Innovation Management
SOLUTION OVERVIEWINNOVATION CHALLENGESWELLSPRING SOFTWAREA BETTER WAY TO INNOVATE
Joint R&DVenturesContracts With
Federal Labs

UniversityCollaboration

THE WAY COMPANIES APPROACH INNOVATION
has changed. In the past, innovation was the result of one
inventor, one idea. Then came powerhouse R&D labs like
Edison’s Menlo Park, bringing onboard hundreds of thebrightest minds to engineer new products and think of newideas. More recently, companies have shifted away from large
R&D labs and begun to embrace the concept of Open
Innovation, relying on growing fleets of external partners,
consultants, suppliers, and other collaborators.
These external partners provide a network of knowledge
assets that include everything from subject matter expertise
to intellectual property, to newly commercialized
technologies. Connecting to these networks, managing
partner relationships, and identifying relevant knowledge
assets has become critical to the survival and continued
success of many companies. In fact, products that were once
produced entirely by one company now contain knowledge
assets from hundreds of network partners.

1915

ONE COMPANY

Data from the IRI 2016 R&D Trends Forecast show that ~40%of all companies will engage in joint R&D ventures next year,~28% will collaborate with federal labs, and ~33% will work with
university partners. These collaborations represent millions ofdollars in investment and long-term strategic decisions. Given
the scale of these partnerships, you would think that mostorganizations would have a dedicated process for managing
innovation partnerships.

“Most of our work is stored
in spreadsheets”
Innovation teams often rely on a mix of spreadsheets, email,and file sharing sites to store critical project data.

2017

200+ COMPANIES

Organizations can no longer innovate alone. Success depends
on collaboration with other companies, suppliers, andpartners. But how does an organization go from Open
Innovation the concept to Open Innovation the practice?

Many companies, however, lack a disciplined innovation
strategy. They rely on spreadsheets, email, and file sharing
programs to manage critical project data. This ad-hoc
approach often lacks the process, rigor, and control that youwould find in any other business operation. Managing
innovation activities in this way inevitability leads toincomplete data, poor execution, and at the end of the day,missed opportunities.
Innovation is too important to ignore, and yet few companies
have taken a serious look at enforcing best practices.
Every major business function, from sales, to HR, to financeand marketing has a system of record to enforce bestpractices. Why not innovation?

WELLSPRING SOFTWAREA BETTER WAY TO INNOVATE

THE WELLSPRING SYSTEM PROVIDES
A Unified Ecosystem
Wellspring centralizes every emerging technology, start-up, collaborative project, intellectualasset, license agreement, and unsolicited offer within your knowledge network. Wellspring allows
you to easily visualize your innovation infrastructure, easily find relevant data, and easily shareinsights across the organization. Control your network with one system for scouts, leadership, andpartners. Maximize your knowledge base by mapping out every new opportunity, every newtechnology, and every potential threat.

Tools to Capitalize on Opportunities
Wellspring empowers your innovation process. All of the workflows needed for technology review
and opportunity management are standardized within the system. Route and review new
opportunities, perform technical and business assessments, visualize project history and status,and document decision criteria. Wellspring allows you to enforce best practices and improve yourinnovation performance with a system of record for critical innovation activities.

“Wellspring scouting software allowed us to evaluate a 33%
larger portfolio without adding more staff”
Fortune 500 Technology Licensing Director

HOW IT WORKS
FIND TECHNOLOGIES

Wellspring Search Tool

Wellspring provides a search tool that connects allof your disparate databases, subscription journals,

Search commercial, free, and proprietarydatabases

and marketplaces. The tool allows users to import
information with a single click, eliminating needlessdata entry and reducing mistakes. The Wellspring

Exclusive access to emerging university
technologies

search tool allows users to quickly and easily scan

Automated importing of search results tostandardized templates

Wellspring also offers exclusive access to Flintbox,

databases for emerging technologies.

the leading digital marketplace for early stage
university technologies.

Click Here To Learn MoreEVALUATE OPPORTUNITES

Wellspring Evaluation Tool
Standardize evaluation criteria across theorganization
Automate assessment workflows and alerts
to SME’s
Capture overall project assessment in realtime, and track historic decision criteria andresults
Click Here To Learn More

Many innovation teams struggle with assessment
forms that aren’t standardized to any one process,unclear evaluation workflows, and lost decision
criteria.
Wellspring helps you control your process.
Evaluations are automated within the system so thatusers are guided to relevant subject matter experts.
Those experts are alerted when a task is due, andthe entire evaluation process and criteria arestandardized, so that everyone is on the same page.

HOW IT WORKS
MAP KNOWLEDGE ECOSYSTEMS

Wellspring Data ToolManaging innovation via spreadsheets and email

Catalog critical innovation data
Align business needs and technology
opportunities
Protect data with advanced, tiered
permission settings

leads to data that is not properly secured andinformation is difficult to find. Spreadsheets andemails are difficult to search and maintain.
Wellspring provides a intuitive, flexible solution. A
secure database built for innovation teams. Imagine
if you had a streamlined, centralized database withtiered permission access, history tracking, and filesharing built in. Wellspring replaces dozens ofClick Here To Learn Moread-hoc systems with a single, user friendly database.

GAIN INSIGHTS

Wellspring Reporting Tools

For many innovation teams, refining data,identifying trends, and reporting on results arePurpose-built dashboard reports acrossopportunities, capabilities, projects, andother activities

major challenges.
Wellspring is more than a repository for information;
it is a learning tool for professional innovation teams

Real-time monitoring of pipeline andevaluation phasesinterested in doing the best work they possibly can.
Develop a deeper understanding of where yourinnovation comes from and get a better handle on

Automated reporting to quickly andaccurately respond to business and market
needs

where your pipeline stands.
Wellspring provides powerful graphical reports,
flexible reporting options, and automation tools.

Click Here To Learn More