^[1]The following SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity. More about the SMART 100 ^[2].

This innovation initially came to life when…

A sales manager asked his employers for fast information on other sales regions performance. In discussions with other people in other jobs, he noticed that every person wanted fast information without being bombarded with email, and the concept of SBI was born.

WHAT & HOW

The purpose of this innovation is to…

Give all employees real-time information on what is happening within their organisation, on topics they care about.

It does this by…

Providing a Twitter-style interface through a web interface, desktop app, iPhone app, Blackberry app, etc. The server has a connector framework based on protocols allowing connection into almost any application. The employees are then able to subscribe to feeds on key business areas, such as receiving notifications when a sales is made (using a CRM connector).

PURPOSE & BENEFITS

This innovation improves on what came before because…

Currently there are only micro-blogging solutions that are peer-to-peer without involving real business applications. This means other solutions rely on employees to start conversations, which has led to minimal impact. SBI starts the conversation, allowing collaboration over real business events.

Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…

Enhanced collaboration, real-time customer activity timelines, updates on documents, etc. The real benefit lies in the ability to extract extra value from all existing systems through our unique “micro-reporting” capabilities.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

In the past, this problem was solved by…

Manually emailing or phoning people when documents were updated, deals were made, etc. In reality, the problem was never solved. The information organisations have is generally hidden unless expressly looked for.

Its predecessors/competitors include…

Yammer for micro-blogging, though not for micro-reporting. Notifications can be received through email, RSS and SMS, though none offer the collaboration facility.

TARGET MARKET

It is made for…

All organisations that have a problem with information flow and collaboration. For example, companies that have issues informing the sales force when other sales people have made sales, or have moved opportunities through the pipeline. Also, companies that want to show account managers exactly what their customers are doing and when. Organisations that want to ensure projects are run efficiently by collaborating around events held within ERP and document management systems. Every organisation can find their own value.

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

It is available for sale through…

Both partners and directly. Customers will also be able to purchase online and have SaaS or in-house deployments.

Our marketing strategy is to…

Initially a stealth strategy, before marketing ourselves through specialists in certain vendors and applications. For example, we expect to market ourselves by adding value to CRM systems, and hence market towards specialists in Siebel, Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce.com.

SUPPORTING IMAGES AND/OR VIDEO

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THIS INNOVATION

While the judging is now officially over, you can still show your support for this innovation in one of the following three ways:

1. Hit the VOTE UP button: Top left of each page (Not available for IE users)
2. Trigger a Reaction: Re-Tweet, Like on Facebook, etc.
3. Leave a Comment: Share the love!

To check out the Anthill SMART 100 Readers’ Choice winner for 2010, click here ^[4].