Evaluating Competitive Intelligence Software
Table 5.1 /p.111 Evaluation Criteria and Evaluation
Questions
particular sources? (e.g., running specificqueries in
preselected sources)
12. Filtering of information Does the application have the
capability tofilter information to meet minimal CI needs?(e.g.,
highlighting search terms, summarizingarticles)
13. Alerting of information Does the application have the
capability tonotify users about new information? (e.g.,push
technology)
Evaluation Criteria:Value-Added Processes
Evaluation Questions
I. Identification of CI needs1. Identification of main CI
client
communitiesDoes the application help to identify themain CI
client communities?
2. Identification of CI topics Does the application help to
identify CItopics?
3. Translation of intelligence topics intospecific information
requirements
Does the application help to identify thepieces of information
required to address theCI topics?
4. Identification of CI analyticaltechniques
Does the application help to identify CIanalytical techniques to
address the needs ofthe CI clients?
5. Capability to change CI topics andanalytical techniques
Can the CI topics and analytical techniquesbe changed?
II. Acquisition of competitive information6. Identification of
external information
sourcesDoes the application help to identify externalinformation
sources?
7. Identification of internal informationsources
Does the application help to identify internalinformation
sources?
8. Identification of sources for specifictopics
Does the application relate informationsources with specific
topics?
9. Monitoring content withininformation sources
Does the application have the capability tomonitor content
changes within informationsources? (e.g., message pops up to
informabout changes)
10. Monitoring of information sources Does the application have
the capability tomonitor changes regarding informationsources?
(e.g., message pops up to informabout new addresses, address
changes,addresses deleted)
11. Targeting of information withinsources
Does the application have the capability tofind specific pieces
of information in
Assessing Competitive Intelligence Software:A Guide to
Evaluating CI TechnologyCopyright 2003 by France Bouthillier and
Kathleen Shearer
111 Assessing Competitive Intelligence Software
112 Assessing Competitive Intelligence Software
14. Importation of information Does the application have the
capability toimport information in different formats?(e.g., HTML,
PDF, Excel, Word, PowerPointfiles)
15. Screening of information Does the application have the
capability toscreen out redundant or repetitiveinformation?
16. Rating of information Does the application have a function
forrating the qualitative value of information?
III. Organization, storage, and retrieval17. Indexing Does the
application offer an indexing
function?
18. Hierarchical linking Does the application allow for
hierarchicallinking?
19. Cross-topic linking
20. Storage of variety of formats Does the application store a
variety offormats?
21. Storage capacity Does the application store
collectedinformation as well as CI products?
22. Internal searching Does the application offer an internal
searchfacility?
23. Browsing Does the application allow for browsing?
Does the application allow for cross-topiclinking?
IV. Analysis of information24. Variety of CI analytical
techniques Does the application offer a variety of CI
analytical techniques? (e.g., three or moretypes of techniques,
basic company profilesnot considered here)
25. Level of analysis Does the application allow for varying
levelsof analysis?
26. Synthesis of information Does the application synthesize
(summarize)information in any way?
27. Recommendations for action Does the analysis result in
recommendationsfor action?
V. Development of CI products28. Variety of formats for viewing
CI
productsDoes the application offer a variety offormats for
viewing the final product?
29. Effectiveness of formats Are the formats effective in
conveying CI?
30. Flexibility for adapting CI products Can one format be
easily adapted to anotherformat?
