Tackling Telecom: Innovation at Telus

This month we're featuring an interview with Bob Petrovic, Director of Services Planning at Telus. In his role at one of Canada's leading telecommunication companies, Bob has been closely involved with managing innovation and sheparding new communication products through the new product process.

As Bob is at the forefront of one the fastest growing segments in virtual communication, mobile services, I was interested in his take on managing innovation. Huge capital expenditures are common in the telecommunications industry, so Bob has a common challenge on a bigger scale, in these economic times - trying to manage long-term investment with short term risk.

In times of financial crisis where companies of all sizes are challenged with funding projects, innovation tends to come from those smaller, more nimble and less capital intensive companies. However, on the telecommunications front, where building the infrastructure takes massive amounts of money, larger companies with legacy systems have the advantage.

In my interview with Bob I was particularly struck by his comments regarding the disconnect that often occurs between Marketing and R&D. In a technology company, in particular where new product development tends to reside with those involved in technology development, this

communication gap can mean the difference between being first to market with an innovative and successful product and time spent developing products that don't meet consumers' needs.

I've talked before about how crucial I believe it is to develop strong working relationships between Marketing and Product Development. Cross-training and working groups comprised of members of both departments tend to improve communication and prevent "orphan" products. I've seen this time and time again, where a great technology product lacks a champion in marketing and so languishes in development stage or the reverse, when marketing research uncovers a consumer need but, without R&D support never moves beyond the idea stage.

In the fast moving and competitive telecommunications marketplace, this type of disconnect can mean the difference between being first to market, and obtaining critically important patents and scrambling to play catch-up as the industry moves forward. Marketing is tasked with correcting identifying the drivers that rule the market is critical and communicating that to those responsible for developing products to meet those needs. When this type of communication breaks down, the result is lost time and lost opportunities.

Bob points out in our interview how critical it is for those of us on the forefront of innovation to reach out beyond out own industries for new ideas and expand beyond our computer screens for ideas on managing innovation. I know you'll enjoy reading his thoughts on managing innovation in this critically important time.

What is your role at Telus?

My primary responsibility at TELUS is for consumer services planning. The scope of the role is broad, ranging from development of product strategies through to incubation of new mobile and broadband services. The goal for these activities is to align activities across the organization & assess emerging opportunities.

In your opinion what are the key trends affecting your industry?

Economic conditions are obviously a key consideration for network operators, impacting a range of decisions from market planning to capital spending. This will be an ongoing consideration for mobile and wireline service providers for the foreseeable future.

In terms of technology trends, it's fair to say that the rise of 3G adoption, driven by smartphones and mobile applications, is a key mobile trend. Video continues to be a key theme in the home with an increasing number of options for time & placeshifted viewing. As with any trend, there are opportunities and risks that need to be understood and acted upon.

How do you measure innovation success?

Commercial endeavors are ultimately measured by profitability and I don't think innovation can be treated differently. Successful innovations will be those that drive usage and adoption in a sustainable way - they have to fulfill a need and be convenient so that people will want to use them. While forecasting commercial success for new initiatives can be tricky, convenience, as measured across economic (price, cost) and esthetic (ease of use) dimensions, is usually a pretty good indicator of future performance.

What is a biggest pitfall that impedes successful innovation?

In any industry, a disconnect between technology and marketing organizations is probably the greatest hindrance to innovation. Opportunities that arise in one area may not be fully appreciated in the other. Maintaining an on-going conversation across these groups goes a long way to realizing opportunities appropriately by managing priorities & expectations.

What is an example of an innovative company that people have never heard of?

In my industry (and hometown), Teradici stands out as a company that's using technology to solve some real problems today with a great vision for the future. They develop thin client solutions that push computing power into the cloud efficiently and transparently.

Outside my industry, I really like what folks like HippoRoller and Kyoto Energy are doing by creating low-cost, simple solutions to real-world problems for emerging nations. Both are applying innovation in a way that increases convenience for the basic needs of life.

List a few of your favourite sites on innovation.

I find myself gravitating to books more than websites for understanding the art & science of developing ideas - I really liked Blue Ocean Strategy and find myself going back to it often.

Lightreading.com is a great site for telecom developments and they do a great job of covering startups which helps me keep a pulse across a wide range of my industry's topics.

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Bob Petrovic is the Director of Services Planning for TELUS Consumer Solutions. In his decade with TELUS he product managed the mobile computing services portfolio from early telemetry to mobile broadband. Prior to joining TELUS, he launched a number of industry-first solutions for Internet developers. Bob has a Bachelor of Mathematics (Computer Science) from the University of Waterloo. He lives in Vancouver with his wife, 2 kids, and some fish.