology provider,
including: IBM offers integrated solutions and services for demanding
product engineering disciplines—including mechanical, elec-
● Transforming companies into competitive, innovative tronic and software life-cycle management. This paper will
leaders. discuss these four key IPM strategies from IBM, which help
● Developing a portfolio of innovative products and systems— organizations design, deliver and manage smarter products
combining mechanical, electrical and software technologies. designed to offer the highest value and quickest return on
● Facilitating collaboration across the design chain with multi- investment (ROI):
ple partners and stakeholders.
● Managing assets and operations of an ever-changing 1. Strategically transform business processes to build new
ecosystem. capabilities, save costs, accelerate product introduction and
create new market segments.
By integrating and managing a product’s life cycle across 2. Adopt an advanced systems engineering approach to man-
development domains, IPM streamlines innovative product age all product dependencies across engineering disciplines
development and accelerates time to market for new products. and build a strong competency in software development
In turn, IPM facilitates greater marketplace penetration and and delivery.
the creation of “the next big thing.” Because much of innova- 3. Optimize the design chain by automating business processes
tion may be derived from the software component of smarter that leverage existing investments in best-in-class applica-
products, manufacturers can address competitive threats faster tions and data.
and quickly deliver on consumer demands for a portfolio of 4. Ensure that product and asset maintenance and support is
products that offer personalization and customization. treated as a strategic business process that drives
proﬁtability.


Global optimization of business and IBM helps businesses establish a technology foundation on
development processes and organization which virtually all enterprise applications can operate
The marketplace is generally in flux with dynamic customer synchronously—sharing and reusing processes and
needs, quick-moving competitors and industry-changing new information to foster interoperability across the enterprise.
technologies. Consequently, companies must regularly moni-
tor their product development practices to ensure that they IBM Global Business Services offers strategy and transforma-
are responsive and collaborative and to identify and remove tion capabilities that can help improve product development
redundant or low-value activities. processes and optimize, integrate and operate product man-
agement environments. And to accelerate the drive to effi-
ciency, IBM can also deliver business strategy alignment
Strategy 1: Strategically transform busi- assessments and the following business value accelerators:
ness processes to build new capabilities, save
● Maturity assessment and strategic planning
costs, accelerate product introduction and ● Embedded software assessment and strategic planning
create new market segments. ● Environmental compliance and strategic planning
● Product cost visibility diagnostics
Proper business planning and continual improvement can
help organizations make certain that business processes are as
relevant and value-driven as the products they build. A strat- Hughes Telematics provides smarter products and serv-
egy may include: ices with help from IBM Global Business Services
Hughes Telematics developed an onboard sensing and
● Bridging design, delivery and management processes. communications telematics system for vehicles that
● Collaboratively defining and managing product require- detects crash conditions and car location and provides
ments for the entire portfolio of products. customer-activated concierge services (such as driving
● Deploying an integrated platform that converges the design, instructions and door unlocking). Upon crash detection,
development and delivery of smarter products and services. the system dials for emergency help and guides the
● Tracking in-field service, maintenance and operations response unit to the accident location. It also enables the
support. dispatch call center to contact vehicle occupants to alert
them that help is on the way.
By using proven approaches and tools designed for business Hughes Telematics tapped IBM Global Business Services
planning and transformation, organizations can align their to design, build and deploy a flexible systems and
business and technology investment strategies and manage process infrastructure, adapted for telematics. Using the
ever-evolving project priorities and resources. IBM offers infrastructure, the company can deliver new services
business transformation frameworks and services, product through its sensing and communications system in a
portfolio management tools, and enterprise architecture solu- much quicker time compared with proprietary systems.
tions to help organizations optimize their business strategies.

IBM Software 5

Processes and tools that deliver product Organizations that build a strong competency in software
value and differentiation delivery will be able to rapidly respond to changes in the mar-
Software has infused smarter products with intelligence, lead- ketplace and deliver innovative services much more quickly.
ing to an exponential leap in product capabilities—and a com- Plus, it may be more cost-effective for manufacturers to offer
mensurate increase in risk and complexity. As if designing and a broad portfolio of products by just changing the software.
building smart products weren’t hard enough, many of them, For example, manufacturers can address different target mar-
such as cars, planes and smart phones, are systems of systems. ket segments by releasing products with similar hardware and
Features are no longer isolated within individual products— electronics while using software to provide varying capabilities
instead, they are delivered through integration with other for the end user.
systems and back-office business processes. For example, a
patient who suffers from congestive heart failure has an However, the challenges of developing smarter products
implanted cardiac medical device that monitors and regulates run deep because a system of systems has many layers of
his or her heart. If the patient has a cardiac event, the complexity among the electrical, mechanical and software
implanted device senses it and wirelessly communicates that domains. To help manage and validate these complex
occurrence to the cardiac center, which can remotely monitor interrelationships, organizations can implement or improve
the patient and gather data for diagnosis. systems modeling and enhance requirements engineering,
traceability and quality.

Strategy 2: Adopt an advanced systems Implement or improve systems modeling to manage and
validate interrelationships
engineering approach to manage all prod- Organizations need to model their systems prior to investing
uct dependencies across engineering disci- time and resources into the full product design. Modeling and
plines and build a strong competency in simulation are also important when a business wants to
address a new market segment or revise a product early in its
software development and delivery. development life cycle—when change is still relatively inex-
pensive. Modeling facilitates innovation through controlled
These complex, smart products and systems present opportu- experimentation and helps organizations assess the technical
nities and challenges. Software is the invisible thread that and commercial feasibility of those changes by showing how
links components to form an intelligent and coordinated the changes to speciﬁc aspects of the design can affect product
structure—and it is software that offers differentiating performance, cost and delivery schedule.
functionalities and delivers the real value of smarter products.


Enhance requirements engineering, traceability and quality Rational integrated product change management solutions can
Because of scope creep and the widespread effects of changing help a company:
requirements, it can be difficult to efficiently and effectively
design and build products and product lines that meet cus- ● Reduce the time it takes to propagate changes throughout
tomer specifications. Requirements verification—either the design team.
through engineering analysis or physical part and assembly ● Speed turnaround time in design and defect resolution.
testing—must be performed not only at the end of the devel- ● Lower the number of “missed” changes that are discovered
opment process but also throughout. That helps ensure that late in the project.
requirements are being met. Moreover, it is far less expensive ● Improve the management of multiple engineering
to discover and solve problems and design issues earlier in the disciplines.
development process than later. ● Increase the visibility of schedules, including the impact of
requirement and product changes.
Using traceability tools to link tests to requirements through- ● Manage project costs better.
out the process can improve quality by helping to ensure ● Reduce costs by leveraging existing process investments.
that the right tests are run and can save time and money by
reducing unnecessary tests. Moreover, organizations can Leverage a comprehensive, integrated systems
perform trade studies when designing a product to not only engineering platform for IPM
satisfy the product requirements but also optimally address A holistic, integrated approach to systems engineering and
the design constraints. software development is needed to rapidly deliver high-quality
products and systems. An IPM approach connects four key
Manage, share and validate changes among teams with disciplines that span the systems and software development
IBM change management life cycle:
IBM Rational® integrated product change management
solutions help ensure that changes are shared and managed ● Requirements management—manages system and
among global teams and across engineering disciplines. software requirements and tracks conformance to those
Manufacturers can bring together systems designers, software requirements and compliance to regulations
developers and product engineers in a common collaboration ● Model-driven systems development—graphically
environment. This platform manages change in the various explores the requirements and builds out the behavior and
disciplines—software, electronics and mechanical—to facilitate functionality of systems and software
strong collaboration and track the impact of change wherever ● Collaboration and change management—provides a cen-
and whenever it occurs. tral communication point and workflow support for diverse,
distributed teams across the life cycle to efficiently work
together—continually and iteratively
● Quality management—establishes a collaborative,
customizable quality management hub that can unite teams
and provide an enforceable process workflow

IBM Software 7

The IBM Rational systems and software engineering solution and their customers’ needs. Tools in the suite can share
suite provides integrated systems engineering and embedded requirements, artifacts and other development components
software development solutions to help organizations build and as well as provide support for comprehensive life-cycle
systems and products that address their businesses’ objectives management.

Trace requirements
to design

IBM Rational Rhapsody® IBM Rational DOORS®
Model-driven systems development Requirements management

Manage the model artifacts Link test plans/test
cases to requirements

Build and execute tests
Related change request—
link work items across
Rational Team Concert
servers
IBM Rational Team Concert IBM Rational Quality Manager
Real-time collaboration platform for development teams Comprehensive test planning and
• Work item collaboration and change management test asset management
• Process workflow guidance
• Project health and transparency • Link test cases to development plan items
• Software configuration management and build • Submit defects for test executions
management • Link test results to existing defects

Figure 1: The Rational development tools work together to provide a comprehensive, integrated development environment.


Automation of processes across the
Helmes drives innovation through design chain collabo- ecosystem of system contributors
ration with IBM Rational software Disconnected product development applications and processes
Helmes—one of Estonia’s leading software development hinder collaborative development among an extended
and consulting firms—wanted to find a way to help its staff design chain of departmental, partner and supplier teams.
and clients collaborate and plan development projects Organizations need ways to include their design and supply
more effectively. This IBM Business Partner implemented partners in a unified process for product development.
the IBM Rational Team Concert™ platform—a collaborative Specifically, product, project, portfolio and performance infor-
development environment—to share information; define mation needs to be available and shared efficiently among all
requirements, dependencies and priorities; set milestones; the design stakeholders in real time, while being managed by
and plan workload for each member of the project team.
an overarching process.
With a single system managing all development-related
information, Helmes and its customers can quickly obtain
a comprehensive overview of project status. Customers Strategy 3: Optimize the design chain by
are involved in the development process at every stage, automating business processes that leverage
improving communication and verifying that each new
release is closely aligned to their requirements. Advanced existing investments in best-in-class appli-
workflows and scheduling features enable rapid, efficient cations and data.
development—reducing time to market and improving soft-
ware quality.
Design chain management helps manufacturers effectively
“With IBM Rational Team Concert, we know exactly where distribute the product design and development process across
we are at all times. There is never any doubt or any need the extended value chain. And design chain collaboration
to hunt for a document because all relevant information is
improves product development, providing increased business
immediately at hand.”
performance and executive-level decision support. It drives
— Erkki Aarma, project manager, Helmes opportunities for:

● Product cost reductions and quality improvements.
● Faster cycle times and ROI.
● Development costs savings.

IBM Software 9

Facilitate collaboration across the design chain An integrated product and systems development approach
All of the teams and partners that contribute to the overall helps organizations better collaborate and manage complexi-
product design comprise the design chain. A company—such ties by breaking down the silos among engineering disciplines
as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)—may manage and managing change across domains. This approach helps
the entire design chain process, or a company—such as an ensure product quality by assembling and tracing require-
embedded software developer—may participate in only a small ments throughout the product life cycle and across the design
portion of the process. In either case, it is critical that organi- chain. It also balances scarce resources across proﬁtable prod-
zations follow a coordinated design process and have access to uct lines and helps avoid rework and redundancy by leveraging
all relevant data—even if design chain partners are in different product and architecture commonality.
companies or geographies.
Leverage existing investments with IBM solutions for the
Product change originates from a variety of stakeholders design chain
throughout the design chain. Changes come from every part Organizations that want to implement or improve design
of the enterprise—including marketing, customer support, chain management shouldn’t need to rip out and replace exist-
development teams uncovering issues and managers concerned ing resources to implement new tools or process improve-
with keeping pace with competitors. When a product’s hard- ments. Ideally, businesses should be able to build on the value
ware, electrical and software components are built in parallel, of existing tools and processes. To do so, they need to inte-
changes that occur within one discipline can have a cascading grate tools across the design chain and federate information
effect on the other disciplines. Therefore it is critical to effi- from existing and new sources.
ciently communicate changes across the design chain.
Design chain collaboration solutions from IBM enable
Every service and interaction that happens within the multiple line-of-business employees to participate and collaborate in
systems needs to be managed, monitored and maintained so the development process by giving them access to engineering
that the engineers in the different disciplines and participants data that may currently be siloed in multiple design and
all along the design chain are on the same page. Methods for management systems. IBM WebSphere® solutions can help
managing and validating the interrelationships that occur organizations rapidly deploy composite IPM applications on
among the three disciplines and design chain must be found to existing tools and data repositories.
help ensure that products meet requirements and to support
regulatory compliance.


Plus, IBM Global Business Services offers reengineering serv- However, companies aren’t always designing products
ices that consider client-unique situations to help manufactur- with support requirements and asset longevity in mind.
ers maximize existing investments and integrate them with Organizations need to ensure that the products they build can
new applications, systems and infrastructure. The group can be profitably supported and maintained over a long lifetime.
provide services such as:
Strategy 4: Ensure that product and asset
● Enterprise application integration.
● Business process management. maintenance and support is treated as a
● Partner ecosystem management. strategic business process that drives
profitability.
Meyer Werft cruises into flexible engineering change Asset life-cycle management can help manufacturers ensure
management with an SOA solution
proper maintenance and reliability of production line assets—
Shipbuilder Meyer Werft’s existing product life-cycle including robotics and conveyers; the software used to operate
management (PLM) process and system landscape lacked them; facilities; and all of the critical assets that play a role in
the flexibility and scalability to meet current and future the design, delivery and management of a product. Asset man-
business demands. Plus, it lacked transparency and an agement also helps manufacturers establish new revenue
accurate, up-to-date view of design information and pro- streams with service-after-sales models for existing products.
duction data, extending no insight for engineering and
Tracking “as deployed” and “as maintained” products and
business decisions.
their performance after sales can help design teams identify:
IBM Global Business Services analyzed the business
situation and created a customized application based on ● Common configuration problems.
service-oriented architecture (SOA) approaches. As a ● After-market parts that may cause issues.
result, the information needed for any job can be consoli- ● Fixes that can be used by maintenance teams.
dated, resulting in more efficiency and fewer errors. Plus,
the integration of external partners encouraged new and
Tracking this information can help developers continually
innovative ways of cooperating.
improve the quality of their business processes and of their
products—including their reliability, compliance and applica-
tion. It has become particularly important as products increas-
Visibility and control over assets to ingly include firmware and software that must be maintained.
improve efficiencies and value
Manufacturers are increasingly offering product operational
and support services to increase profitability. And in some
cases, service after sales is where organizations make most or
all of their profit. For example, few car dealerships profit from
car sales—the profitability comes from the maintenance and
repair of those cars.

IBM Software 11

Moreover, integrating asset management with the service desk ● Service after sales, including customer support or direct
can boost customer service by unifying the management of maintenance, repair and operations services for customers.
field requests, customer problems and workflows. It can auto- ● Integrated project management and enterprise asset man-
matically route those problems to the design or the mainte- agement integration for IBM clients that have existing solu-
nance teams that own the problem, thereby improving quality tions but want to support service after sales.
of service and customer loyalty. ● Tracing product faults back to design or requirements,
thereby facilitating continual product improvement.
To leverage an asset management and operations approach,
manufacturers can integrate enterprise asset management with Support for tight collaboration within
service life-cycle management. The IBM solution for asset increasingly complex value chains
management provides life-cycle management of all assets— As products become more complex, interconnected and intel-
from their design to field support and maintenance. It can ligent, innovation is derived increasingly from a collaborative
monitor, manage, support and provide insight into the model among design partners and suppliers. Consequently,
production and after-sales health of products. It also helps IPM needs to be approached in a strategic way to help
maintenance teams use bill-of-materials information, manuals organizations deliver high-quality, innovative products to the
and three-dimensional views of “as designed” and “as built” marketplace faster and more frequently. Manufacturers can
products to accelerate product deployment, maintenance and apply four key strategies—spanning business planning and
problem resolution. The solution can collect information from transformation, product and systems development, design
the field and automatically route it to the design teams that chain collaboration, and asset management and operations—to
need it for fixes and design planning. support an IPM approach to product design, manufacturing
and support.
The IBM solution for asset management has capabilities that
include: IPM from IBM is supported by more than 30 IBM offerings,
which can be used in just about any combination. It addresses
● Deployment, maintenance and change tracking across smart, the unique needs of manufacturers by offering industry exten-
physical and IT assets. sions built on a service-oriented architecture. IBM continually
● Manufacturing support, including for the capital equipment strengthens the integrations among its IPM products and adds
involved in manufacturing or preparation of work instruc- new components to help keep IPM relevant to the needs of
tions or maintenance procedure publications. the current marketplace.
● Monitoring of asset status to identify problems before they
affect customers.

Organizations that incorporate IPM solutions into strategic
business processes can achieve the process flexibility and
performance needed to address the demands of today’s—and
prepare for tomorrow’s—complex, interconnected world.
Specifically, IBM offers:
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010
● Applications—leading IPM software and technology from IBM Corporation
IBM and global IBM Business Partners. Software Group
Route 100
● Advanced IPM architectures—IPM innovation, including Somers, NY 10589
industry frameworks, cloud computing and smarter U.S.A.
products.
Produced in the United States of America
● IPM research—collaborating with clients and industries to September 2010
further advance the science of IPM. All Rights Reserved
● Methodology, skills and global delivery—core IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, and Rational are trademarks of
IPM strategy and offerings, supported by IBM global International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions
centers and delivery resources. worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks
of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is
available on the web at “Copyright and trademark information” at
With consultants and technical staff in 160 countries, ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml
IBM delivers systems, solutions and services to more than References in this publication to IBM products or services do not imply
20,000 clients worldwide. IBM offers a proven track record of that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which
delivering advanced solutions in a variety of industries and IBM operates.
market segments. The information contained in this documentation is provided for
informational purposes only. While efforts were made to verify the
completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this
For more information documentation, it is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, express
To learn more about the comprehensive integrated product or implied. In addition, this information is based on IBM’s current
product plans and strategy, which are subject to change by IBM without
management offerings and strategies from IBM, please contact
notice. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the
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nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations
from IBM (or its suppliers or licensors), or altering the terms and
Additionally, financing solutions from IBM Global Financing conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of
can enable effective cash management, protection from tech- IBM software.
nology obsolescence, improved total cost of ownership and IBM customers are responsible for ensuring their own compliance with
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Four key strategies for enabling innovation in the age of smart

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