R2O | Research to Operations

From a product development perspective, the R2O process is complicated enough. But success is not attainable based solely on a good research idea, development cycle, and technical implementation. As part of the R2O process, it is also essential to make the case for organization-wide implementation and manage the change. Unlike normal product development, where the consumer ultimately determines the fate of the product through their purchase decision, the R2O process creates a deliverable that in some functional manner should change the workflow of the practitioner to strengthen the organization . And unlike the consumers, who openly embrace the change when they make their purchase decision, practitioners are asked accept whatever is implemented for their use organization-wide. Even with strong R2O principles at play, only a small subset of the practitioners are involved in the process through discussions, demonstrations, and testbeds before the coming change reaches implementation. Ch...

It’s March, and Dick Vitale’s “three ‘S’” man is “super, scintillating, and sensational” on the basketball court. In R2O, liaisons should be subject-matter experts , but what attributes characterize a subject-matter expert (SME)? Should they exemplify the three ‘Ses’? Above all, it is important to recognize that a SME is designated relative to the environment in which he/she operates, and that there are multiple levels of expertise within a subject matter. Grandparents likely view their grandchildren as SMEs when it comes to performing certain tasks on the computer, but not all grandchildren are lead developers at Apple, Facebook, or Microsoft, where true SMEs in computer science work. When it comes to the latest technology, grandchildren have more expertise than their grandparents, but not as much as someone who performs a technical function as part of a job “day in and day out”. And for their role in troubleshooting their grandparents’ computer, grandchildren do not need a higher lev...

It is hopefully recognized that R2O processes are not specific to a certain scale or investment baseline. While it may be easier to conduct R2O activities with smaller groups and modest budgets, R2O activities should be coordinated for particularly large projects through different tiers, such that isolated developments requiring agility within the R2O cycle are successful. For example, as part of a new observing system, there is an overarching R2O process that commences with gathering needs and requirements and concludes with delivering new capabilities to the identified users. However, this process is likely not the one that eventually adds additional value to the asset. Instead, the high-level transition (delivery) is aligned with the initial proposal and investment. Therefore, the overarching R2O cycle is carefully monitored to ensure that benchmarks are attained on schedule and budget. This results in some rigidity that is inconvenient for attributes of quality R2O, despite its rel...