Competitive Intelligence Marketplace

Comintell Releasing New Version of Matrix Analyzer at SCIP08

From the Comintell press release:

STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Comintell today announced the release of Matrix Analyzer 3, a patented and unique software tool for searching and visualizing unstructured information. The tool can be used for creating competitor comparisons, SWOT analysis, competitive intelligence reports, media analysis, trend spotting and much more.

“Matrix Analyzer is the first of it´s kind – a software tool that brings powerful and dynamic analysis to the world of unstructured information, something that has previously only been associated with structured databases,” says Jesper E. Martell, CEO at Comintell. “Matrix Analyzer allows you to twist and turn your information as if it were held inside a cube, which often leads to new, unforeseen discoveries.”

About Matrix Analyzer

Matrix Analyzer automatically categorizes incoming content feeds and displays this information in a dynamic matrix format. The new version enables users not only to change the topics presented in the x-axis and y-axis, but also the overall scope of the Matrix. Matrix Analyzer is web-based and requires Microsoft Windows 2003 and Microsoft SQL server database.

The new solution will be show-cased in Comintell’s booth 410 at SCIP08, the annual conference of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP). The conference will take place in San Diego, USA, between April 14-17th, 2008. For more information please visit www.scip.org.

Thomson Scientific Product Announcements for Pharma

From the press release:

PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Thomson Scientific, part of The Thomson Corporation and leading provider of information solutions to the worldwide research and business communities, today announced the release of Newport Horizon Premium and Newport Vision Premium, designed specifically for professionals working in product selection, business development, competitive intelligence and API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) sourcing. Their use by innovator, generic and OTC pharmaceutical companies and API manufacturers worldwide will enable them to find the most appropriate product development opportunities more quickly, and allow innovators to conduct deeper analysis on emerging generic competition.

Newport Horizon Premium and Newport Vision Premium combine sales, launch, patent, patent challenge, exclusivity, chemistry, prescribing and regulatory information for more than 10,000 molecules, 18,000 companies, 67 markets and 90 patent countries worldwide with unique, early API development and manufacturing intelligence. They build on the substantial success of Horizon Global and Vision CI by adding kilogram and IU (International Units) API consumption data from IMS Health to the data and capabilities already available. This data will now be available for thousands of drugs by region and by dose form for both the current and previous year and will allow customers to evaluate scale, consumption trends and prices for active ingredients, all of which can be difficult to estimate using sales data alone.

Puzzle

I've had the pleasure of Alessandro Comai's company at several SCIP events, which means I'm rather embarrassed that I'm just now discovering his work on Puzzle.  From the Puzzle website:

PUZZLE Hispanic Magazine of Competitive Intelligence, of bimonthly electronic publishing, is of academic style and practic format with free access by free subscription.  Have the mission to spread the knowledge and practice of the Competitive Intelligence and the Technology Watch throughout businesses and organizations of the international Hispanic Community. The articles and works of PUZZLE are unpublished and are written by recognized experts of CI and TW, working to spread themes of interest to related professional and academic groups throughout all of the Hispanic Community. See an example                        

PUZZLE accounts for 3,700 subscribers (November 2006) in 36 countries in Europe and America, making it one of the largest communities in the world of its specialty. The subscription includes access to the complete contents of all of PUZZLE Magazine´s issues, as well as the electronic editorials bulletin. Access to PUZZLE Magazine comes with free subscription.

Alessandro continues to amaze me.

Alacra Launches Content Marketplace

From the press release:

Alacra Content Marketplace (ACM), a new service launched today by online business information provider Alacra, Inc., will allow small and large publishers to post and sell business research and other content via the company’s Alacra Premium and the Alacra Store eCommerce services. With the new ACM service, publishers can tap into new markets by uploading their content and within minutes have it automatically available, requiring no technical integration, through Alacra’s web-based eCommerce platforms.

ACM enables content providers to reach new markets and sell their research and reports through two established sales channels: Alacra Premium, used by corporations and financial institutions, and the Alacra Store, a business information eCommerce site used by business professionals around the globe. The Alacra Store leverages its position with the major search engines to also give publishers the added benefit of higher natural search engine results for their content. For content publishers who today sell only via a subscription model, ACM enables them to sell individual copies of their research and reports without the investment of building or buying an eCommerce platform.

Competitive Intelligence Foundation Announces New Sponsorships

The Competitive Intelligence Foundation recently announced some new fundraising initiatives.  Essentially they are book sponsorships described as follows:

A CIF book sponsor will be offered the opportunity to support important publications to the CI field produced by the foundation, which include current titles Competitive Intelligence Ethics: Navigating the Gray Zone (http://www.scip.org/pdf/order_ethics.pdf) and State of the Art: Competitive Intelligence Research Report (http://www.scip.org/pdf/070107.tradeshoworder.2.pdf). Currently, Starting a CI Function and Competitive Technical Intelligence are scheduled for release in 2008 and are also available for sponsorship.

"These publications are great tools that help people learn about competitive intelligence and its many components," said Joseph Goldberg, director, business intelligence at Motorola, Inc. and CIF chair. "Companies that support these publications are showing their belief in the importance of legal and ethical CI and the CI professional."

Exclusive Sponsorships

The fifty-thousand dollar sponsorship is exclusive to one publication and will have a 12-month term. Some of the benefits the sponsor will receive include:

• The opportunity to insert materials in the front of book. The book would be distributed to all new SCIP members as part of their welcome kits during the term of the sponsorship.
• Acknowledgment as an exclusive sponsor on materials that reference the book including the SCIP.org website, CI Foundation website, and other promotional materials.
• Recognition with a sign or display at all events where the book is displayed or sold, including the SCIP Annual International Conference & Exhibition, SCIP training events, and when the Foundation participates in related industry events.

These sponsorships are not only a sign of support for the CI professional but may be tax deductible as well. The Competitive Intelligence Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) organization and any organization or individual interested in a book sponsorship should consult with its tax advisor as to whether the contribution may be tax deductible.

Co-Sponsorships

Only exclusive sponsorships will be offered on books until eight weeks prior to the book's publication date. If at that point an exclusive sponsorship has not been determined, then co-sponsorship opportunities will be offered for up to four co-sponsors at fourteen thousand dollars each. Benefits to these co-sponsors then include:

• The opportunity to insert one page of materials in the front of book. The book would be distributed to all new SCIP members as part of their welcome kits during the twelve month term of the sponsorship.
• Acknowledgment as a co-sponsor on materials that reference the book including the SCIP.org website, CI Foundation website, and other promotional materials.
• Recognition with a sign or display at all events where the book is displayed or sold, including the SCIP Annual International Conference & Exhibition, SCIP training events, and when the Foundation participates in related industry events.
• Currently Competitive Intelligence Ethics: Navigating the Gray Zone and State of the Art: Competitive Intelligence Research Report are available for co-sponsorships.

Companies interested in sponsorship should contact Jon Lowder at jlowder at scip.org

Collective Intellect Launches Media Intellect

From Collective Intellect's news release:

Boulder, CO - October 25, 2007 - Collective Intellect today announced the launch of Media Intellect, the only real-time monitoring and predictive intelligence service for social, traditional and corporate media. "Understanding whom is saying what about your product or company online is now critical business intelligence," said Collective Intellect CEO, Don Springer. "Media Intellect provides marketers with the real-time data and analysis they need to optimize campaigns and manage corporate reputations. Collective Intellect gives brands real-time access to the largest focus group on the planet."

Alacra Discusses the ROI of Two of Their Products

Alacra posts about how it is more difficult to promote the ROI of their Concordance product versus their Book product.  Anyone who sells a complex service or product should read this.

AMI Software Releases New Version of Enterprise Intelligence

From the press release:

Cambridge, UK, (PRWEB) September 24, 2007 -- AMI Software, a leading developer of software designed specifically for the acquisition and management of textual information today announced the immediate availability of AMI Enterprise Intelligence version 3.2.

Resulting from an investment of more than 20 million euros, AMI Enterprise Intelligence v3.2 allows CIO's, Heads of Research, Market and Competitive Intelligence Managers to implement all functions and processes necessary for the Search, Collection, Publishing, Analysis, Distribution and Personalisation of key information from a single point of access.

Maintaining its high level of innovation and meeting on-going user requirements AMI has developed and made available very significant new functionality with version 3.2. Integration of Rules Engine allowing the automatic identification, classification, user alert and routing of documents supporting real time distribution of key information.

Alacra Launches ResearchRecap.com

Alacra launched a new website called ResearchRecap.com.  Here's what they said about it on their blog:

At Alacra, we get to see a lot of research - we are partners with dozens of research publishers (Moody's, Fitch, S&P, Forrester, Freedonia, etc,) and also redistribute a number of aggregated sets of investment and market research (Investext, Reuters Research and marketresearch.com).  Plus, we have publishers of all sizes asking us to load their content on Alacra and the Alacra Store for resale.  So we thought there would be interest in a website that highlighted some of the best research published in the business arena and we began to develop Research Recap.  We built some tools that automate how new research gets to us to help with the discovery process and we have a handful of editors select and comment upon the best pieces.  These comments are posted with links at www.researchrecap.com. There are two goals:  First, to help consumers of research find interesting, relevant and current content.  Second, to provide a forum for smaller research publishers to expose their content on a site other than their own. 

There's no firm business model right now (costs are low), but some of the research we highlight will be available for sale in the Alacra Store.  To ensure we have a terrific, objective site we've brought on fellow Knight-Ridder alum Angus Robertson to be editor-in-chief.  If you have any comments or suggestion please let me know. 

Alacra Book

Alacra blog post on one of their products, the Alacra Book:

Alacra Book is our industry-leading application that electronically builds Public Information Books (PIBs) for investment banks and professional service firms.  A PIB contains publicly available information on company including but not limited to SEC filings, news stories, shareholding data, earnings estimates, M&A histories, investment & credit research, etc.  To build an Alacra Book a user enters a company name or a ticker symbol.  Then multiple databases are searched in parallel, the user selects from the search results the content they want included in their book and minutes later they have a PDF that has a customized cover sheet and table of contents.  In addition to PDF, we offer Word and PowerPoint versions too. 
In the July issue of VIP, Alexia Miller contributed Case Study: Developing a customised Alacra Book