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The Research, Development and Engineering (RDE) capability aims to identify new technologies that can deliver business value to the organization.

‘New’ in this context means things that are new to the organization, including technologies, solutions, and usage models. These could be well established elsewhere (outside the organization) but would be considered new if they had not already been applied within the organization. Of course, ‘new’ also includes technologies that are universally new or emerging.

• Identify the promising technologies and usage models that are likely to deliver value.
• Limit investments in potentially unpromising technologies through phased investment decisions.
• Increase organizational awareness of the accepted approach for identifying and developing new technologies and usage models that are likely to deliver business value.
• Manage the pipeline of new technologies and usage models so that business value returns are optimized.

The Research, Development and Engineering (RDE) capability enables the organization to investigate how best to use new technologies and usage models to deliver business value.

Organizations are often challenged by the speed at which new technologies emerge, and many struggle to determine which technologies are the most suitable for their particular business needs^{1 title="Ogunyemi, A., and Johnston, K.A., 2012. Towards an organizational readiness framework for emerging technologies: an investigation of antecedents for South African organizations' readiness for server virtualization. The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries, 53(5), 1–30." target="_blank" rel="noopener">2}. How prepared an organization is to leverage new technologies can be influenced by several factors, such as being able to spot the significance of emerging technology trends, internal resistance to technological change, or the influence of external stakeholders ^{title="Ogunyemi, A., and Johnston, K.A., 2012. Towards an organizational readiness framework for emerging technologies: an investigation of antecedents for South African organizations' readiness for server virtualization. The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries, 53(5), 1–30." target="_blank" rel="noopener">2}.

To address such factors, an effective approach to the investigation of new technologies and how they might help support organizational objectives can offer significant value to an organization. By establishing an effective Research, Development and Engineering (RDE) capability, an organization can systematically investigate what new technologies and usage models could help it more readily achieve its objectives.

The Research, Development and Engineering (RDE) capability is the ability to investigate, acquire, develop, and evaluate technologies, solutions, and usage models that are new to the organization and might offer value. The Research, Development and Engineering (RDE) capability covers:

• Ensuring that research into new technologies is managed appropriately, so that risk to the organization is minimized, while opportunities are maximized.
• Linking research into new technology to potential usage models that can benefit business units.
• Coordinating a research pipeline of promising new technology projects, through a series of phased investment decisions, as understanding of feasibility and relevance is enhanced.
• Managing the research portfolio to better align with business goals.
• Instilling an organizational culture that promotes research and innovation.
• Measuring the value contributed by technology research activities.

Representative POMs are described for RDE at each level of maturity.

2Basic

• Practice

  Maintain a repository of intelligence sources for comprehending new technologies in targeted areas of interest.

  Outcome

  The repository of intelligence sources helps ensure the organization is up to date with technology trends.

  Metric

  Number of new technologies that are flagged for further investigation.

• Practice

  Implement basic governance practices for major new technology research projects — for example, those relating to project approval, project review, and project cancellation.

  Outcome

  There is visibility on the status and resourcing of major new technology research projects.

  Metric

  Number of new technology research projects analysed by project stage — for example, basic research, prototype, business case, recommendation.

• Practice

  Assign formal responsibility to specific employees from the IT function for the analysis of major new technology research projects and for the identification of likely benefits.

  Outcome

  A formal mandate is assigned to ensure consistent consideration of the benefits and implications arising from proposed new technology research projects.

  Metrics

  • Number of proposals evaluated.
  • Percentage of proposals approved.

• Practice

  Promote informed risk-taking by recognizing that discontinued projects are not failures, but rather opportunities to inform learning.

  Outcome

  The morale of employees involved in new technology research is improved, and employees are encouraged to propose new ideas and projects.

  Metrics

  • Number of new ideas or projects proposed.
  • Number of awards given for failed projects that generated key learnings.

• Practice

  Measure the performance impact of major new technology research projects.

  Outcome

  The transparency of major new technology research projects is increased, leading to improvements in areas such as resource allocation.

  Metric

  Percentage of new technology research projects with appropriate metrics assigned.

3Intermediate

• Practice

  Define a process to record and develop new technology research concepts, to record decisions, and to identify risks.

  Outcomes

  • The rationale and implications of all new technology research projects are articulated, agreed, and clearly documented.
  • IT and business benefits are taken into account.

  Metric

  Number and percentage of new technology research projects tracked.

• Practice

  Formally set aside resources and funding for new technology research projects.

  Outcome

  New technology research is perceived at all levels as a worthwhile and distinct activity, attracting commensurate attention and resources.

  Metric

  Percentage of the IT budget formally allocated to new technology research activity.

• Practice

  Standardize a business case template for new technology research in conjunction with other business units.

  Outcome

  New technology research projects can be more easily compared on a like-for-like basis.

  Metric

  Number and percentage of new technology research projects using an approved business case template.

• Practice

  Encourage employees from the IT function and other business units to suggest potential usage scenarios for new technologies.

  Outcome

  There is timely identification of new technologies that may be of benefit to the organization.

  Metric

  Number of new ideas or projects proposed by employees.

4Advanced

• Practice

  Engage with key technology suppliers on their research activities and new technology offerings.

  Outcome

  The choice of what new technology research projects to pursue is better informed in relation to emerging opportunities.

  Metric

  Number of engagements and resulting opportunities identified.

• Practice

  Collate lessons learned from ongoing and completed new technology research projects.

  Outcome

  The governance process for managing ongoing and future new technology research is improved.

  Metric

  Number of insights collected across the IT function from new technology research projects.

• Practice

  Communicate an integrated approach throughout the organization for identifying and evaluating new technologies.

  Outcome

  Duplication of research effort is avoided and research expertise is enhanced.

  Metric

  Percentage of employees who are aware of approaches for identifying and evaluating new technologies.

5Optimized

• Practice

  Engage with industry networks in setting standards/regulations for emerging technologies.

  Outcome

  The organization will be more informed of technology trajectories, and may be able to exert influence on its direction.

  Metrics

  • Representation on relevant industry boards.
  • Number of industry network events attended.

• Practice

  Continually evaluate and refine new technology research activities across the organization.

  Outcome

  The performance of new technology research improves continually — for example, in the results it delivers, in its use of resources, and in its timeliness.

  Metric

  Frequency of review meetings to evaluate contributions of new technology research activities across the organization.

This capability was introduced in Revision 16 as a new critical capability.

It was deprecated in Revision 18.10, being replaced by Innovation Management (18.10).

The following CCs cover topics that are related to RDE in some way:

EAMEnterprise Architecture Management

Guidelines and rules derived from the enterprise architecture, within which new technologies should eventually operate

GITGreen Information Technology

Direction on how research into emerging technologies could assist environmentally sensitive computing

IMInnovation Management

Details on activities to encourage IT-enabled innovation

IMInnovation Management

Facilitating broad-scale IT-enabled innovation activities

ITGIT Leadership and Governance

Guidelines for governance of research and establishing a decision-making process

KAMKnowledge Asset Management

Access to knowledge assets to support research

SDSolutions Delivery

Developing technologies beyond the proof of concept stage

SDSolutions Delivery

Development of new technologies for enterprise deployment

SPStrategic Planning

Direction and information about potential themes, ideas, and opportunities for research