Creating a Successful Commercialisation Framework
In 2019 a Fortune 250 global industrial conglomerate identified the need to strategically transform their electronic security division from an integration and installation company into a technology and data driven services company. This would create greater opportunity for generating recurring-monthly-revenue through subscription services and applications.
This followed a general trend within the industry of electronic security manufacturers and systems integrators introducing “Security-as-a-Service” models. In this, Human Thinking was appointed to accelerate the building of capabilities to better utilise the new technologies that were impacting security systems and to harness the applications of big data as to better identify, analyse, and notify security professionals of threats and events.
This required a shift in thinking across the business from delivering sales-orientated products to solution and services offerings. This new discipline had to be formed and learnt across business operations and teams. To create the new organisational behaviours, Human Thinking defined, designed, and introduced a commercialisation framework. This has now become the backbone to how new solutions are identified, developed, and released across global and regional markets.
This has now become the backbone to how new solutions are identified, developed, and released across global and regional markets.
Differing Views for a Unified Workflow
To ensure the commercialisation framework was fit for purpose within the business, senior team members across the business were appointed to a global commercialisation committee. Through initial interviews with team members within different departments, it was quickly identified that sales orientated thinking was routed in how new solutions were developed. All new solutions were being defined through the sales team, which had delivered limited commercial success with several new launches generating significant financial losses.
In gaining an understanding of what failed or was missed within new launches, it was clear that key functions across the business had not been either consulted nor informed across the development process. Often there was confusion and a disconnection between the value proposition, commercial viability, and understanding of the operational readiness required to successfully launch the new solutions to customers. Products and services were launched with no viable demand or had to be aborted at the last minute due to key features not being ready.
Through these initial discoveries, it was evident that the new commercialisation framework had to be an agent for bringing together different departments. In doing so, the new product development and commercialisation process had a greater opportunity to deliver a successful launch that met specific customer needs.
Defining Success
When allocating further investment to a new solution or "green lighting" a launch, it is best practice to have a defined and agreed Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that the solution must meet. The MVP is commonly structured and associated to commercial metrics that are tracked from launch to determine if the new solution is a success, or not.
This is a discipline that requires dedicated resource and focus. It was evident within the practices of the business that instead of timings and "success" being agreed by clearly defined criterion, new solution launches were often dictated by quarterly deadlines and assumption driven preferences by senior management.
To bring senior management and operating teams together, a structure had to be agreed on what "success" is for the business. This was achieved by structuring the MVP attributes into three defined categorised “targets”:
Sustainable long-term revenue and margin growth generated in the launch of the new solution and/or service.
Operational Readiness:
A viable and competitive solution and/or service that meets the requirements and expectations of the customer against a defined need.
Value Proposition:
A defined go-to-market strategy with all minimal operational requirements in a state of ready for launch.
Commercial and Financial Viability:
This framework enabled teams to ask the right questions from the project kick-off, across the development period, to the point of launch and post launch, where a judgement could be made if a new solution was successful or not. In essence Key Performance Indicator (KPI) framework was created specifically for the business.
Once established, this formed a unified understanding of “success” across the business and within department teams. This also enabled Human Thinking to work with the leadership team to define and introduce a “stage gate” structure for the development of new solutions. This introduced stricter management of team and financial resources across the entire development journey of new solutions, while creating greater guarantees for a successful launch.
Acknowledging the Wider Business Benefits
The defining, structuring, and introduction of the new commercialisation framework was a two-year journey. There were key milestone achievements and some extraordinary challenges, namely the Corona virus pandemic. Human Thinking worked with the executive leadership team and with regional teams across the markets to ensure structuring of the commercialisation framework was fit-for-purpose at an international and regional level.
The level of engagement across the business enabled Human Thinking to connect the dots across departments and to surface opportunities for greater operational efficiencies outside of the commercialisation framework. This included identifying the up skilling needs of sales teams as to apply a “consultative” sales method, rather than pushing for a single product sale. It also brought structure into the quarterly financial forecasting due to having a systemised framework for new products entering the market and generating revenue and returns.
It also brought structure into the quarterly financial forecasting due to having a systemised framework for new products entering the market and generating revenue and returns.
Building Operational Muscle Memory
With the commercialisation framework now routed in day-to-day operations, the in-house teams can review and evolve their workflows to improve and adapt to changing market conditions. The framework pulls departments together and accelerates how teams review applications like Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative AI programmes and assess how these new tools can become part of the company’s offering.
This capability is critical within today’s complex, volatile and rapidly changing economic and competitive environments. A company’s ability to be resilient has become mandatory for maintaining long-term competitiveness and growth. A commercialisation framework that accelerates the ability to deliver value to customers and generate returns, creates such resilience. This, through repetition, builds skills and experience within teams and the operational muscle memory for being fit for the future.
