Generally, before opting for a CI solution, three questions naturally spring to mind:
– What are the features offered by the tool?
– Do they fit my needs?
– And at what cost?
To help you answer these questions, many comparative benchmarks – some proposed solutions by publishers themselves – are available online. Also we shall not dwell here on these three questions.
However, sometimes these questions, paramount are hey are, yet obscure other essential elements to consider before deciding.
In addition to functionality and cost, we identified 5 other points that seem equally important to consider before choosing a Competitive Solution solution suitable to most needs:
Easy to use?
This seems obvious, but a CI tool needs to be simple and ready to use, with a smooth learning curve to be grasp bt all, not only true professional CI experts.
This is especially important when you want to give a collaborative dimension to CI inside a company, as it will facilitate and scale-up deployment and operational effectivness. As still many traditional monitoring softwares are limited by their quite steep learning curve, it will be therefore only given to a few people that have the time and skills to master these. But with the process of digitalization came the need to give access, and makes participate most employees to the CI process inside the company. Will it be possible to train hundreds or even thousands of potential users with a heavy, complicated solution ? -Surely not!
Let us not forget that a good CI tool should be designed to respect the rule of 3U, namely: Useful, usable and used.
Viedoc, always remember, as a consulting company, that it was to answer its own needs that intelligence solution was designed in the first place. As users, we want the same thing as our customers: A simple solution, quickly operational that works and save us time. !
Easy to manage?
We regularly hear users of CI solutions complaining about the complexity of settings. This tedious and unproductive process can indeed transform the most powerful software into a nightmare. The setting time should be a quantifiable element to be integrated to the overall cost, right before signing any agreement.
How many companies today find themselves trapped with their decision to retain a software that is found less appropriate years after, just to avoid losing all the investment done by spending time on complicated settings accumulated over the years and train specialists?
Quality (not quantity) of sourcing?
Because it is always relevant and reassuring to use a dedicated CI solution that fits your immediate needs, a generalist solution is reputed to be able to adapt. Most traditional solutions relies on robots to feed you, oftern with the long and complivated settings signalled above. But that does not prevent noise in your results. Only to offer a 100% qualified sourcing, Viedoc developed over the years a real expertise in this area.
Scalability and hidden costs?
Because this is the CI solution that fits your needs, your expectations, but also to the culture of your business and not the opposite, one must be attentive to possibilities for development of the solution on the long run and in more ways than one.
Will you be completely autonomous for adding users, topics, sources of information, at no additional charge?
With a range of CI solutions, we are already able to help you by offering a turnkey, but also a flexible and scalable solution, always in line with your budget, the evolutive size of your business and level of maturity on Competitive Intelligence.
Included Assistance?
Any CI solution, should obviously includes real “after sales services”.
And who better than experts on CI to advise you and assist you in using such solution !
Our team of consultants, only seasoned experts in their field, are working with many companies of all sizes, in all trades and customers include major players in the automotive industry, cosmetics, packaging, pharmaceutical …
We are thus able to provide you a tailored and flawless assistance when using a solution, and gave you an extra multidimensional approach to your level of CI (training, audit, implementation or CI structure, tailored intellectual services… )
