Imaginatik Turbo-Charges its Collaborative Innovation Tool by Harnessing Suggestions from its Customer Base

Cost reduction is key for 2009 and the latest version of Idea Central

LONDON and BOSTON – 31st March 2009 – Imaginatik plc (AIM: IMTK), today released version 9 of Idea Central, the award-winning, enterprise-scale idea management software platform. Leading global companies including Pfizer, Xerox, Cargill, and CSC have used Idea Central to discover, develop, evaluate and implement ideas that have produced important new business opportunities saving millions of pounds.

Idea Central version 9 focuses on addressing the issues organizations have with creativity and collaboration. Taking the advice the firm typically gives to clients, Imaginatik developed the list of features for Idea Central version 9 through a series of one-week Idea Central online projects, with participation from some of Imaginatik’s leading customers. Their ideas for improvement were captured using the previous version of Idea Central. A team of Imaginatik innovation experts then identified the enhancements that would add the most value for clients, supporting the continuing growth of their successful programs.

Global leader in IT-enabled business services, CSC, recently made an important financial discovery by using Idea Central. “Idea Central was the ideal tool to pool the expert resources of our organization,” said Howard Smith, Global Lead for CSC Collective Intelligence. “By bringing all those involved in the business process together with finance experts and consultants, we developed ideas that led to an immediate and significant positive impact to our bottom line.”

Key Findings of Research and Enhancements

Looking to enhance Idea Central further, Imaginatik carried out research into those ideas that proved most valuable. Imaginatik identified that more than 90% of the top ideas selected for development are those collaborated on by more than one person. Therefore, visual and functional enhancements have been added in version 9 that encourage collaboration with the aim of improving the quality of the raw ideas generated.

Imaginatik's customers also identified the need for a comprehensive automated executive report. Executives and their teams can now view at a glance all the key metrics they may require, providing faster and deeper insights into how an organization generates its most valuable ideas.

Investing in the Best Ideas

At the heart of Imaginatik’s success is the firm’s ability to align management teams with goals, people, culture and processes, while delivering the ability to unlock the collective genius available to them. Through this understanding and the success of the Idea Central process, Imaginatik has developed key partnerships with its clients. User forums and workshops are held in Europe and the U.S to ensure clients promote best practice and facilitate learning.

“In the current economic climate, our customers are finding even more valuable uses for Idea Central, especially in the area of cost reduction. And our use of our own technology to tap into the thoughts of our customers was both eye-opening and gratifying as we listened to informed suggestions on how to make the software even more effective,” said CEO Mark Turrell. “The latest version of Idea Central allows for easier contribution and therefore increases the chances of businesses being able to identify important cost saving ideas.”

Through the launch of Idea Central version 9, Imaginatik is looking to continue delivering tangible value to its customers and grow its client base in the coming year.

About Imaginatik

Imaginatik is the leading provider of cost reduction, process improvement and collaborative innovation software and processes to the world's leading companies. More than 100 clients rely on Imaginatik's software, consulting and research to enable their best-of-breed innovation activities.

Named as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer for 2008 and a finalist for the IBM Lotus Awards 2008 in the Best Industry Solution category, Imaginatik's software and consulting services have helped clients discover significant sources of additional revenue, as well as tangible cost savings, process improvements and increased product pipeline. Imaginatik is also committed to developing strategic solutions in the field of innovation, working with academic institutions such as the London Business School and the Cass School of Business, London, as well as leading practitioners of corporate innovation.