Innovation Management Software: The Key 8 Differentiators in 2021

Last week, my manager assigned me a very interesting task. He asked me to explore what differentiates one innovation management software from the other. I went ahead and looked at various software available in the market. I was amazed to look at the variety of innovation management software present.

“The great differentiator in business is when an organization steps out and creates value from something never tried before.” - Kerry Baskins 

Every software has something unique to offer. This is the reason why it is difficult to choose an innovation management software for your organization. So today, I am here to share with you the differentiators I found useful. Hopefully, it will give you some indication to make the right choice.

1. Crowdsourcing of Innovative Ideas

Two heads, they say, are better than one. The ideas and innovation that are possible with collaboration are almost impossible singularly. An innovation management software that allows you to crowdsource ideas is almost certainly going to increase the quality and quantity of innovation. IdeaScale and BrightIdea both have this feature built into their systems.

2. Hackathons

Throw someone a challenge and you are more likely to find a solution than simply asking for one. What a great idea it is to throw open the playing field to people inside as well as outside your company! Literally, you’d find out-of-the-box solutions! This feature is available on Brightidea.

3. AI Powered

In a world that is moving in leaps and bounds towards AI-powered everything, why not have an innovation management software backed by AI? Planbox has interesting AI algorithms helping you through the innovation process. They have patented a technology called ‘Self-Driving’ Innovation.

This starts with understanding a problem an innovator may be facing and builds on that with useful data to find solutions. This AI gleans data from both internal and external sources, therefore, helps to simplify innovation tasks and the innovation process. Eventually, this makes the process more efficient, more accurate, and less risky. Imagine plugging in an idea and having your innovation management software give you related data from various sources!

4. Trend Tracking

It is so important to be ahead of the curve with innovation. Since the idea to patent journey is a long one, what’s hot now may not be by the time your idea is backed by a patent. Wouldn’t it be just great for an innovation management software to help track market trends that give you an indication of the space you should be innovating in? Idea Drop allows users to track trends to help in the innovation process. 

5. Gamification

Employees are filling in sheets and crunching numbers all day. Having a little fun mixed into a workday is never going to hurt. Gamifying an Idea Management Software is a stroke of genius. Like Jake Orlowitz said, “It's a play that helps us do serious things better.”

6. IP Address Whitelisting | Security

Ideas are the goldmine of revenue for an innovation-driven corporation. Protecting those ideas with the highest level of security is thus a priority. IP Whitelisting is a security feature that ensures such protection by allowing you to maintain a list of trusted IP addresses. Knowing that access to your ideas in your innovation management software is restricted is good for business. Most IMS offer such security. Viima provides IP Whitelisting as a security feature in its software. 

7. Realtime Updates

Resources are drained keeping tabs on patent applications and patents. IMS that provide real-time updates linked to the USPTO can prove to be immensely resource-saving. Such a feature is currently offered in docketing software that startups might not be ready to invest in. However, it would be great to have this feature in innovation management software to relinquish manual resources to pull the USPTO updates. Removing manual dependency and receiving automatic updates can reduce the delay in receiving status updates.

8. Workflow and follow through for complete life cycle

The journey from idea to patent is a long one. In an innovation-driven enterprise, keeping track of the status of each innovation is hard. Having an IMS that helps you track your innovation journey from start to finish can be a long-term resource-saving asset. Having an easy-to-view workflow through the journey is a definite must-have in our opinion.

The TIP tool, by Triangle IP, has a four (soon to become five) stage workflow. It has a simplified (1) Idea Capture dashboard which flows into the (2) Internal Vetting stage where the most thorough ideas are identified. The next stage is (3) Patent Drafting and (4) Patent Filing where patent attorneys become involved. The next stage that is a work in progress is (5) Portfolio Management where you can keep track of your patents and patent applications. 

Which of these features do you think are useful? What’s the most innovative feature you have come across in innovation management software?