# Best Idea Management Software - Page 5 *By [Nana Serwah Nkrahene](https://research.g2.com/insights/author/nana-nkrahene)* Idea management software structures the process of gathering and developing ideas around business focus areas, including product development, day-to-day processes, customer feedback, market trends, and competitive insights, with the goal of organizing and managing those ideas for improvement or development. Idea management tools allow users to solicit feedback from both internal and external stakeholders. Idea management software enables companies of all sizes to continuously innovate and grow by deliberately leading the ideation process. Idea management software provides users with custom permissions settings, allowing the user to select the level of transparency and confidentiality required for any given project. Ideas can be collected from all areas of the organization, beyond specialized departments such as R&D, product management, and marketing. These products can integrate with various collaborative tools, such as [employee engagement software](https://www.g2.com/categories/employee-engagement), [employee intranet tools](https://www.g2.com/categories/employee-intranet), and [enterprise feedback management software](https://www.g2.com/categories/enterprise-feedback-management), allowing users to manage both internally and externally sourced recommendations. To qualify for inclusion in the Idea Management category, a product must: - Engage customers, employees, stockbrokers, etc., via web-based applications and forms - Gather solicited ideas and feedback onto a central database - Allow for collaboration, edits, and input on collected feedback - Have an organized search functionality within the database to select and reject ideas - Provide a white-label platform that can be branded per customer requirements - Enable custom workflows to progress ideas through an evaluation funnel - Include custom reporting and analysis features for full management of the ideation process ## How Many Idea Management Software Products Does G2 Track? **Total Products under this Category:** 153 ### Category Stats (May 2026) - **Average Rating**: 4.45/5 - **New Reviews This Quarter**: 12 - **Buyer Segments**: Small-Business 50% │ Mid-Market 44% │ Enterprise 6% - **Top Trending Product**: Yumana (+0.25) *Last updated: May 19, 2026* ## How Does G2 Rank Idea Management Software Products? **Why You Can Trust G2's Software Rankings:** - 30 Analysts and Data Experts - 4,300+ Authentic Reviews - 153+ Products - Unbiased Rankings G2's software rankings are built on verified user reviews, rigorous moderation, and a consistent research methodology maintained by a team of analysts and data experts. Each product is measured using the same transparent criteria, with no paid placement or vendor influence. While reviews reflect real user experiences, which can be subjective, they offer valuable insight into how software performs in the hands of professionals. Together, these inputs power the G2 Score, a standardized way to compare tools within every category. ## Which Idea Management Software Is Best for Your Use Case? - **Leader:** [Mural](https://www.g2.com/products/mural/reviews) - **Highest Performer:** [Ideawake](https://www.g2.com/products/ideawake/reviews) - **Easiest to Use:** [Aha!](https://www.g2.com/products/aha/reviews) - **Top Trending:** [Ideawake](https://www.g2.com/products/ideawake/reviews) - **Best Free Software:** [Ideanote](https://www.g2.com/products/ideanote/reviews) --- **Sponsored** ### Ideawake Ideawake is an end-to-end idea management platform designed to increase ROI from employee, customer, and partner ideas while cutting the time it takes to manage ideas in half. We provide an easy to use, AI enabled idea management platform that makes it simple to capture, evaluate, and take action on ideas from those who know your organization best. Ideawake is a one-stop platform for innovation management, enabling organizations to run innovation challenges, hackathons, kaizen events, continuous improvement programs, and open innovation initiatives from initial idea sourcing through implementation and ROI measurement. Ideawake is trusted by organizations ranging from 100-employee startups to Fortune 500 enterprises to drive financial results, increase employee engagement, and build a culture of innovation at scale. The platform powers innovation programs in 39 countries across 17 industries, including manufacturing, technology, healthcare, financial services, retail, hospitality, and pharmaceuticals. Notable customers include US Bank, Sirius XM, Jason’s Deli, HP, Mercury Marine, and Nerolac Paints. The Ideawake platform features fully customizable workflows that guide ideas from intake through implementation and impact measurement, enabling organizations to manage the entire idea lifecycle while maintaining accountability at scale. Advanced reporting and analytics dashboards provide real-time visibility into ROI, cost savings, and portfolio performance. Enterprise-grade governance, including role-based permissions, approval workflows, and audit trails, ensures secure and compliant program management. Ideawake leverages automation and AI assistants to streamline innovation and continuous improvement processes, including AI-powered categorization, summarization, duplicate detection, and idea merging to reduce redundancy and accelerate decision-making. Robust collaboration tools including challenges, commenting, and multiple types of crowd voting drive engagement, while gamification features such as prizes and leaderboards motivate participation and foster a culture of innovation. Beyond idea submission, Ideawake provides powerful prioritization tools such as custom scorecards, along with built-in action tracking and seamless handoff to execution systems to ensure ideas translate into measurable outcomes. Designed for enterprise scalability, organizations can run multiple programs across departments while maintaining centralized visibility and control. With integrations across 50+ enterprise tools including Microsoft Teams, project management systems, and single sign-on platforms, Ideawake reduces data duplication and minimizes application fatigue. The platform is supported by an open API and built with enterprise security in mind, including SOC 2 compliant infrastructure and robust data protection standards. See how leading organizations capture, prioritize, and implement high-impact ideas. Book a demo today to experience Ideawake in action. [Visit website](https://www.g2.com/external_clickthroughs/record?secure%5Bad_program%5D=ppc&secure%5Bad_slot%5D=category_product_list&secure%5Bcategory_id%5D=239&secure%5Bdisplayable_resource_id%5D=239&secure%5Bdisplayable_resource_type%5D=Category&secure%5Bmedium%5D=sponsored&secure%5Bplacement_reason%5D=page_category&secure%5Bplacement_resource_ids%5D%5B%5D=239&secure%5Bprioritized%5D=false&secure%5Bproduct_id%5D=35871&secure%5Bresource_id%5D=239&secure%5Bresource_type%5D=Category&secure%5Bsource_type%5D=category_page&secure%5Bsource_url%5D=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.g2.com%2Fcategories%2Fidea-management%3Fpage%3D8&secure%5Btoken%5D=7cf36533592728b73a3ce15b6f98d1ccdbd5a1f49b3979af3b96c2b07293dfde&secure%5Burl%5D=https%3A%2F%2Fideawake.com%2Fbook-free-demo%2F&secure%5Burl_type%5D=book_demo) --- ## What Are the Top-Rated Idea Management Software Products in 2026? ### 1. [elewayte](https://www.g2.com/products/elewayte/reviews) Your Guide through Digital Transformation. Elewayte is an advanced management tool designed to support the initiation and execution of your digital transformation. By leveraging artificial intelligence, Elewayte helps uncover hidden potential in your company and lays a solid foundation for your individual transformation. Strategic Corporate Management AS-IS Analysis and Transparent Company Structure: Elewayte enables a comprehensive analysis of your company in its current state. Using proven methods, it provides a clear evaluation and transparent representation of your company structure, effectively identifying strengths and weaknesses. Goal Definition and Strategy Development: Using AI, Elewayte analyzes data and trends to generate and suggest customized ideas for your corporate goals. This fosters an innovative and future-oriented approach. Roadmap for Goal Achievement: The selected ideas are integrated into a clear and detailed roadmap that helps identify and manage dependencies, milestones, and priorities. Continuous Alignment and Progress Tracking: Intuitive dashboards and reporting features create a clear path of transformation and allow for proactive adjustments. Increasing Productivity and Effectiveness: By continuously monitoring project value and integrating feedback loops, you enhance productivity and effectiveness within your company. Idea Management: AI-supported Idea Generation: A creative process enhanced by AI to develop inspiring and goal-oriented ideas. Sustainable Idea Tracking: A structured process allows for the sustainable tracking and further development of ideas. Project Management: Comprehensive tools for managing budgets, resources, risks, as well as monitoring epics, milestones, and tasks. Integrated decision-making processes document important decisions sustainably and set priorities. Benefits: Clear vision and strategy for your digital transformation. Comprehensive tools for managing ideas and projects. Constant control and adaptability of your digital initiatives. Increased motivation and efficiency through transparency and clarity. With Elewayte, step into a future where your visions come to life, your projects ascend, and your business reaches new digital heights. Elewayte is your navigator through digital transformation, turning strategy into action and helping you achieve your goals. **Who Is the Company Behind elewayte?** - **Seller:** [elewayte](https://www.g2.com/sellers/elewayte) - **HQ Location:** N/A - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/No-Linkedin-Presence-Added-Intentionally-By-DataOps (1 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 2. [Employee Suggestion System](https://www.g2.com/products/employee-suggestion-system/reviews) Employee Suggestion System acts as a digital suggestion box by building a bridge between the employees and the management. It enables the collection of suggestions from employees in businesses and the evaluation of these suggestions. All suggestions, requests and complaint processes are carried out smoothly through a single platform. **Who Is the Company Behind Employee Suggestion System?** - **Seller:** [MDP Group](https://www.g2.com/sellers/mdp-group) - **Year Founded:** 2013 - **HQ Location:** Kozyatagi, Istanbul - **Twitter:** @digitalmdp (29 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/digitalmdp (154 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 3. [Exago](https://www.g2.com/products/exago-exago/reviews) The Exago Smart leading collaborative innovation software enables companies to connect to their people’s ideas, when they need it the most, thanks to an engageable, gamified process and appealing, easy-to-use features, all in the palm of their hand. With Exago Smart, companies mobilise people to innovate, gather and select top ideas and control all platform activity, boosting innovation growth and speeding up business results. Trusted by Fortune500 and top firms worldwide, Exago Smart is used by clients such as Barclays, Liberty, Ageas, Unilever and Carrefour, powering companies’ collaborative innovation initiatives across industries and continents. **Who Is the Company Behind Exago?** - **Seller:** [Exago](https://www.g2.com/sellers/exago) - **Year Founded:** 2007 - **HQ Location:** São José dos Campos, BR - **Twitter:** @ExagoHQ (184 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/exagoinnovation/ (44 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 4. [FeaturesVote](https://www.g2.com/products/featuresvote/reviews) FeaturesVote is a tool that helps software teams collect and organize feature ideas from their users in one place. It lets customers submit feature requests, vote on existing ideas, and see which suggestions are most popular. This makes it easier for teams to decide what to build next using real user demand instead of guesswork. You can embed a feedback and voting board into your product, so users can share input without needing a separate login. FeaturesVote also supports public roadmaps and updates, which helps companies show what they are working on and how user feedback is influencing their product direction. **Who Is the Company Behind FeaturesVote?** - **Seller:** [Manta Tech](https://www.g2.com/sellers/manta-tech) - **HQ Location:** N/A - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/manta-tech-team/ (2 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 5. [Featurevote](https://www.g2.com/products/featurevote/reviews) Featurevote is a feedback and changelog tool built for SaaS teams, product managers, and founders. It helps you collect and prioritize feature requests, keep users engaged, and publish changelogs in minutes instead of hours. Users can vote and comment without logging in — while you still know who they are. This increases engagement and gives you better feedback data without adding friction to the user experience. All features are included from day one, and pricing starts at $9/month once you’re getting real value. Featurevote helps reduce churn, save time, and make sure your users always feel heard. **Who Is the Company Behind Featurevote?** - **Seller:** [Featurevote](https://www.g2.com/sellers/featurevote) - **Year Founded:** 2025 - **HQ Location:** Gothenburg, SE - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/featurevote/ (2 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 6. [Flagpole](https://www.g2.com/products/flagpole/reviews) Flagpole is a software that allow user to create an environment where employee engagement, motivation and collaboration comes together to make innovation faster and more profitable. **Who Is the Company Behind Flagpole?** - **Seller:** [MindMatters Technologies](https://www.g2.com/sellers/mindmatters-technologies) - **Year Founded:** 2012 - **HQ Location:** Singapore, SG - **Twitter:** @mindmatterstech (14 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/lazada/ (21,357 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 7. [Forest Software](https://www.g2.com/products/forest-software/reviews) Help your business unit drive strategic change across the organization. With Forest, you can rally employees around important topics and themes, crowdsource and develop new ideas through focused campaigns, communicate key strategies, and streamline decision making. Whether your team is working out of one office or virtually across multiple time zones, Forest removes the friction from these processes, getting you to better outcomes faster and easier. **Who Is the Company Behind Forest Software?** - **Seller:** [Forest Software](https://www.g2.com/sellers/forest-software) - **HQ Location:** Chicago, US - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/38142378 (11 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 8. [Founders Orbit](https://www.g2.com/products/founders-orbit/reviews) FoundersOrbit is a comprehensive SaaS platform designed to assist startups and entrepreneurs in validating, building, and scaling their businesses. As a type of AI-powered startup management software, FoundersOrbit provides a suite of tools that streamline the early stages of startup development, from ideation to investor outreach. It is specifically tailored for entrepreneurs, founders, and early-stage businesses looking for guidance on how to turn an idea into a successful venture. The platform offers a range of AI-driven tools to help users evaluate business ideas, generate professional business plans, build MVPs, and connect with investors. By using FoundersOrbit, startups can minimize the risks associated with unvalidated business ideas and maximize their chances of success through data-backed insights and resources. Key Features and Benefits: \* Startup Idea Validator: Quickly assess the viability of your business idea with AI-driven insights on market demand, competition, and scalability. \* Business Plan Writer: Generate detailed and professional business plans that can be presented to potential investors. \* Investor Database: Access a network of 25K+ funding companies and 45K+ key investor contacts to find the right partners for your business. \* MVP Builder Tool: Simplify the process of creating a minimum viable product (MVP) with step-by-step guidance. \* Founders Network: Connect with like-minded entrepreneurs to share knowledge, collaborate, and grow your startup. FoundersOrbit is a powerful solution for entrepreneurs looking to validate their business ideas quickly and efficiently while reducing the financial risks often associated with launching a startup. The platform integrates AI technology to offer real-time insights and solutions, ensuring that founders make informed decisions at every stage of their journey. **Who Is the Company Behind Founders Orbit?** - **Seller:** [Mudimedia](https://www.g2.com/sellers/mudimedia) - **Year Founded:** 2017 - **HQ Location:** London - **Twitter:** @MudimediaInc (38 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** http://www.linkedin.com/company/mudimedia (4 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 9. [HackTribe](https://www.g2.com/products/hacktribe/reviews) HackTribe simplifies the organization of both online and onsite hackathons, providing an effortless and enjoyable experience for everyone involved. This comprehensive platform covers everything from registration to team collaboration, simplifying the process every step of the way. With the Ideas Management feature, users can effortlessly gather ideas, form teams, and define their project goals, making it easier to manage and advance innovation initiatives. The platform also introduces offers extensive support for team management and mentoring. It includes a dedicated space for connecting with experts and scheduling mentoring sessions, alongside tools for seamless communication via online discussions. Beyond these features, HackTribe helps to manage Judging process by enabling organizers and judges to evaluate the ideas and projects submitted. This ensures that all contributions are fairly assessed based on predefined criteria, adding value to the hackathon experience by recognizing and rewarding outstanding innovation. Designed to be user-friendly, HackTribe's responsive interface allows for management from any device, anywhere. It facilitates document sharing, provides insightful reports for project analysis, and supports integration with various services. HackTribe represents a complete solution for organizing successful hackathons, equipped with features that ensure efficiency, transparency, and a great experience for organizers, participants, and judges alike. **Who Is the Company Behind HackTribe?** - **Seller:** [HackTribe](https://www.g2.com/sellers/hacktribe) - **HQ Location:** N/A - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/No-Linkedin-Presence-Added-Intentionally-By-DataOps (1 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 10. [Harmoni](https://www.g2.com/products/harmoni-harmoni/reviews) Harmoni is an AI-driven innovation management software that captures, scores, and rewards employee ideas within organizations. The platform features AI-assisted idea generation that transforms rough concepts into polished proposals, a streamlined review process for managers to evaluate submissions, and customizable innovation challenges that focus creative energy on key business problems. Harmoni includes a gamification system with points, badges, and recognition to drive engagement, while also offering anonymous idea submissions to eliminate bias during review. The software provides a continuous cycle of improvement through its structured workflow from idea submission to implementation, allowing organizations to turn employee insights into actionable projects. Harmoni maintains transparent tracking of ideas throughout development stages and enables companies to measure the impact of implemented suggestions. **Who Is the Company Behind Harmoni?** - **Seller:** [Harmoni](https://www.g2.com/sellers/harmoni) - **Year Founded:** 2017 - **HQ Location:** San Francisco, US - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/harmoniapp/ (6 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 11. [ID8 Enterprise](https://www.g2.com/products/id8-enterprise/reviews) ID8 is achallenge-driven' idea management system. Ideation results in ideas are of better quality when they are focussed on solving a particular challenge. **Who Is the Company Behind ID8 Enterprise?** - **Seller:** [ID8 Systems](https://www.g2.com/sellers/id8-systems) - **Year Founded:** 2009 - **HQ Location:** New York, US - **LinkedIn® Page:** http://www.linkedin.com/company/id8-systems (1 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 12. [IdeaBridge](https://www.g2.com/products/ideabridge/reviews) Known to be India's Leading Enterprise Innovation Management & Collaboration Platform, IdeaBridge® serves as the go-to-platform for global enterprises. It delves into finding the right solution to inventing new products and services, management of cost, raising employee engagement levels and significant enhancement of customer experience. Becoming one of the leading providers of innovation management and association Platform to India's leading companies and government institutions, IdeaBridge® has set forth a new bar. Over 100,000 users from all over the globe trust Ideabridge to help them achieve innovations in their respective fields, from the manufacturing industry to academic to financial to service industry and even the government. With Ideabridge, users can enhance the quality of ideas gathered from their colleagues, employees, shareholders, and partners. The platform comes with the tools to closely evaluate ideas that show huge promise, implement the ideas, and turn them into best practices that can be replicated and applied across the entire organization. We were nominated as a top finalist for the Startup of the Year Award at the GITEX Awards Dubai 2019 amongst startups of SEA and Africa. Awarded the "Rising Star" and "Premium Usability" 2019 by Finances Online. Also Awarded the Rising Star 2019 by Software Suggest Summer 2019 Awards. IdeaBridge was featured in “ Top 20 Promising Digital Solution Providers in India IdeaBridge® has powered collaboration , innovation and process improvement for companies across major industries of professional services , financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, and energy. Headquartered in Goa (India) with a Corporate Office in Mumbai (India), and a Product Innovation Lab in Essex (U.K), IdeaBridge® has a regional presence across SEA , Middle East and Australia Region through a network of Sales Associates and Channel partners. **Who Is the Company Behind IdeaBridge?** - **Seller:** [Plus Innovations](https://www.g2.com/sellers/plus-innovations) - **Year Founded:** 2022 - **HQ Location:** Bardez, IN - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://linkedin.com/company/plus-innovations-pvt-ltd (14 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 13. [IdeaDeployer](https://www.g2.com/products/ideadeployer/reviews) IdeaDeployer is a cloud-based all-in-one ideation management solution that helps you to discover, capture, collaborate, evaluate, prioritize and execute the best idea and deploy an innovation culture. **Who Is the Company Behind IdeaDeployer?** - **Seller:** [PVSquare](https://www.g2.com/sellers/pvsquare) - **HQ Location:** N/A - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/ideadeployer/ (1 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 14. [IdeaFox](https://www.g2.com/products/ideafox/reviews) IdeaFox is intuitive, cloud based software, that helps organizations increase employee engagement, improve the realization of ideas, and get better solutions, faster. With IdeaFox, organizations can improve their innovation and ideation, process improvement, and knowledge management in one platform. **Who Is the Company Behind IdeaFox?** - **Seller:** [Ideafox](https://www.g2.com/sellers/ideafox) - **HQ Location:** N/A - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/ideafox/ (2 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 15. [Idea Hub](https://www.g2.com/products/idea-hub/reviews) Idea Hub allows your organization to turn your Jira into an Idea Center, where both your clients and employees can submit new Ideas, and then Vote, Comment and Develop the Ideas until they become ready to be implemented. - Accelerate product development by letting your Customers speak; - Respond more quickly and effectively to your Customers’ needs; - Think as a team by providing the Employees a place to share ideas and views; - Build a community around your brand or product to build commitment; - Analyze the ideas, rate them and assess with help of your key people; - Use JQL, create reports and retain all the benefits of working with Jira! **Who Is the Company Behind Idea Hub?** - **Seller:** [Almarise](https://www.g2.com/sellers/almarise) - **HQ Location:** Warszawa, PL - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/almarise-company/ (19 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 16. [Ideasbank](https://www.g2.com/products/ideasbank/reviews) The Ideasbank platform facilitates enterprise wide collaboration. When combined with a customized innovation strategy and process, Ideasbank forms a complete innovation solution that will enable your organisation to leverage the combined thinking power of your entire staff. **Who Is the Company Behind Ideasbank?** - **Seller:** [Ideasbank Innovation Platform](https://www.g2.com/sellers/ideasbank-innovation-platform) - **HQ Location:** N/A - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/No-Linkedin-Presence-Added-Intentionally-By-DataOps (1 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 17. [IdeaShooter](https://www.g2.com/products/ideashooter/reviews) Idea & Innovation management software made easy We help companies with innovation management software to enable a corporate culture of innovation and intrapreneurship to thrive IdeaShooter is the easiest way to generate, develop and implement ideas successfully **Who Is the Company Behind IdeaShooter?** - **Seller:** [IdeaShooter](https://www.g2.com/sellers/ideashooter) - **HQ Location:** N/A - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/No-Linkedin-Presence-Added-Intentionally-By-DataOps (1 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 18. [Ideation360](https://www.g2.com/products/ideation360/reviews) ideation360 is a platform which facilitates the collection of ideas from a group of stakeholders. Campaigns can be developed and sent out to users to gain survey responses or ideas. **Who Is the Company Behind Ideation360?** - **Seller:** [ideation360](https://www.g2.com/sellers/ideation360) - **HQ Location:** Stockholm, Sweden - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/No-Linkedin-Presence-Added-Intentionally-By-DataOps (1 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 19. [id-Force](https://www.g2.com/products/id-force/reviews) id-Force is software for industrial, trading and service companies of all sizes as well as for institutions in the public sector that would like to give new impetus to their company suggestion scheme or continuous improvement process, supports the entire idea management process from the submission of an idea through to its implementation and its defined sequence structure simplifies process-optimized work. **Who Is the Company Behind id-Force?** - **Seller:** [IBYKUS](https://www.g2.com/sellers/ibykus) - **HQ Location:** N/A - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/No-Linkedin-Presence-Added-Intentionally-By-DataOps (1 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 20. [IDhall SC](https://www.g2.com/products/idhall-sc/reviews) IDhall SC is a software solution for Web and multilingual kind that meets three basic needs to sustain a process of innovation and progress, capture all opportunities for progress , whether small ideas or major strategic projects, exchange, prioritize and decide actions to be implemented and follow in real time the progress of the process. **Who Is the Company Behind IDhall SC?** - **Seller:** [HumanPerf Software](https://www.g2.com/sellers/humanperf-software) - **Year Founded:** 2004 - **HQ Location:** Lille, FR - **Twitter:** @Humanperf (103 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/humanperf-software (8 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 21. [incubatize](https://www.g2.com/products/incubatize/reviews) Incubatize is a software that help companies improve their workforce engagement, business goal alignment and building a people led innovation culture. **Who Is the Company Behind incubatize?** - **Seller:** [incubatize](https://www.g2.com/sellers/incubatize) - **HQ Location:** N/A - **Twitter:** @incubatize (11 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/No-Linkedin-Presence-Added-Intentionally-By-DataOps (1 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 22. [INDONIS](https://www.g2.com/products/indonis/reviews) Crowdsource smart ideas from smart people **Who Is the Company Behind INDONIS?** - **Seller:** [INDONIS](https://www.g2.com/sellers/indonis) - **HQ Location:** Harrow , GB - **LinkedIn® Page:** http://www.linkedin.com/company/indonis (1 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 23. [Induct Innovation Management](https://www.g2.com/products/induct-innovation-management/reviews) nduct's Innovation Management Methodology **Who Is the Company Behind Induct Innovation Management?** - **Seller:** [Induct](https://www.g2.com/sellers/induct) - **HQ Location:** N/A - **Twitter:** @inductopen (240 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/No-Linkedin-Presence-Added-Intentionally-By-DataOps (1 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 24. [Innofication](https://www.g2.com/products/innofication/reviews) Innofication provides a platform that offers a wide range of opportunities to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship within organization where the customer has an important role to generate ideas into marketable propositions. **Who Is the Company Behind Innofication?** - **Seller:** [Innofication](https://www.g2.com/sellers/innofication) - **Year Founded:** 2015 - **HQ Location:** Almere, NL - **Twitter:** @innofication (98 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/innofication/ (1 employees on LinkedIn®) ### 25. [InnovationCast](https://www.g2.com/products/innovationcast/reviews) Most organizations struggle to innovate consistently. InnovationCast provides the software and guidance to set up a high-impact innovation management system in just 6 weeks. InnovationCast is the innovation management software that is helping companies like DHL, Novo Nordisk, or Florida’s Dept of Transportation engage people to co-create ideas for new products, services, business models, and cost-savings and bring them to life. InnovationCast makes innovation work by delivering on 3 key ingredients: #Process We help establish or redesign your innovation process, from scouting trends or startups to idea co-creation to validation and execution. #Platform We provide a digital platform that lets them scale that process and do more with less effort, automating 60% of the repetitive work in innovation. Manage your innovation portfolio at scale. #People We can help companies engage the right people (employees, partners, startups, or customers) they need to move their innovation culture forward. InnovationCast perfected this approach by working with inspiring brands across the globe in multiple industries. **Who Is the Company Behind InnovationCast?** - **Seller:** [InnovationCast](https://www.g2.com/sellers/innovationcast) - **Year Founded:** 2007 - **HQ Location:** Lisboa, PT - **Twitter:** @InnovationCast (196 Twitter followers) - **LinkedIn® Page:** http://www.linkedin.com/company/innovationcast (14 employees on LinkedIn®) ## What Is Idea Management Software? [Collaboration & Productivity Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/collaboration-productivity) ## What Software Categories Are Similar to Idea Management Software? - [Enterprise Feedback Management Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/enterprise-feedback-management) - [Product Management Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/product-management-software) - [Strategy And Innovation Roadmapping Tools](https://www.g2.com/categories/strategy-and-innovation-roadmapping-tools) - [Hackathon Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/hackathon-software) --- ## How Do You Choose the Right Idea Management Software? ### What You Should Know About Idea Management Software ### What is Idea Management Software? Idea management software, also called innovation management software, structures the process of gathering insights on products and then organizing and managing those ideas for improvement or development. Feedback can be solicited from employees, stakeholders, customers, or multiple groups with the aim of improving a product or brainstorming.  Idea management software is a step up from the traditional office suggestion box. It enables companies of all sizes to continuously innovate and grow by deliberately leading the ideation process. Idea management software facilitates the full transparency of a company, as anyone who has access to the database can track ideas from inception to implementation. Ideas are collected from all areas of the organization, beyond specialized departments such as R&D, product management, and marketing. These products can integrate with enterprise feedback management software to allow users to manage both internally and externally sourced recommendations. ### What are the Common Features of Idea Management Software? Innovation management software can vary widely in how much structure it provides to the idea generation and collection process. Some products provide rigid scaffolding to every step of the innovation process. Others offer more open-ended methods and tools for users to develop ideas more organically. Below are some examples of features commonly found in idea management software from across the spectrum. **Ranking:** Most idea management software allow users to vote on the ideas they like best, either within a given idea campaign or of those presented from a suggestion box. This will then rank the ideas, letting the strongest or most popular float to the top for consideration. **Commenting:** Some solutions offer commenting capability, which allows users to provide feedback on ideas in real time. Comments can lead to more in-depth discussions about ideas, refining and polishing them into viable options. **Idea campaigns:** Idea campaigns are often a staple feature in idea management tools. Users can create a dedicated campaign to rally ideas for a particular goal or challenge, and others can respond with their ideas within a given campaign. This consolidates ideas for a given topic in one centralized space where they can be evaluated and weighed against one another. **Suggestion box:** While some idea management tools are essentially dedicated suggestion boxes, some will offer a suggestion box as an additional feature. These suggestion boxes can be internal, external, or both. **Gamification:** Gamification features are sometimes utilized in idea management software to increase employee engagement and incentivize employees to get involved in the brainstorming process. **Templates:** Some products will offer a variety of templates, sometimes customizable, to help launch a brainstorming or whiteboard session. Templates can help to provide structure to the idea management process, which is particularly useful for large enterprises. **Project planning:** Some products will allow users to build out project plans and tasks natively inside the software based on generated ideas. Other software will provide the same functionality by integrating with an outside project management software. **Surveys:** Surveys are a great method to take the pulse of an organization, and many innovation management solutions employ a survey feature so users can quickly gauge how their employees feel about recent changes. **Forums:** Forum discussions can serve as an excellent space for the discussion and deliberation of ideas. Some idea management tools provide features akin to an online forum where ideas can be discussed more in depth internally. **Mind mapping:** Mind mapping tools enable individuals or groups to diagram their thought process, allowing them to track and visualize their brainstorming sessions from start to finish. ### What are the Benefits of Idea Management Software? Innovation management software can benefit nearly any company with employees or external stakeholders. By allowing more individuals to contribute to an ideation session, a company can crowdsource ideas and recommendations for ways to improve processes, solve business issues, and enhance a company’s performance. Below are some of the key benefits of idea management software: **Promote efficiency and transparency:** Idea management software allows users to track the progress of an idea from inception to its final form. This software assists with managing ideas and preventing information from getting lost amongst clutter. It can also help reduce the duplication of already-suggested ideas. **Prioritize innovation:** Innovation management software assists an organization with achieving its strategic goals by identifying new products and services, discovering new markets for existing products, and acting on consumer feedback. Overall, these benefits will assist an organization in achieving a competitive advantage. **Empower stakeholders:** Innovation management software supplies organizations with the ability to empower their customers and employees alike. By prioritizing internal and external communication, organizations can promote the application of "wisdom of the crowd" expertise to business operations. Additionally, by encouraging innovation and transparency within an organization, employees are empowered to proactively improve their work processes. Organizations can also utilize idea management software to validate and reward employee engagement, creativity, and inspire the cultivation of innovative ideas. **Reduce costs:** Idea management software can be used to reduce costs by finding ways to eliminate waste or improve existing processes. Additionally, utilizing stakeholder perspectives is a great way to avoid the costs of outsourcing. ### Who Uses Idea Management Software? From a startup to a large corporation, the appeal of innovation management software is that it can be implemented in any type or size of business. Whether it be an externally or internally facing product, rigid or freeform, companies benefit from having a space where insiders can make recommendations. Employees and external stakeholders, such as customers or investors, will have a unique perspective on the products and services they contribute to or purchase, and businesses would be wise to harness their input to improve their offerings. **Employees:** There is an advantage to considering employee perspectives when it comes to decision making. Employees contribute knowledge, skills, and experience—all of which are invaluable to a company. Allowing employees to partake in brainstorming and decision making processes can save a company time and money. By leveraging internal insight, a company may reduce outsourcing previously needed for assisting with business concerns. Additionally, inviting employees to participate in collaborative decision-making processes can lead to feelings of empowerment, boosted morale, and overall higher employee satisfaction.  **External stakeholders:** Whether an individual is a customer or an investor, they are affected by a company’s decisions. Allowing external stakeholders to provide feedback and ideas directly is a great way to get an outside perspective as well as ensure stakeholders feel valued. Outside perspectives can shed light on overlooked concerns and offer a novel problem-solving approach.  #### Software Related to Idea Management Software Related solutions that can be used together with idea management software include: [Knowledge management software](https://www.g2.com/categories/knowledge-management) **:** Knowledge management software and idea management systems have some overlap in functionality, in that both facilitate the collection and organization of internally and externally sourced information. However, innovation management tools handle feedback to bolster company transparency and innovation, while knowledge management offers a knowledge base for teams to reference and retrieve documentation regarding company information or answers to common questions. [Note-taking management software](https://www.g2.com/categories/note-taking-management) **:** Note-taking management software often offers some of the same features found in idea management solutions. Some note-taking tools will provide mind mapping functionality or more structured workflows for penning down ideas. However, note-taking management tools are more freeform in their offering and are much less structured. Additionally, note-taking software usually cannot support the same number of collaborators that idea management software can. ### Challenges with Idea Management Software Software can come with their own set of challenges. Below are some examples of issues a buyer may face when utilizing idea management software: **Identifying relevant ideas:** With a large influx of submissions, it’s always possible that some relevant and useful information may be overlooked. Some idea management software products may not allow the user to limit the number of submissions or may not provide filtering and searching features. If this is a potential concern, it’s important to look into products that offer advanced searching functionality. **Assessing feedback:** When idea management software is utilized to gather feedback, some systems may have an idea ranking feature to arrange comments based on popularity. Popularity could be calculated by the level of engagement the user’s idea gets among collaborators and their historical participation. Typically, the higher their engagement and participation, the more popular their submission may be. This can misrepresent the value or relevancy of the feedback. The best way to avoid this is to choose a product that features an intuitive voting or ranking system. **Customization:** Some idea management platforms don’t offer extensive customization options. This can make it difficult for users to tailor the tool to suit their industry, simplify ideation sessions, or personalize privacy settings.  **Integration:** Limited integration capability within other software platforms has been a pain point for some buyers of innovation management software. Buyers looking to incorporate this type of software into their existing systems should thoroughly explore the integration functionality of a product before purchasing. ### How to Buy Idea Management Software #### Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Idea Management Software Regardless of where a company is at in the purchasing process, G2.com can help inform buyers of the market and assist them in selecting the best software for their needs. The first step in deciding which kind of innovation management software to consider is to assess the needs of the business as a whole. Does the organization already use this kind of software? If so, what works and what doesn’t? Is this the first time the organization will be using idea management software? If that’s the case, buyers will need to determine how they plan to implement this software and what features the organization will need. Some points to consider are given below: **External vs. internal idea generation:** Does the organization plan on using this tool internally, externally, or both?  **Company size:** Buyers will need to ensure that the products they are looking at will suit the size and need of the organization. When purchasing software, it’s important to ensure the product has the appropriate scalability to adapt to changing needs. #### Compare Idea Management Software Products **Create a long list** The first step to finding the perfect software is to create a preliminary list of products that fit the buyer’s general needs. The next step is to narrow down the list by selecting specific features that are must-haves or requirements for the buyer. G2.com provides information about the best idea management software, allowing buyers to filter options as well as user reviews to help narrow down the product list to a more relevant selection. **Create a short list** Creating a short list of software products is an important step in the buying process. While it may be daunting to filter through various products, users can get help by utilizing G2’s “Compare” feature. This feature will take products of choice and display them side by side so the buyer can easily determine which software ticks the important boxes on the list.  **Conduct demos** Once the buyer has narrowed down the product list, the next step is to conduct a demo. Demos allow buyers to see a product and its features in more detail. To ensure a buyer gets the most out of a demo, it’s important to go in prepared. Buyers should have a business scenario ready that will fully test each product in consideration. Additionally, buyers should inquire about cost, vendor support, and any concerns they have about the product. Adequate preparation will make it easier for a buyer to compare products after demos have been completed. #### Selection of Idea Management Software **Choose a selection team** Idea management software can be utilized by employees, management, and external stakeholders. Therefore, it’s important to choose a selection team that will be able to assess a product from each standpoint. A good starting point would be to select three to five team members with different roles to participate in this process. The more varied a selection team is, the better a company can assess how well a product will meet their needs. **Negotiation** Once the selection team has narrowed down their software picks, it’s time to discuss customization options, pricing, and the type of support needed from the vendor. It’s always important to address pricing options, even when they are listed on a vendor’s website. Many software vendors will provide discounts and custom pricing options based on what the buyer is looking to purchase. **Final decision** Once a buyer has made the final decision on a product and is ready to move forward with a purchase, it is recommended to conduct a final demo, inquire about a trial run, and determine what the next steps are if the product doesn’t ultimately fit their needs. These steps can provide a buyer with an additional sense of security and confidence when making a final decision. ### Idea Management Software Trends **Remote workforce** Digital collaboration software has been increasing in popularity over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With many teams working remotely, companies are looking at ways to innovate and enhance their remote workspace. Utilizing idea management software is a great way for a company to drive employee engagement, enhance visibility, and ensure that employees are feeling connected and valued while working virtually. **Consumer expectations** As outlined above, idea management software is an excellent tool for maintaining employee engagement and satisfaction. Moreso, it’s a resourceful way for a business to stay connected with its customer base. Since the start of the pandemic, consumers have become more aware of their purchasing decisions. For example, many consumers are now invested in the way a business is handling safety measures and treating their employees during COVID-19.  Aside from ethics, consumers have changed their purchasing habits to prioritize the health and safety of themselves and their families. Companies can utilize idea management software to crowdsource ideas from their customers to ensure they are meeting their expectations. Additionally, crowdsourcing ideas and suggestions from customers can help a business with its continuous improvement strategy and fuel a culture of innovation.