Visualization in strategic and technology roadmapping

A key objective of strategic and technology roadmapping is the creation and maintenance of a compact but content-rich depiction of future strategic and technology directions. But it is often difficult for a roadmapping team to create and maintain complex visual information while keeping a focus on thinking strategically. This paper describes lightweight tools implemented as extensions of widely used software that help roadmappers visualize and maintain the information of a roadmap in a way that both its creators and reviewers can grasp quickly and which conveys the roadmap´s story in rich detail. Three visualizations that form the foundation of a roadmap are described: (1) a driver map shows how the roadmapping team can best achieve objectives by linking customers´ needs or applications to performance and to the technologies that will realize the team´s objectives; (2) a time-based roadmap shows how the market or applications, solutions, and technologies evolve over time and how the roadmapping team will develop or acquire technologies or solutions; and (3) a strategic investment map provides a value and sourcing view of the portfolio of future technologies or solutions.