An idea is worth a lifetime of change.

To come up with an idea is fairly difficult, but to mould it into something concrete, into
something that benefits the mass is a challenge in itself.
Having said that HBS is a business of providing solutions to our customers, which includes
integration of different subsystems - HVAC, Fire, Security, Energy & Safety. HBS also has a
very strong track record of integration of third party systems / subsystems to provide the
solutions to our end customers. This brings in more diversity in the HBS business model and
complexity in multiple domain integration.
The Innovation council of HTS HBS sat together and started thinking about how do we meet
our customer's complex requirements and also how do we improve customer's productivity?
That's the place "Aavishkar" concept evolved, Aavishkar means Innovation. The theme off
Aavishkar was to generate and prototype the ideas, which solves the customer's pain point
and improves the customer's productivity.

We at HBS strongly believed that the potential of an Idea would be unleashed when we
create a concept slice of the Idea that is proposed. Taking up the task of demystifying the
transformation of an abstract idea into physical reality.
The Innovation challenge had 5 phases to it.
Phase 1:
Idea Generation Phase:
We kept a 15 day window to receive proposals. It was an open challenge and participants
could submit their ideas either individually or in a team. The contestants had to fill the
following
1. The business problem.
2. What's the solution proposed?
3. What are the benefits in terms of revenue if implemented?
4. Who are the competitors in this area and their products?
5. Will there be any top line and bottom line growth through this idea?
6. How will it help to improve the HON productivity through this idea?
There was a huge buzz during these 15 days of idea generation stage across HBS India and
on the 15th day we received a whopping 52 Proposals.
Phase 2:
Idea Review Phase:
It was time to refine all the proposed solutions. We formed a core group of Subject Matter
Experts who could look into each of the solutions proposed.
The Innovation review committee spent time with each of the teams, groomed, merged and
refined the ideas. Some Ideas were combined to form a robust solution.
This phase was there for a week's time frame and each of the participants went back
satisfied after having a thorough review session. It was an experience of a life time for the
participants as they got to see various aspects of looking into a problem.
After a thorough review of ideas for one week, Aavishkar had 21 solutions which then
entered Phase 3.
During the review process the reviewers also identified ideas which could be filed as WIDS.
As many as 7 Ideas were identified and have been approved for WIDS during this phase.
Phase 3:
All the selected ideas were then shaped up with the help of 3 Workshops
a. TRIZ: This workshop was conducted by Dr. Venugopal Shankar (Innovation
Differentiation Lead-ACS) Various Triggers like SCAMPER, 9 WINDOWS and Ideal Final
Result were used to enhance the problem statement, scope and solution of the problem. At
this point in time the Problem statement and the proposed solution for all the ideas were
ready
b. TECHNOLOGY: This workshop was conducted by Ekambaram, Thiruman (Sr. Technology
Specialist). There were a lot of discussions on what Technology to be used for the proposed
solutions. An overview of Cloud, Mobile computing, SaaS, Frameworks was given. At this
point in time the Technology to be used to the proposed solution was ready
c. HUMAN FACTORS: This workshop was conducted by A, Triveni (Sr. Designer). This
workshop highlighted the significance of usability in an Application. Concepts like Power
User, Visual Noise, Personas, Interactions and User Environment was discussed in detail. At
this point in time the usability of all the proposed solutions were ready
Phase 4:
The problem statement, Solution approach, Technology and Usability were chalked out. It
was now time to implement a concept slice of the Proposal. Participants were given a
Month's time to come up with a concept slice.
Despite the Project pressures, all the teams put additional efforts and showed excellent
agility and came up with 17 Concept Slices.
Phase 5:
Then came the big day, the day where all the teams were supposed to present the concept
slices. Suresh Venkatarayalu (Vice President - HTS) was invited as the main judge
along with Dr.Anil (Engineering Fellow) and Dr.Shankar (Innovation Differentiation Lead).
All the participants were excited as they presented their ideas to the Panel of judges,
receiving accolades for what they achieved, and pointers for what they missed.
The Judges evaluated each idea with immaculate attention to detail. Even if the time was
running out they did not hurry things up. They weighed each of the solutions very
meticulously and then selected the Top 5 solutions.
HTS Vice President, Suresh Venkatarayalu then addressed the audience on how important it
is to have hunger for Innovation and to create products that make a difference. He also
stressed on the importance of doing a regular and thorough competitor analysis to be in line
with the Market. He ended with a parting note stating that he loved the energy with which
the ideas were implemented and would love to Judge Innovative Ideas as Innovation will
always be a Top Item in his agenda.
The event ended on a high as the judges announced the top 5 ideas and awarded them
Trophies.