News Release
New product professionals will have quicker access to certified innovation
tools thanks to a new Stage-Gate® Alliance Program.
ANCASTER, ONTARIO, CANADA – April 6, 2007 - The program was announced today
by Stage-Gate Inc., a member company of the Product Development Institute.
This unique, new program will provide easy access to a centralized listing of
innovation resources that meet the rigorous standards and criteria of the Stage-Gate
Ready certification program.
“Until now, the researching and selecting of product development software
for such Stage-Gate processes as idea management, idea-to-launch and portfolio
management has been unreliable and time consuming,” says Michelle Jones,
Executive Vice President of Stage-Gate Inc. “Our rigorous functionality validation
program will take the risk out of the search.”
“This is a free directory service for purchasers of NPD software that will
close the disappointing gap that sometimes exists between NPD business requirements
and performance of some software applications,” she explains. “It is
a program born directly out of the numerous requests we receive from innovators
around the world.”
Software vendors who submit to a newly-instituted Stage-Gate
Ready certification
are subjected to a comprehensive evaluation on some 200 innovation-related criteria. The
evaluation is conducted by a Stage-Gate expert and can take up to 2-3 full days. Successful
vendors receive a detailed report card outlining how their application performs
against both mandatory and optional criteria.
“Who better to define and validate Stage-Gate best practice requirements
than the thought leaders in the field − Dr.
Robert G. Cooper and Dr. Scott
J. Edgett?” continues Jones. “The collective works of Cooper and
Edgett are considered to be the most comprehensive and reliable assembly of
innovation best practices available in the world today.”
Already, two software tools have been certified Stage-Gate
Ready. They are: Innovation
Framework Suite version 4.0 offered by Innovation Framework Technologies of New
York and Accolade® version 6.0 offered by Sopheon of Minneapolis.
Any organization involved in new product development can benefit from the Stage-Gate
Alliance Program. Even if a company does not have an authentic Stage-Gate process,
it can benefit from innovation productivity tools that are certified by the originators
of Stage-Gate. Certification is assurance that the software was scrutinized
and validated by experts in innovation.
“I strongly recommend all would-be buyers to ask specifically for Stage-Gate
Ready software, even if your company does not deploy a traditional Stage-Gate process,” says
Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Stage-Gate’s inventor. “We want to help organizations
take advantage of innovation productivity tools that can help advance business
performance. We believe that if we reduce risks associated with these decisions,
it is a win-win for everyone.”
For more information on the Stage-Gate Alliance Program, the Stage-Gate
Ready Certification Program or Stage-Gate Inc., visit www.stage-gate.com.
Contact
Executive Vice President
Stage-Gate Inc.
+1-905-304-8797
www.stage-gate.com
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