For all businesses—but especially businesses that provide technology products and services—standing still when it comes to the digital tools they offer and use isn’t an option. But while it’s essential to push boundaries, it’s also imperative to do so with thought and precision to ensure new solutions are well-designed, reliable and genuinely valuable to users.
Balancing staying on the digital cutting edge with ensuring quality and stability isn’t easy, but it’s all in a day’s work for today’s technology leaders. Below, 20 members of Forbes Technology Council share their guidance for tech teams and companies seeking to drive innovation while maintaining a solid, dependable foundation.
1. Develop A Strategic Roadmap Before Implementing Innovation
Planning is key. We develop a strategic roadmap before implementing any innovation, and we recommend that every organization do the same. It ensures a company is prepared for the transition, which minimizes disruption and maximizes the benefits of any new technology. Failure to develop a strategic roadmap will leave your business operations at a standstill, as unforeseen roadblocks will arise. – Seth Ravin, Rimini Street
2. Design To Improve The End-User Experience
Technology initiatives should be designed with the intention of making innovative adjustments based on the end-user experience. In the healthcare industry, tech initiatives are too often structured and deployed with speed, efficiency and cost savings as the driving forces. This approach can stifle value creation for patients and clinicians, who should serve as the primary source of information for tech innovation. – Trisha Swift, Mula Integrative Health & Wellness
3. Keep The Problem You’re Trying To Solve Top Of Mind
It can be all too easy to become distracted by the newest or “shiniest” piece of technology—something that, in actuality, does not effectively solve the problem you’re seeking to address. I balance innovation with reliability by keeping the problem I’m trying to solve first and foremost in mind and focusing my efforts on finding and integrating a solution that will have a real impact on the problem at hand. – Patrick Smith, Certara
4. Separate Initiatives For Exploring Marketplace Technologies And Evolving Your Business Model
Be clear about your core business, and build strength in your technology and operational engines by establishing routines for day-to-day tasks and operational requirements. In parallel with this, two initiatives should be established. One should involve approximately 10% to 20% of your organization working on innovative technologies that support an evolving marketplace, while another group is tasked with evolving and redefining your business model. – Dax Grant, Global Transform
5. Take A Two-Track Approach
As a CEO, I balance innovation with stability by adopting a two-track approach: maintaining core systems with proven, reliable methods while fostering a separate, agile environment for rapid experimentation and innovation. This ensures we stay competitive and adaptable without compromising our operational integrity. – Jo Webber, Pod
6. Adopt A ‘Champion Challenger’ Strategy
Basic research must be a continual part of any technology life cycle. Although many of your attempts may not greatly improve the stability and reliability of your current technology stack, it’s still important to adopt a “champion challenger” strategy of constantly pushing boundaries. Explore competing approaches by mixing teams, which creates diversity of thought and helps you pinpoint the innovative ideas that will make a difference. – Scott Zoldi, FICO
7. Focus On Risk Awareness
Be risk-aware: From the start, think about what can go wrong and the potential factors involved. Then, figure out what use case or problem statement within your ecosystem needs to be solved, because a tech-driven approach of innovation for its own sake creates a lot of duplication in the market. Once you zero in on the problem you’re going to solve, build a solution and test it with a small group. Ensure that both current and future systems remain stable and reliable throughout the process. – Erum Manzoor, Citigroup
8. Avoid Simply Succumbing To The ‘Latest Buzz’
Newer technologies should be adopted for the right reasons, not simply because they’re the “latest buzz” or trending topic. Once the benefits have been properly identified and it’s proven that the initiative will have an impact, it’s easier to introduce it without causing a harmful disruption to your existing systems. – Navid Ashroff, TrueDialog
9. Build A Modular Architecture
Architecture is the bedrock of stability, reliability and the speed of innovation. A modular architecture with appropriate separation of concerns helps isolate functionality within modules or microservices, which in turn bolsters stability, reliability and faster testing. The same modular architecture also helps with development speed, as the impact of new functionality can be limited. – Amit S Phadnis, RapidAI
10. Implement A Phased Approach To Innovation
One strategy I employ is to implement a phased approach to innovation, leveraging modular architecture and standardized interfaces to allow for iterative improvements while maintaining a stable core infrastructure. This ensures that new technologies are thoroughly tested and integrated gradually, minimizing disruption to reliability while facilitating flexibility and scalability. – SYED AHMED, Infosys Limited
11. Start With Financial Planning At The Executive Level
You can’t compromise stability, performance, security and reliability, so they have to be adequately resourced, regardless of anything else. To get the funding attention it needs as part of the company’s key objectives, innovation requires an executive leadership focus. So the balance has to start with financial planning, or any strategy is just a dream. – Jason Penkethman, Simpro Group
12. Break Projects Down Into Manageable Phases
Adopt a phased approach to implementation. By breaking down projects into manageable phases, one can dedicate resources to both innovation and stability. Ensure stability in the foundational phases with robust infrastructure and rigorous testing, which sets the stage for innovation that doesn’t compromise reliability. – Adam MacEachern, Sleek
13. Adopt A ‘Bimodal IT’ Approach
One strategy for balancing innovation with stability and reliability in technology initiatives is to adopt a “bimodal IT” approach, managing two separate, but coherent, modes of delivery. Mode 1 is traditional and emphasizes stability, safety and accuracy. Mode 2 is exploratory and agile, focusing on innovation and speed to market. – Stan McHann, SparkMeter
14. Pilot New Technologies In Controlled Environments
Our strategy involves adopting a phased rollout approach. We pilot new technologies in controlled environments to test their impact and effectiveness. This allows us to innovate responsibly, ensuring any new technology not only drives our business forward but also maintains the reliability our customers and team members depend on without letting the “tech” degrade genuine customer service. – Bill Akins, Chick-fil-A Inc.
15. Apply Tested Best Practices For Development
Use the same best practices for both innovative and stable projects. Innovation is often undertaken via a “shotgun” approach, but applying tested best practices, such as Agile development, ensures that innovative initiatives are systematically tested for stability and reliability. Use the same infrastructure teams, back-office processes, penetration testing and security reviews as you do for stable projects. – Luke Kyohere, Onafriq
16. Implement DevOps Or MLOps Practices
In my domain (artificial intelligence and data engineering), implementing DevOps or MLOps practices within an organization can really increase the speed of innovation while making sure, through careful monitoring and validation, that reliability standards are maintained. – Laurent Barcelo, Videns Analytics
17. Ask Critical Questions Based On Design Fundamentals
I balance innovation with stability and reliability by leveraging design fundamentals. I ask critical questions about failure points, testing frequency and resilience. This approach ensures that while we pursue innovative solutions, they are robust, thoroughly tested and reliable, maintaining a stable foundation for our technology initiatives. – Amit Singh, Deloitte Consulting LLP
18. Balance Innovative Ideas With Consistent Market Input
A good balance of evolutionary and revolutionary innovative ideas with critical and consistent input from the market or end users is key. This strategy ensures that the funnel of innovative initiatives is constantly refilled while the innovation center gets feedback, enabling you to distinguish the forest from the trees. – Nikhil Raut, UCC Environmental
19. Rigorously Test Small, Manageable Updates
A smart strategy is an incremental innovation combined with rigorous testing. Implement small, manageable updates to continuously improve without disrupting stability. Use automated tests to validate new features, ensuring they don’t introduce bugs. Deploy changes to a staging environment that mirrors production to catch issues before full deployment. This approach effectively balances innovation with reliability. – Sri Bhargav Krishna Adusumilli, MindQuest Technology Solutions LLC
20. Guard Your Team’s Work Time And Focus
To balance innovation with stability and reliability, ensure your team has uninterrupted work time and strong support so they can resist taking on new tasks. This approach allows the team to focus on current priorities, maintain steady progress and deliver high-quality outcomes without constant disruptions or shifting demands. – Santiago Jeyaseelan, Gainbridge®
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