Giga Information Group - "Idea Management Software: Structure for an Ad Hoc Process"

Idea Management Software: Structure for an Ad Hoc Process

December 2002

This analyst report describes the corporate needs concerning Idea Management software, and investigates the different approaches taken by software vendors, including Imaginatik, in addressing the issues. The report is part of a series of three reports, including "Idea Lifecycle" and "Putting Idea Management Software to Work".

The report outlines the major functional areas of Idea Management, defined as Workspace, Repository, Search, Collaboration Tools, Workflow, Classification and Weighting Tools, Campaign Management, Value Analysis Tools, Idea Portfolio Analysis Tools, Reward and Incentive Management, and Process Improvement Measurement Functionality. The report considers additional areas such as Security, Integration with External Systems, and Flexibility. The report compares vendor approaches in each area, with Imaginatik mentioned as the only vendor with functionality in all areas.

In terms of implementation, Giga warn that "Idea Management software can provide structure for the Idea Management process but cannot itself be that process". They strongly urge companies to consider software that can be configured to the customer's needs, and to be aware of the difference between customization (i.e. the consultant or software vendor makes tailor-made changes to code on an ongoing basis to make it fit the organization's requirements) and configurability (i.e. customers can make the adjustments themselves within the core software code).

The complete reports can be purchased from the Giga Information Group web site at www.gigaweb.com.