KM: not simply software

Sopheon has released an entirely new version of its Accolade product development software system, which system integrates software and human expertise to strengthen idea management and provides decision support throughout the product development cycle.

The company says benefits of Version 4.0 include generating more and better product ideas, separating winners from losers before costly developmental resources are spent, and moving commercially viable products to market faster. It adds that Accolade helps process stakeholders--from executives to project managers--make the tough, early-stage "go"/"kill" resource allocation and portfolio management decisions that determine the business return on innovation and product development investments.

Sopheon says Version 4.0 is the industry's first product development system that integrates human-based decision-support services and process-enabling technology. It reports that highlights of Accolade 4.0 include:

• an idea management and screening module that allows organizations to generate, manage and objectively evaluate product ideas and seamlessly move the most commercially promising concepts into project pipelines;

• a knowledge network module that integrates access to internal and external information and human expertise, including a proprietary network of leading authorities in more than 30,000 areas of science and technology that enables users to efficiently obtain the answers and analysis they need to make informed process and project decisions; and

• "smart document" technology that automates and accelerates the creation of project plans, status reports and other key process deliverables, thereby dramatically reducing the amount of time product development team members spend on administrative tasks.