End of July this year, SAP SE released its software for inspiring and managing the fuzzy front-end of the innovation funnel (see HERE).

innovation-3’s Frank Mattes played a part in shaping the software and was hence invited to be part of the global launch event. During the event, Frank was asked on his view on the software. Here’s his statement:

“innovation-3’s clients are advanced in their innovation maturity. They’ve invested significant resources in getting their strategy right, defining the best processes, implement an effective organization, drive culture change and build up strong innovation networks. So we can reasonably well assume that these firms know what they are talking about when we discuss innovation management software. It turns out that the discussion always zero in on five features that a best-in-class software for filling and managing the fuzzy front-end needs to have:

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• Raising the signal-to-noise ratio; We are living in a noisy world. 90% of all scientists who have ever lived, live today. And they produce technology and IP. And consumer tribes are organizing globally in social networks. Every day, 5 billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook – Some of it is innovation-relevant. A best-in-class software helps via Big Data analytics in isolating the innovation signals from the noise.
• User-friendliness; Once the innovation signals are coming in, a best-in-class software will be so user-friendly that people are engaging on the global platform and turn signals into valuable ideas.
• Connecting ideas and people; A best-in-class software will have strong algorithms that connect new ideas to existing ideas and ideas with experts – internal ones as well as external ones – based on their ‘innovation footprint’
• Supporting innovation networks; A truly leading software would allow the connected experts to build rapidly innovation networks that support the ideation and the work on the ideas. These networks may be open or confidential, collaborative or competitive, inside the firm or transcending the firm’s boundaries – depending on the nature of the innovation topics and the ideas on hand.
• Integration; A best-in-class software for the fuzzy front-end will integrate well. Not only with downstream execution systems or meta-systems for managing portfolios but also with Enterprise 2.0 platforms, where nowadays a lot of innovation-related collaboration takes place.

[/list]Looking around, I see currently only one software delivering on all of these aspects. This software is SAP Innovation Management. Therefore it is more than fair to say, that currently SAP Innovation Management is the best-in class software for filling and managing the fuzzy front-end.”

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If you are interested in the video of the global launch event – which includes not only the statements of innovation-3’s Frank Mattes but also a lengthy demo of the software – just drop us a line in the contact forms on this page.