This class of software allows businesses to manage their various innovation practices digitally – enabling all relevant data around an innovation project to be organized and promoted in a secure, centralized location.
The terms ‘innovation management software’ and ‘idea management software’ are often used interchangeably. This is because most of the major innovation management software platforms facilitate idea submission, evaluation, and implementation. Other staples of this kind of software are collaboration features – i.e, giving users the means to brainstorm, comment, and vote on ideas – and gamification elements – i.e, providing rewards and recognition to users who perform actions on the platform.
Innovation management software from high-end vendors can sometimes enable admins to configure and modify the workflow to suit specific innovation projects. Data visualization functionality – such as graphs displaying the ROI metrics a new initiative has generated – are also standard amongst enterprise-grade vendors. Some of these vendors also have features to accommodate advanced use-cases, such as open innovation crowdsourcing, tech scouting.