News Alert from HQ on Your Car’s Dashboard!
GIA survey points the way to business information tools of the future

Mobile devices and social media have led to fundamental changes in our online behavior as well as a proliferation of information sources and formats. According to the Market Intelligence Trends 2015 survey by Global Intelligence Alliance, corporate executives say that smart phones, crowd forecasting tools, Microsoft SharePoint and social media platforms will shape the way business information is shared.

Chart 1: Technologies that will change the way business information is shared (2010-2015)

Source: Global Intelligence Alliance, Market Intelligence Trends 2015 White Paper (1+ increase moderately, 2 + increase significantly)

Business information tools must evolve as a result, particularly tools that help gather, archive and disseminate the market intelligence that organizations systematically gather, process and analyze in order to facilitate decision-making.

The impact

Firstly, mobile devices such as smart phones and eReaders will have the biggest impact on how market intelligence information is shared internally within companies, as well as externally with trusted business partners. Planned and unplanned, spontaneous video clips, photographs and text messages will be sent from such devices to ‘intelligence hubs’ where business information is collected.

Secondly, companies are relying more and more on information that is collected from both external and internal sources and on greater collaboration between these two sources. We can expect to see more collaboration in the co-creation of market intelligence in the next few years. Examples include crowd forecasting and group analysis that is supported by collaborative tools.

Thirdly, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms are increasingly used as sources of information in market intelligence circles. More companies are in turn, trying to inculcate social media best practices into their internal information sharing and inter-unit networking processes.

In general, intelligence tools and software need to offer the capability for further collaboration, improved user experiences both in and outside of the office, enhanced reporting tools that allow for multimedia formats, and better integration of market intelligence results into internal systems.

But how exactly, will information tools evolve?

How we will receive/deliver information

The multiple formats in which market intelligence is available today, ranging from text and charts to audio files and videos, introduce new challenges to how companies manage market intelligence input and output. While there may seem to be more decentralization in the collection of business information, there also needs to be more centralization in how all this information is filtered, analyzed and distributed.

Companies are exploring how to integrate all the relevant formats into their delivery tools. According to the same survey by Global Intelligence Alliance, people are in favor of RSS feeds, news aggregators, webcasts and smart phone applications as the preferred tools for receiving information.)

Chart 2: Preferences in receiving business information in next 5 years

Source: Global Intelligence Alliance, Market Intelligence Trends 2015 White Paper (1+ increase moderately, 2 + increase significantly)

How we will collaborate

With people becoming increasingly used to being part of virtual communities, respondents to the survey expect internal wikis to be adopted rapidly. In fact, the internal use of wikis on competitors, customers or key markets is expected to increase substantially towards 2015.

Crowd forecasting tools are also emerging rapidly, as people have begun to see their value in facilitating the co-creation of market insights for relevant business topics.

Blogs are not often utilized within business information or strategic planning circles. Their potential future impact however, could be huge, as people in general become more interested in provocative viewpoints and opinions rather than plain news pieces and neutral business analyses.

How we will manage our information

Increasingly, companies are looking into the need to integrate the separate systems that cater to their market intelligence needs. These range from their customer relationship management systems and intranets, to their competitive intelligence software and social media platforms. At the very least, companies plan to provide a single point of access to all these systems.

In future, we can also expect to see more artificial intelligence, desk-based text mining and GPS tools being introduced and an even greater proliferation of delivery channels and gadgets. Who knows, maybe one day we will all have personalized news readers developed for our cars!

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About Global Intelligence Alliance

Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA) is a strategic market intelligence and advisory group. GIA was formed in 1995 when a team of market intelligence specialists, management consultants, industry analysts and technology experts came together to build a powerful suite of customized solutions ranging from outsourced market monitoring services and software, to strategic analysis and advisory.

Today, we are the preferred partner for organizations seeking to understand, compete and grow in international markets. Our industry expertise and coverage of over 100 countries enables our customers to make better informed decisions worldwide.

www.globalintelligence.com