ASSESSING TECHNOLOGY RISK - A CASE-STUDY

Development of technologically complex products requires systematic mo nitoring of technical risk and of the pace and quality of technology m aturation as product development proceeds (1-5). This article presents lessons from a case study of technology development for two products during the second half of the 1980s at Xerox. If describes a method of analysis that was devised for monitoring the pace and quality of tech nology delivery. It also examines the root causes of departures from t he planned schedule, and extracts generalized countermeasures useful t o future product development teams. These suggestions am codified in a checklist for certain technology mileposts, especially those early in the product development schedule. Suggestions are made for a method t o assess technology risk.