Case Study: BAE Systems

BAE Systems is an international company engaged in the development, delivery and support of advanced defense and aerospace systems in the air, on land, at sea and in space. The company designs, manufactures and supports military aircraft, surface ships, submarines, radar, avionics, communications, electronics and guided weapon systems.

A pioneer in technology and next-generation intelligent defense systems, BAE Systems wanted to ensure that the company was investing in the most important future products, technologies and strategic capabilities. To meet this objective, BAE Systems began to develop forward-looking roadmaps to enhance the company's strategic insights into R&D capabilities, program requirements and technology developments, but found that roadmap information became quickly outdated. BAE Systems also discovered that these initial roadmaps didn't apply an easy-to-understand roadmapping framework to efficiently share planning information across global teams.

"Using Vision Strategist, we can understand the key drivers for new product platforms, technologies and capabilities, and get real-time roadmaps into the hands of cross-functional stakeholders who need critical, accurate planning information."

James Wasson
Chief Technology Officer
BAE Systems

The Challenge

BAE Systems' objective was to develop focused, long-range roadmaps that could be easily shared across distributed teams, and provide increased visibility into the impact of crucial emerging technologies, products and capabilities. Through the process of roadmapping, BAE wanted to enhance its ability to identify, develop and fund the most important technologies and capabilities that meet customer, safety, and mission requirements.

To meet these objectives, BAE Systems needed a collaborative roadmapping system to dynamically connect future products, technologies and capabilities being developed across the organization. As noted by Dr. James Wasson, Chief Technology Officer of BAE Systems, "the company needs to understand the key drivers for new product platforms, technologies and capabilities, and get real-time roadmaps into the hands of cross-functional stakeholders who need critical, accurate planning information."

The Solution

After a successful pilot of Alignent's Vision Strategist solution, a selection taskforce at BAE Systems decided to adopt the roadmapping software on a broader scale. Vision Strategist's easy-to-understand roadmap taxonomy, flexibility and scalability were all factors in the company's decision to adopt the product. Today, BAE Systems has hundreds of executives, technologists and strategic planners using Vision Strategist roadmaps.

With a centralized roadmapping database, BAE Systems has better visibility into planning information across the company, and a more efficient process to access, manage, and share accurate up-to-date roadmaps. Using Vision Strategist roadmaps, strategic planners can understand the future technologies, products and programs that BAE Systems is developing, and the ripple effect of potential changes and how they will unfold over time.

In addition, according to Adam Barnard, Strategic Program Manager at BAE Systems, "By sharing roadmaps using Vision Strategist, we not only have greater visibility into R&D programs, we can visualize and understand how technologies, products and capabilities are linked. It is our goal to ensure that we are using Vision Strategist roadmaps as a forward-looking planning solution that will help us to fund the most important projects."

Vision Strategist is most widely used in BAE Systems Platforms Solutions, a line of business within BAE Systems Inc. Electronics and Integrated Solutions Operating Group.

The Value

With Vision Strategist, BAE Systems can easily identify, visualize and map emerging product, technology and capabilities across the company. In the first 6 months, the customer recognized benefits such as:

  • Understanding the most important business opportunities that require funding and when
  • An easy way for distributed teams to communicate forward-looking plans and understand the relevance of planning information at any point in time
  • Enhanced alignment between R&D investments with program requirements and market drivers to align the company's strategic intent with strategic action
  • A more defined, repeatable roadmapping process standardized through a collaborative roadmapping solution