In an era of extended development cycles, time-to-market separates market-share winners from losers.
By Tim Bowe, Co-CEO, Foliage
Competitive advantage in any industry depends upon time to market. Nowhere is this more important than in the medical industry. In an era of extended development cycles, which often result in products with nearly identical features, time-to-market separates market-share winners from losers. Short-term profit and long-term business viability hinge on the manufacturers’ ability to transition from product concept, through product development, to market introduction.
Historically, the focus has centered on the software development cycle. When promised delivery dates slide to the right, it is most visibly the software that stubbornly refuses to complete.
 As the figure illustrates, your ability to manage time-to-market with next generation products will directly determine your ability to capitalize on available market opportunity instead of opportunity costs. |
An efficient software development cycle is vital to schedule success, but the dynamics of product cycle time can be complex. To management, often the mysterious software development life cycle must be the culprit—or is it?
While better software development processes are warranted, long software development cycles are frequently the symptom of a larger issue—a dynamic that includes the product focus and the requirements development process. Below are tips for creating a successful product development cycle including the requirements development process:
Formal process starts at product requirements phase. A disciplined effort to define product requirements in terms of market drivers, along with feature prioritization, improves the ability of the development organization to make technical tradeoffs.Develop software requirements from product requirements. Direct traceability of software requirements back to product requirements will ensure focus on only those features and capabilities with the most value in the marketplace.
Evaluate the software architecture in terms of the product and software requirements. Great strides have been made to increase the formalism of software architecture. Use of these evaluation techniques will ensure the software architecture is capable of meeting the specific challenges of the planned product.
Best teams lower the risk in the time-to-market race. While technology improvements have made it easier for all engineers, there is much evidence that it disproportionately improves the productivity of the most capable. Building a product in a short timeframe requires experience to avoid mistakes and apply technology appropriately.
Gaining control over the requirements process is the first step. Tying it all together will streamline the process of product development chartering the program with clear, focused and understood goals. This, in turn, will net significant results in both reducing time to market and increasing market share for your medical products.
About the Author: Timothy Bowe, co-CEO of Foliage, steers the development and evolution of Foliage consulting services and works directly with executive-level clients helping them derive more business value from their product lines. He leverages twenty-five years of product realization experience, facilitating the delivery of envisioned products to market in the aerospace, medical device, and industrial equipment industries. He can be reached at
tbowe@foliage.com or 781-993-5500.
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