Operationalizing repeated innovation at one of the largest utility companies
DTE has an ongoing commitment to foster innovation within their culture, but past efforts to create an innovation team had failed. Launch by NTT DATA led the design, build, launch, and operation of DTE’s innovation Center of Excellence as an embedded partner alongside DTE’s internal teams.
Primary goals
Set up and steer an ongoing innovation program
Establish an innovation program, pipeline, & portfolio.
Create new products that deliver measurable ROI
Apply proven technology to deliver real business value.
Foster continuous growth and adaptability
Create a culture of innovation within a century old enterprise.
Doing different inside one of the largest energy companies in the US
As a 121-year-old public utility, DTE had an ongoing commitment to foster innovation within their culture. Hence their rally cry, “Do Different.” While the desire was there, strategically driving innovation throughout the enterprise required new skillsets and processes they didn’t have. Following the mutual success of the Insight program, DTE knew Launch was their go-to partner as they began operationalizing their innovation program. Founded in 2016, DTE’s innovation Center of Excellence now supports over 15 business units and has identified over half a billion dollars of value back to the company.
At DTE, we established a process for identifying and evaluating ideas, a structured operational delivery program, a managed pipeline and portfolio, and a custom brand and suite of marketing tools. Effective implementation protocol ensured ongoing support for the program and a recognized return on investment. Launch by NTT DATA continues to be a long-term strategic innovation partner at DTE.
Custom program & access to skills
DTE has been generating and distributing power to the Michigan area for over 100 years, and we customized their program to align with their vertical and culture. Innovation at DTE often meant applying proven tech to their industry in a way that hadn't been done before or discovering near-field adjacencies and applying them to their problems. Blending internal and external teams allows for healthy cross-team dynamics, rapid responses, flexibility, and impact on culture. DTE’s program continues to thrive under different management and conditions, a testament to its strength.
Executive marketing, communications, and change management
We brought the DTE Innovation program to life through custom branding, marketing materials, and a dedicated innovation website where employees can engage the Innovation Team to help them solve their toughest challenges. DTE engages stakeholders at every level early and often in the process. Communication and transparency during experimentation allows DTE to get to value quickly. When an idea proves it has potential, the buy-in is there to move swiftly to operationalize and scale.
Closing the innovation-execution gap
Successful outcomes from the Innovation Program included a concept leveraging custom hardware sent to customers enabling them to better track their energy usage. Another project leveraged AR for safety training in what would be high-risk real-life scenarios. Successful experimentation with proven and disruptive technologies has helped DTE realize their vision of innovation that drives impact across business units.
Embedded rapid response team
DTE’s ability to rapidly respond to shifting dynamics is a by-product of their long-term commitment and investment in an enterprise innovation program. Many business units within DTE turned to the innovation program for help during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team was able to respond in weeks instead of months with solutions that helped keep employees safe and keep the lights on for customers.
Innovation anchored in ROI
The Value Infusion Methodology™, created by Launch by NTT DATA, gives business leaders at DTE a clear value determination for innovation. With it, they can calculate and demonstrate defensible ROI using a standard method. The Value Infusion Methodology helps CEOs use data to make better decisions about what to bring to market and helps CFOs clearly prove ROI during what others call the “fuzzy front-end of innovation.”
Offering innovation as a service inside DTE
An important part of this long-standing program was coming up with and refining how internal DTE teams would access and consume the innovation Center of Excellence. A model was created to allow for internal stakeholders to tap this service as a billable resource, streamlining processes and catering to internal change makers who have a bias for action.
The impact
Running for over eight years, DTE Innovation is one of the industry's leading examples of innovation for its systems, maturity, growth, and sustainment. DTE’s commitment to challenge the status quo has brought over 300 projects into their innovation pipeline and realized $604 million dollars in lifetime value to the company.
