Critical CI Success Factors: Trusted Partnerships and On-Demand Insight
Traditional competitive intelligence (CI) solutions are typically one-sided. CI firms deliver either technology tools to facilitate the intelligence process, independent research deliverables that supplement internal analysis or general consulting to guide the process. Once the solution or report is delivered, you are on your own to piece together these cookie-cutter components into an effective, integrated CI function.
This patchwork approach does not work well in a global economy that continues to become increasingly unpredictable and at a time when resources are limited at best. Likewise, there can be no one-sizefits- all decision support solution. Every industry, in fact every organization, has unique knowledge needs.
One key to success is to engage an information firm as a trusted partner. This type of relationship results in on-demand support— technology, research, process, expert sourcing— for ongoing CI initiatives.
The Right Information, Right Away
Every industry poses unique challenges to the CI practitioner. Consider the pharmaceutical industry: Although research and development can take years, the push to market moves quickly. Whether you are determining what your competitors are going to do next, evaluating potential acquisition targets or refining research schedules—every decision made impacts the bottom line.
In this and other highly competitive industries, CI often means decision support. For example, one Cipher client was tasked with enabling her small team of analysts to provide critical information to decision makers throughout her global organization. Her team supports internal clients on projects that range from a single executive inquiring about background information on an item he or she read in the paper to long-term research projects that support the efforts of entire departments. To answer these requests they use secondary information sources (Internet, print, subscription feeds), primary information sources (external interviews, internal knowledge) and traditional market research survey techniques.
In the past everyone accomplished these tasks using their own search methods and filed the details in their own unique organization systems—they were compiling vast amounts of information stored in many different places. Plus they had limited access to third-party credentialed sources to validate findings. As a result, though the team potentially had the required knowledge available, they were not finding it and getting it to the right people on time.
A tailored knowledge logistics management (KLM) solution enabled this team to accomplish even more in less time. The manager of this team shares: "the ongoing relationship we have developed with our information partner has allowed our team to continuously improve its responsiveness to our own internal clients. Our partner delivers process, research and technology support. They also have an established global network of industry professionals that we can tap into as needed to identify subject matter experts for sensitive real-time business insight."
Real-time Business Insight
FedEx revolutionized the speed and reliability of the physical delivery of packages and information...Cipher is doing the same virtually through its strategic approach to knowledge logistics management.
At the core of many of Cipher's solutions is its award-winning software Knowledge.Works™. With this toolkit of CI technologies, clients are able to search multiple sources—the Internet, subscription news feeds, RSS feeds, strategic research deliverables, interview transcripts—and quickly summarize the results and publish presentation-ready reports in Microsoft® Word and PowerPoint®. Many firms also take advantage of Cipher's document scanning services so that even hard copy materials can be easily incorporated into the research process.
While powerful, this technology is really only an enabler. The greatest value-add is real-time business insight. Cipher clients have on-demand access to industry analysts for strategic research projects and full use of its expert referral services. This gives you direct access to sensitive business information not otherwise available from your existing knowledgebase.
Cipher consultants deliver customizable decision support technology solutions including award-winning competitive intelligence software, Knowledge.Works. For more information, contact Cipher Systems at 888-899-1523 or 410-451-6889; fax: 410-451-0259. Email:
info@cipher-sys.com, or visit
www.cipher-sys.com