To many organizations, the concept of service innovation may seem puzzling. As noted in the Harvard Business Review article, R&D Comes to Services, "At the heart of business today lies a dilemma: Our economy is increasingly dependent upon services, yet our innovation processes remain oriented toward products. We have well-tested, scientific methods for developing and refining manufactured goods…but many of them don’t seem applicable to the world of services."
Rigid infrastructures often based around legacy mainframe architectures have limited most enterprises’ ability to rethink their service delivery. The shift toward Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) and the emerging capabilities of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) are changing that paradigm. Flexibility inherent in these new technologies will allow enterprises to begin innovating their service delivery. We see such innovation occurring in three distinct waves as shown in the accompanying diagram.
Emerging tools will “mash-up” data and functions across silos, use workflow to foster seamless processes and embed real-time communication across teams to cut down on internal email and phone traffic. As the organization’s mindset becomes more collaborative, employees from across the enterprise will begin to share their insights and create a rich internal community of aligned interests. Insight from this community will allow for better decision-making at all levels of the enterprise. Finally, the evolution of RIA tools into distinct “widgets” and the expansion of internal communities will offer the individual a rich corporate environment in which to participate, build out knowledge and extend their skills.
As each wave of innovation launches, that nature of the enterprise’s service delivery will evolve, allowing the organization to increasingly differentiate itself from its competitors and with its customers.
