Month: May 2015

What is Research & Development (R&D)?

At InspiRD we get to visit R&D organizations across many industries. It is interesting to see that there is some confusion around what is R&D. Some firms define R&D as only scientific research. Others include New Product Development in R&D, but not sustaining product development. Yet others exclude incremental product development from R&D. Other names for R&D include Research and Engineering or Science and Technology. Even Wikipedia acknowledges that there is some variability about what is considered R&D:

The activities that are classified as R&D differ from company to company, but there are two primary models, with an R&D department being either staffed by engineers and tasked with directly developing new products, or staffed with industrial scientists and tasked with applied research in scientific or technological fields which may facilitate future product development. In either case, R&D differs from the vast majority of corporate activities in that it is not often intended to yield immediate profit, and generally carries greater risk and an uncertain return on investment.

There are many reasons why definition of R&D changes across companies: Corporate Culture, History, Organization Structure, etc. So, is there a good way to define what is R&D?
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Gartner selects InspiRD as a Cool Vendor in R&D

Gartner, the global leader in Information Technology research, has selected InspiRD as one of four “Cool Vendors in R&D for Manufacturing 2015”.  Here is a link to Gartner Research Director Michael Shanler’s blog post:

Here is what Gartner Research Director Michael Shanler said in the recommendation section of his research report:

“Consider these Cool Vendors when evaluating technologies to drive R&D innovation and give greater insight into decision making during NPD processes.”

To obtain the complete research, please contact your IT Department to see if they subscribe to Gartner where you can obtain the full report.  Or browse our Solutions page to learn more about our innovative products.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.