OREANDA-NEWS. Sopheon, the international provider of software, expertise, and best practices for Enterprise Innovation Performance, announces today the latest version of its Accolade Enterprise Innovation Management solution.

Sopheon's extensive track record in delivering solutions to Fortune 1000 clients backs conventional wisdom that sustainable innovation is very difficult without cross-functional adoption of the enterprise process. In fact, studies have shown that high-performing organizations successfully execute on cross-functional work activities two to three times more often than low performers.1 Accolade 10.1 is dedicated to this purpose, aimed at raising the industry standard on 'user engagement' in the innovation process.

·      Making it intuitive: Not all of the functions and roles involved in the enterprise process participate in the process in the same way. Some - like initiative or project leaders, or resource managers - 'live' in all aspects of the software day to day and become super-users. For others who are focused on specific areas - team members, for example, who mainly access the system to complete a deliverable or task - usability and intuitiveness are key indicators for successful adoption. Accolade 10.1 changes the game in these areas; training requirements for all users are minimal, irrespective of how extensively they are required to participate in the process. 

George Coulston PhD, VP and CTO of Vesuvius, commented: "Accolade's cross-functional ease of use played an important role in speed of implementation and high adoption of our process."

·      Encouraging communication and collaboration: Accolade 10.1 delivers a unique environment for cross-functional collaboration. Teams can easily interact dynamically with one another within their regular work streams.

·      Providing insights to get the job done: People waste cycles gathering information, and are often not aware of what useful information is available to them. By applying patented knowledge management principles, Accolade 10.1 provides insights and information at the right time and in the right place in a way that saves time, increases agility, speed and efficiency, and helps make smarter decisions based on more complete facts.

Don Sarno, Chief Operating Officer at Sopheon says, "New capabilities in this release will save significant time for project managers and resource and product planners every time a plan is created or changes. The smart linking between plans and resources also provides real-time updates and meaningful views for managers to make on-the-fly-decisions about what is really required to drive initiatives forward."

1 Cooper, R.G. and Edgett, S.J., Lean, Rapid and Profitable New Product Development, Product Development Institute


Sopheon® and Accolade® are trademarks of Sopheon.

About Sopheon. Sopheon (LSE: SPE) partners with customers to provide complete enterprise innovation management solutions including software, expertise, and best practices, that enable them to achieve exceptional long-term revenue growth and profitability. Sopheon's Accolade solution provides unique, fully-integrated coverage for the entire innovation management and new product development lifecycle, including strategic innovation planning, roadmapping, idea and concept development, process and project management, portfolio management, and resource planning. Sopheon's solutions have been implemented by over 200 customers with over 60,000 users in over 50 countries. Sopheon is listed on AIM, operated by the London Stock Exchange.