IbO suite

Functionalities included in IbO suite

IbO suite is the most powerful predefined IbO pack, with which can carry out the entire management of ideas and innovation in your company. Includes many additional features that let you:

 ►  Focus innovation on objectives and multiply ideas.
 ►  Make a more effective management of ideas.
 ►  Customize both management and appearance.
 ►  Monitor and track in real time.
 ►  Make even easier the participation.

See below in more detail what can the included features offer:

SET INNOVATION GOALS AND MULTIPLY THE IDEAS IN YOUR COMPANY

Goals
innovation targets, to get more focused results and a greater commitment

Make sure from the beginning that the ideas will drive you where your company wants to go. The quality of the Innovation increases when we know where we want to come with it. With IbO you will be able to communicate concrete goals with which the persons can identify. This way will obtain more focused ideas, more focused results and a greater commitment to the innovation.

Can set your objectives both in economic terms and in the success indicators of your choice.

Goals includes monitors of the objectives allocation and tracking of results. In two clicks and ever up to date.

Taskforces & Challenges
get a large continuous flow of focused innovations

Multiply the ideas in your organization. With Taskforces & Challenges you will have three ways to obtaining ideas:

1. Taskforces: innovation teams formed to one only purpose, reaching a target by means of focused innovations. With IbO you will be able to manage them, since its setting up to the putting in operation of the innovations.
2. Challenges: launched to the organization and where all the members are invited to contribute. A Challenge is a target that the company wants to achieve with the people support, for which asks them to contribute their ideas.
3. You can also use the Suggestions Box to capture and manage the ideas spontaneously arisen. Easy and very effective.

Includes detailed tracking monitors of each Tarkforce and Challenge, as well as of the Suggestions Box. Are ever updated so you always know their performance and the quantified results that deliver.

This feature allows you to have up to 4 taskforces and 4 challenges active simultaneously, although the total number is unlimited including those inactive or already finished. This is more than enough to maintain a sustained innovation in most SMEs and departments of large companies. However, if deemed appropriate you can increase the number of simultaneous active taskforces and challenges in the section Extensions.

Inducers
quality targets of the innovation process

To ensure that innovation offers the expected results, it's necessary to manage the quality of the innovation process. Inducers allows you to establish quality targets on this process. This way you can optimize the performance of IbO and induce better and more focused results. There are four basic aspects of the process that you can manage with this extension:

1. System performance (gradual development of ideas).
2. Flow of ideas (flow of ideas in the process).
3. Time-to-Market (time development of ideas).
4. Stagnant ideas (agility of the process).

Inducers already includes templates of inducer goals and its indicators. You only need to set the target to reach and the deadline; IbO will collect the data automatically and provide updated information on the quality of the innovation process.

EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF IDEAS

Risk management
keep uncertainties under control in an easy and effective way

Innovation involves exploring unknown paths and this carries a risk. This does not mean we should resign ourselves. Risk management allows for a flexible and effective control of the uncertainties associated to any innovation and of the risks they mean. Likewise, lets you document the settlement (positive or negative) and the risk decision.

This feature allows you to take informed decisions in this regard, both to recommend the discarding of an idea as to decide the controlled risk taking. In this last case can also define the corresponding contingency plan.

In addition, you will know in a couple of clicks if your people are doing a proper risk management.

Tasks & Workshops
integrated in the innovation system

It takes more than having ideas to say that are innovating, right? Must manage the ideas properly to become innovations able to deliver quantifiable profit. This means you have to work on them, assign tasks, hold work sessions (face to face or virtual), and so on.

Tasks & Workshops allows you to integrate this management in IbO, including allocation of tasks, the calling to workshops and the tracking of both the tasks execution and the attendance.

In addition, you get visual and graphic information on these issues, so that you can intervene when necessary.

Incubator
an additional way to organize the ideas for its management

Incubator is a functionality specially designed to facilitate the monitoring of the ideas development by the innovation manager and the innovation council members.

This is an additional way of organizing ideas for its management, grouping them by stage, and gathering all the ideas in one place regardless of their origin –unlike other sections of IbO, where will find the ideas grouped by its origin: Suggestions Box, Challenges or Taskforces–.

It's an alternative and useful way of organizing the ideas when is a question of monitor the ideas as a whole and is useful for users who need a more global view of the nursery of the company's ideas.

YOUR COMPANY, YOUR INNOVATION WAY. CUSTOMIZATION

Customizable parameters of the innovation process
stages, screening, time-to-market, participation thresholds...

Customize several parameters of the innovation process for a more precise and focused management, or so that IbO suits better the company circumstances.

With this extension you can customize:

• ► Name and purpose of the development stages of the ideas: Is there any denomination of these stages with which your company would feel more identified? Now you can modify them for a better integration of IbO in the culture of your company.
• ► Screening criteria of the ideas on each development stage: Carry out a management of the ideas even more precise and rigorous by establishing several sets of criteria for the development and filtering of the ideas to be used in several contexts. For example, a set of criteria to filter ideas on marketing, another for ideas on manufacturing, another one on strategic ideas, and so on. Even a set of criteria for a specific innovation project. This way, the development of each idea will be so precise and rigorous as required by the type of idea or its context.
• ► Time-to-Market: The management of the Time-to-Market is one of the determinant factors of the results obtained by means of innovation. Now you can establish the time that wishes that the ideas invest in each development stage. IbO carries out a detailed monitoring for every idea and informs you automatically about any deviation of your targets (in real time). Develop innovations in a shorter period and will obtain a better competitive position and greater profits.
• ► Participation thresholds: IbO informs you in real-time on the grade of people participation in innovation. This functionality lets you also establish the rate of participation that want to reach. This feature is really helpful when trying to spread the culture of innovation in your company.

The configuration of these parameters is very simple and intuitive and is not required at all from a technical background to do it.

Customizable user profiles
fully tailored management of permissions

IbO framework includes ten predefined user profiles in the system. With them you can manage access permissions of different users to different sections of the innovation system. Can even restrict access to information on innovative projects that you have tagged as confidential, or concealing financial information if appropriate.

However, if you think that a more accurate profile would be somewhat advantageous in your company, this functionality lets you define your own customized user profiles with their particular set of access permissions. Full control over what users can access which section!

Themes
skins & logos to make IbO fit your corporate image

Your company is going to interact through IbO both with company's employees as with customers, partners and other external agents. Wouldn't it be great if IbO could adapt to your corporate image?

Themes provides 15 skins to choose from (combinations of colors and styles) and allows you to replace the main IbO logo by the one of your company. The result is the seamless integration of IbO as a system of your own company.

MONITORING AND TRACKING IN REAL-TIME

Innovation Scorecard
a complete, quick and always updated overview
 

How do we know if the innovation is working beyond the good intentions? Moreover: how do we know if the time and money invested in the innovation are more profitable here than in another place? Any significant process needs indicators and metrics of its results and execution.

The Innovation Scorecard gives you at a glance an overall view of three basic aspects of the innovation management: the achievement of real results, the good execution of the innovation process and the human factor. Thus you obtain a whole vision and a useful monitoring tool.

1. Achievements: Innovation Scorecard provides you with measurements on financial results and success indicators that you can define, so that you know anytime the potential and reached results. Furthermore, the objectives of the innovation are both to get profits and obtain competitive advantages, so the Innovation Scorecard also shows you the impact of the innovations in the competitive position of the company.
2. Innovation process: The process indexes show you how is working the innovation process in its critical points, so that you know where to direct your actions to achieve a more effective process capable of obtaining better results.
3. People: The innovation management is also the management of the people since these are one of its main ingredients. The Innovation Scorecard allows to know at a glance the performance in some relevant aspects, as the participation or the commitment.

The diagrams are clear and get down to business. Furthermore, the information is permanently updated and can consult it in just two clicks.

Innovation Scorecard delivers its full potential when used in conjunction with Goals and Taskforce & Challenges.

Individual users tracking
monitor the innovative performance of each participant
 

 Wouldn't it be great being able to track the innovative performance of each participant person? Individual users tracking lets you know in detail the level of individual performance, commitment and results of each participant in innovation.

People appreciate be valued for their actions. Now you can give documented individual feedback for each person and manage their performance and commitment in a more fair and accurate way.

You will get this valuable information permanently updated and within easy reach. Furthermore, don't need any special configuration nor endless data entry, IbO does it for you.

Customized charts & lists
data segmentation, custom lists
 

This feature allows you to modify the design criteria of the diagrams or listings in order to get more specific tracking information that you could be interested in. In addition, you can save your design criteria so that can consult your own custom charts and lists when needed. The functionality includes:

• ♦  Data segmentation
• ♦  Customizable charts (coming soon)
• ♦  Focused listings of ideas
• ♦  Customizable listings

The configuration of these elements is very simple and intuitive and is not required at all from a technical background to do it.

MAKE INNOVATION EASIER FOR PEOPLE AND OBTAIN INNOVATORS

Unlimited users
so many innovators as you want

Involve as many people as you wish in your company's innovation: your customers, all your suppliers and distributors, the entire staff of the company, and so on. You decide.

Unlimited users is especially recommended if you intend to extend the culture of innovation across your company or want to exploit the huge potential of Open Innovation.

Contextual video-tutorials
advices and best practices in two clicks just when you need it

 This feature includes an extensive collection of contextual video tutorials that you can access just when you need them, depending on what you are doing at IbO and your user profile. This way IbO helps to acquire best practices, optimize the innovation management and solve any question that could arise.

This feature is coming soon (not yet available). Request now and enjoy the video tutorials as they become available.

Teletype
a tool to support communication
 

The management of the Innovation Culture, people and its commitment also requires a suitable internal communication plan. Teletype is a tool of support to the communication that allows you to plan and run simple but effective communication campaigns on innovation.

Design a headline and the text content for each communication, enclose an image and establish a date for the commencement and end of the campaign. IbO will launch the campaign automatically and be in charge of withdrawing it in the stated date.

Communicate goals, encourage participation, offer advice and best practices, announce achievements, publicize awards and so on. When users come into IbO, they do it through "My Homepage" (welcome page), and is in this point of forced step where they will find your communications in an attractive, simple format and of easy reading.

ADDITIONAL WARRANTIES  (optional)

Guaranteed profit
you make money or we will refund the double. so simple!

Wouldn't it be amazing eliminate all risk, knowing for sure that will make money? Well, that's exactly what you get with our additional warranty: Guaranteed profit.

We are so confident in the economic returns that IbO may bring to your company that we guarantee it: you make money with IbO or we will refund the double.

All you have to do is using IbO to manage ideas and innovation. It's easy!

This feature guarantees that you will get profit along the next 12 months that the warranty remains active (uninterruptedly). Thus your economic performance will be ever safe while you maintain this additional warranty.

This feature is optional in IbO suite. If you want it, just check the relevant option before adding IbO suite to cart. Can also request it later from the Extensions section.

Features common to all IbO packages

Innovation focused on results

Obviously generating ideas it's not enough. It's necessary to manage them properly so that they turn into innovations capable of offering quantifiable profit. IbO includes a stage-gate process to check step-by-step whether each idea:

• ♦  it's capable of producing real results (in enough quantity and in the wished direction)
• ♦  it's suitable economically
• ♦  it's feasible technically
• ♦  exists an exploitable opportunity or need
• ♦  the risks have been properly managed
• ♦  and so on…

In this way the company can choose which ideas deserve to continue. The stage-gate process consist of several phases of maturation and development of each idea, since it's generated or captured until is ready for putting in operation.

Streamline the innovation budget

Another main function of this stage-gate process is to streamline the innovation budget, since the budget allocated to each idea is progressive and proportional to its potential. Only the most promising ideas obtain relevant budgets, and do it gradually.

Open Innovation

Much of successful innovations emerge from collaborations with external elements to the company. With IbO you may also include the Open Innovation in your system to boost the innovation outcomes.

Have a flexible and effective tool with which you can easily establish when you want close collaborations with partners, suppliers, customers, consumers, institutions, universities, consultants and any external agent you want to invite.

You can seek the cooperation of these elements at any level: punctual or continuous, in the whole system or just in certain innovation projects, just for contributing ideas or for taking part in its development by means of mixed innovation teams (internal and external).

Make the most of the features that IbO offers to manage these collaborations with persons and companies around the world with the same efficacy as if they were meeting in their own facilities.

On the Cloud

IbO is a service 'on the cloud' (safe private cloud), thus you incur no hardware costs or maintenance. Also avoid software installations, even the updates since it will be permanently updated automatically. We take charge. This way you can focus all your attention and resources on innovation.

Furthermore, it has some additional financial advantages: given that your company buys a subscription to the service, this will renew only if obtains suitable returns. Therefore, investment in innovation management turns into a variable cost.

Scalable

IbO adapts itself to the application environment that you decide, since a department up to the whole company, since a SME up to a big company. Many companies prefer to begin with a nearby environment and under control, extending then the system of innovation management to the rest of the company. With IbO can do it, and when you need to extend the system of innovation IbO will adapt itself automatically.

Furthermore, IbO manages innovations all over the line, since radical innovations up to incremental improvements. And along the company, since any business function up to the strategy.

You can add new extensions to your IbO system, simply request them from the Extensions section. Nor does it require any installation on your part. We take care to activate the extension in your IbO license and deliver it ready to use.

Multilingual

IbO may be used in English and Spanish, depending on the preferences of each user.
Would you like some another specific language? Contact us.

Operational requirements

For the proper functioning of the system you need:

• ♦  Internet connection.
• ♦  Browsers (many others are suitable too):
        - Windows: Internet Explorer 8+, Firefox 3.6
        - Mac: Safari 5+, Firefox 3.6
        - Linux: Firefox 3.6, Chrome 8+
• ♦  The user experience is better with monitor resolution: 1024×768 or higher.