Are you looking for innovation software? Make sure it is certified 'Stage-Gate Ready' - learn more about this free program.

Are you looking for innovation software?  Make sure it is certified ‘Stage-Gate Ready’ – learn more about this free program.   

“I strongly recommend all would-be buyers to ask specifically for Stage-Gate Ready software, even if your company does not deploy a traditional Stage-Gate process,” says Dr. Robert G. Cooper, world’s top innovation management scholar (Journal of Product Innovation Management, May 2007). “We want to help organizations take advantage of innovation productivity tools that can help advance business performance. We believe that if we reduce risks associated with these decisions, it is a win-win for everyone.”

 “Until now, the researching and selecting of product development software for such Stage-Gate processes as idea management, idea-to-launch and portfolio management has been unreliable and time consuming,” says Michelle Jones, Executive Vice President of Stage-Gate Inc. “Our rigorous functionality validation program – Stage-Gate Ready Certification - will take the risk out of the search.”

Software vendors who submit to a newly-instituted Stage-Gate Ready certification program are subjected to a comprehensive evaluation on some 200 innovation-related criteria.  The evaluation is conducted by a Stage-Gate expert and can take up to 2-3 full days.  Successful vendors receive a detailed report card outlining how their application performs against both mandatory and optional criteria – criteria which was hand-picked by Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett and the Innovation Team at Stage-Gate Inc.

“Who better to define and validate Stage-Gate best practice requirements than the thought leaders in the field − Dr. Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Scott J. Edgett?” continues Jones.  “The collective works of Cooper and Edgett are considered to be the most comprehensive and reliable assembly of innovation best practices available in the world today.”

Already, two software tools have been certified Stage-Gate Ready. They are: Innovation Framework Suite version 4.0 offered by Innovation Framework Technologies of New York and Accolade® version 6.0 offered by Sopheon of Minneapolis.   

 “This is a free directory service for purchasers of NPD software that will close the disappointing gap that sometimes exists between NPD business requirements and performance of some software applications,” Jones explains. “It is a program born directly out of the numerous requests we receive from innovators around the world.  We want to put a stop to the numerous disappointments experienced by companies trying to advance their innovation performance by automating their innovation processes.”

Any organization involved in new product development can benefit from the Stage-Gate Alliance Program. Even if a company does not have an authentic Stage-Gate process, it can benefit from innovation productivity tools that are certified by the originators of Stage-Gate.  Certification is assurance that the software was scrutinized and validated by unbiased experts in innovation.

How you can benefit from this new Stage-Gate Alliance Program:

• Save time searching for innovation resources - visit www.stage-gate.com/directory to view a small but rapidly growing list of vendors that offer resources to support innovation and specifically, stage-gate innovation processes.
• Reduce your risk - ask your software vendor(s) to show you their Stage-Gate Ready Certification Report Card – before you make a costly investment decision.