Idea Management Software

Did you know?

The human mind thinks between 60,000-80,000 thoughts in a day. That’s about 2,500-3,300 thoughts per hour.

Just imagine how amazing it would be if even 1% of our thoughts were captured, recorded, and stored in a database to be developed into something new.

To ensure that powerful ideas don’t get lost as mere “thoughts”, businesses use idea management software to capture ideas that they can later evaluate and leverage for business advantage.

The overall benefits of idea management software are:

•  It helps to foster a culture of innovation and collaboration. This further helps businesses improve their products and services.

•  It boosts employee engagement and stakeholder participation.

We’ve put together this guide with relevant information to help businesses purchase the right idea management software. Here is what we’ll cover:

• What is idea management software?

• What are the deployment options for idea management software?

• What are some common features of idea management software?

What is idea management software?

Idea management software is a centralized platform that helps users capture ideas, then evaluate and develop them into products, services, or processes. They can categorize ideas for easy reference and manage them from inception to execution within the tool.

What are the deployment options for idea management software?

When you’re thinking of investing in idea management software, it’s important that you understand the deployment options. 

Cloud-based deployment: Cloud-based idea management software allows you to access it from anywhere and you don’t have to take on the additional cost of maintenance. This option is suitable for small and midsize businesses.

On-premise deployment: On-premise idea management software is accessible only on the server on which it has been installed. It may include the additional cost of maintenance and therefore, is more expensive upfront than cloud-based software. 

Key questions to ask a vendor before you buy: What is the preferred deployment method of your software?

What are some common features of idea management software?

Knowing about the features of idea management software will help you choose the software that’s most suitable for your business. Some of the common features you should know about include: 

Workflow customization: Rearrange steps within existing templates or create your own idea management workflows; control user participation and visibility in each step.

List of captured ideas in Planbox Innovate

Automated notifications: Send notification emails to participants to help them stay updated about the announcements and progress of ideas through the idea lifecycle.

Automated notifications in Ideawake

Collaboration tools: Collaborate on ideas using threaded discussions and file sharing; garner votes through interactive elements such as star rating, thumbs-up or thumbs-down rating, and buttons.

Idea scorecard in Qmarkets Idea Management

Campaign management: Create ideation campaigns and challenges to invite breakthrough ideas to solve business challenges; invite entries and contributions from employees and the public.

Submitting ideas in Ideawake

Mind mapping: Create graphic representation using a drag-and-drop interface to demonstrate how different elements of an idea are connected to each other.

 Mind mapping in Coggle

Idea lifecycle tracking: Track your ideas through each stage of the idea lifecycle to stay updated on their execution and completion.

Idea capturing and tracking in Aha!

Gamification: Motivate and engage your employees, consumers, and other stakeholders by incentivizing idea sharing. Award them points, badges, scores, and prizes to ensure continued participation and innovation.

Gamification in IdeaLab

Key question to ask a vendor before you buy: What are the kind of integrations that are available with your idea management software? 

Back to idea management software directory

*Note: The applications selected in this article are examples to show a feature in context, and are not intended as endorsements or recommendations, obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.