We are currently seeing more interest in innovation from our outsourcing clients here in the UK, although they do not always call it that. In fact, for some people the word innovation may be a word that they choose to avoid. That’s understandable as innovation can sometimes have a ‘bad rep’, especially if associated with gadgets or experiments that don't have business value. The fact is, innovation means different things to different people. However, in the new economy, there is certainly a need for companies of all sizes to differentiate (or ‘innovate’) and it is the CIOs who recognise the ways in which IT can provide that differentiation who are succeeding in the current economic climate. There’s often a pre-conceived misconception that only large organisations with equally large budgets can benefit from innovation programmes. This really isn’t the case. Approaches to innovation can and in fact must be tailored to match the size of the organisation, skills, business strategy and available resources.

At IBM, I lead a team that focuses on collaborative innovation and together, we have created specific innovation programmes (we call these "Value Creation Centres"). The innovation projects that we deliver (which fit easily into outsourcing contracts), range from the tactical to the strategic and from business to technical in focus. For each innovation project, a combined task force from IBM and from the client side is formed from the outset in order to establish a clear innovation management model that defines our joint approach. These programmes have been well received by our customers, but the focus of these has changed in recent months. Right now, a number of customers are interested in a more tactical approach to innovation.

Innovation in business can be defined in many ways and it’s not necessarily about inventing new and complex solutions. Very often there’s a simple answer to a challenge and the innovative approach needed to solve it. It’s important to remember though that innovation is not something that can simply be bought; it is a creative process that needs to be nurtured and managed systematically, using a range of tools and techniques, right through to delivery.

Successful innovation programmes don’t need to be a long-term commitment, they can run for a limited time to address a particularly pressing business need or to match personnel and resource availability. Whether you want to expand your core business, gain entry into new markets or simply become more efficient, an innovation project cannot be ignored.