Idea Capturing and Management Systems play an important role in the success of an innovation program. In my book The Bright Idea Box and in public, I speak about creating a bottom-up innovation program, in which employees submit ideas that benefit the business and customers, and the number one question I get in response is: “Which software program or tool do you recommend?” The concept of capturing employee ideas is not entirely new, and the demand for such solutions is growing by the day. Innovation speakers, myself included, and industry experts are fueling the demand for such solutions. Many smart entrepreneurs have realized the potential of this and have already developed solutions to serve this market.
In 2012, when I was looking for such a solution, I found more than fifty software solutions, with a very wide range of capabilities—some were very mature, some promising up-and-coming solutions, and some very primitive products. I’ve looked at most of them and reviewed the list of features and functionalities for all of them. My evaluation criteria is based on some of the key features and functionalities I listed in The Bright Idea Box, so I will not go into the details of these features and functionalities, but I cannot help myself to repeat that the tool must appeal to employees. The design of the tool must encourage employees to visit the site and want to submit ideas. You may have your own organizational needs, but do not forget that the most overriding need is for “new ideas.” Do not select tools based on your needs, but rather on how they will entice employees to submit new ideas.
Here’s a list of the Top Ten Vendors that, in my opinion, offer quality enterprise grade solutions. I revised this list in April 2014. Disclaimer: I have no affiliations with any of these vendors. I have opinions about these solutions, and this list is based on the work I did to narrow down the list of quality vendors.
Top Innovation Management Solutions (Alphabetical):
- Brain Bank www.brainbankinc.com
- Bright Idea www.brightidea.com
- Coras Works www.corasworks.net
- Hype www.hypeinnovation.com
- ID8 Systems www.id8systems.com
- Imaginatik www.imaginatik.com
- Induct www.inductsoftware.com
- Innovation Cast www.innovationcast.com
- Kindling www.kindlingapp.com
- Nosco www.nos.co
- Qmarkets www.qmarkets.net
- Spigit www.spigit.com
If you have any questions or want more detailed review of any of these products, feel free to drop me a line at Jag@IdeaEmployee.com
Jag Randhawa 
Hi Jag – good list of vendors. I’m curious, which company did you end up working with?
I work for HYPE Innovation, and also worked at Imaginatik for many years.