“Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat,” said Steve Jobs, Co-founder of Apple, Inc.
If we dig deeper and try to understand innovation in a more profound way, we learn that it is proportional to the way we deal with change. And if we drift away from accepting change, it can lead to a narrow scope and vision. Remember, innovation is a part of change. It is an element that helps make everything better than before.
On the business front, innovation has the potential to induce demand, and help companies serve their relevant market at a profit and stay competitive. The universal formula of innovation looks a lot like, translating ideas into products and products into profit.
In recent years, certain markets have witnessed an unprecedented change that influenced product innovation, technology requirements, and buyer behavior. Considering this shift and the era of rapid innovation, it is essential for tech providers to realign their go-to-market strategies and innovate.
The need for innovation in software product development
To succeed and stay viable in their relevant market, companies need to consistently launch new products or services, processes, and business models. This indeed increases the thirst for innovation and makes software product development one of the booming sectors in the IT space.
The demand for software product development solutions is rapidly growing with every passing year. It thus drives the generation of new ideas, which can be fostered in the right way to gain the maximum benefit. If the new ideas are promising enough, they could latter become trendsetters for a company or an industry as well.
Innovation is, of course, important and a need in the software product development sector. But you should ask yourself:
- Am I equipped for innovation?
- How will I bring innovation?
- Do I have new ideas?
- Am I ready for change?
- Which areas should I innovate in?
Operating with the motto of innovation, Harbinger helped a leading educational provider expand its digital offering set with an innovative and engaging four-level course.
Why is product innovation important?
Time and again innovation has proved to be the primary economic driver for businesses at large. A portfolio of progressive products is known to power growth, sustainability, and revenue. Innovation enables a business to differentiate its products and services from those of its competitors.
In software product development, innovation helps reduce production costs and with a steady increase in the number of offerings. A company that is constantly innovating and launching new offerings in a saturated or dynamic market could easily have a commercial advantage.
Bringing in something new in the market also helps create a strong global footprint. Rationally, it is almost impossible to compete where a product has reached stagnancy. However, innovating and updating the same blueprint can yield higher returns, further resulting in an increased customer base as well.
Innovation magnetizes expansion, growth, and thought leadership. Management expert Peter Drucker stated, “If an established organization, which in this age necessitating innovation, is not able to innovate, it faces decline and extinction.” Innovation is directly related to long-term stability in the software product development sector.
Remember, the entire concept of product innovation is not only about developing a new product. A business can improve its existing product to make it more useful or embrace product modernization and call the process “product innovation.” Afterall, the main motive is to solve problems of majority of people.
The software product development market is becoming more competitive with each passing day. And companies that meet customer expectations are in the running for taking the top spot in the market.
Here are other important reasons to embrace product innovation:
- It boosts a company’s offerings, revenue, and recognition in its relevant market
- It helps businesses make the most of advanced and novel technologies
- It makes more room to understand client needs and aids in bridging the demand-supply gap
- It boosts the morale of employees, as they are eager to research and develop or willing to work on new software product development technologies
- It creates opportunities for employees to expand their knowledge and improve career growth
- It motivates employees throughout their tenure, as they feel responsible to create innovative concepts that can push their company to new heights of success
How is innovation enabled in a software product development environment?
Today, we see a culture of innovation being practiced across industries, especially in software product development. An innovation culture demands market intelligence, employee encouragement, and customer feedback analysis. These cornerstones of a work culture can help increase innovation at all levels. Not to forget, crowdsourcing is another inlet for the gamut of ideas to flow.
Product innovation could be managed indigenously by an enterprise. It could also be done in collaboration with a software services company. This is a common scenario observed with enterprises or startups that maintain their competitive edge through a well-oiled innovation ecosystem.
The engagement could start at a pre-product stage wherein the need is for an incubation partner and mentorship. It could also start at a later stage wherein the startup is looking to grow its innovative idea, with the help of technical skills and engineering expertise that the partner can complement with.
The duo could work toward shortening the product development life cycle, devising a go-to-market strategy, and bringing innovations to the market at scale.
The use of Development + Operations integration tactics, known as ‘DevOps,’ helps an enterprise find new ways to work and churn the same processes in a different manner. DevOps also helps with the reduction of production time and costs.
When both the departments work together, innovative ways can be used to remove obstacles and make production easier, which is a part of software product development. Employee forums also help with finding new ways to innovate.
In addition, an agile model is a de-facto ruler of innovation. The innovation of new concepts based on an agile model offers excellent control over the product development cycle.
A Final Word
At Harbinger, innovation is ingrained in our DNA. Being a pioneer of market-leading products, a witness to (and a product engineering partner for) more than 200+ successful product launches and growth, Harbinger has an innovation culture at its core.
To learn more about how we have helped organizations create their own product innovation story, write to us today.
