aumentoo

The Most Answered Questions in 2022

Laura Magnani — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 09:08:16 +0000

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The year is almost over, so we asked our Sales & Support Specialist Fabian what were the most asked questions by our leads and customers this year. He came up with the following interesting questions that we are going to answer for you.

Data Protection

We observed that there are a few questions that gained an increased interest during the last few years. These are all about the topic of data protection, as this is a very serious topic.
So, it is no surprise that we get asked a lot:

Does aumentoo process data outside the EEA?
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No, we do not process data outside the EEA, unless you give us your consent. Some features might require the processing of data, like our built-in service desk. We work together with Atlassian Jira to provide you with the opportunity to give us immediate feedback on the platform. If you choose to activate this feature, the requests of you and your team will be processed by Atlassian which is a company located in Australia, so outside the EEA. But don’t worry, we can deactivate this feature if you wish – this is one of aumentoo’s many advantages! It’s flexible so you can customize it regarding your needs and wishes!
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Customization

This brings us to the next question:
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How can I customize my experience in aumentoo according to my interests?
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During our implementation phase you can choose the business area you want to get selected news from our newsagent. This will already pre-select the information you will get in aumentoo. Furthermore, you can choose keywords for your profile to get startup suggestions accordingly. This is done in the My Area section of aumentoo, where all the interesting information for you as an individual user come together.
Also worth mentioning is that you can integrate your Corporate Design and Corporate Identity in aumentoo. This will give your users a familiar experience. Find more customization options on our Feature page.
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Startup & Innovation Management in aumentoo

Most questions are related to our aumentoo platform, especially to the topic Startups & Innovation Management.

How can I share Startups with my community in aumentoo?
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Most of our customers use aumentoo as their startup and knowledge database. Startups are added to aumentoo as a profile. In the profile you can add a wide range of data regarding the startup, like company data, financial data, social media channels, persons, activities, patent data, documents and more. If you wish to share an interesting startup with the whole community you can do this by promoting the regarding startup profile. Just open the newsfeed and promote the selected startup. The startup profile will then appear in the newsfeed of all users and they can interact with you by commenting or liking it.
In the case you only plan to share your thoughts about a special startup with one colleague you may forward the startup’s profile to him or her directly via chat.
Alternatively, if assessments for certain startup profiles need to be made you can send tasks to the responsibles. They will get an email and notification to assess the chosen profile.

How can I share content in aumentoo?
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Similar to the aforementioned promotion post you can share content via the newsfeed by creating posts and attaching documents to it. Posting these will mean spreading the content in your community. You can also like and comment posts of your colleagues interacting with them. Profiles can be easily shared with individual users, too, via one-to-one or group chat.

Can I cover my Startup and Technology Scouting process in aumentoo?
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Yes, there are different ways to do that. You can onboard your (external) Scouts with a specific user role so they can start adding companies directly into aumentoo. You can also organize challenges where Startups can apply directly. We also collaborate with thinkers.ai that, after initially defining the search criteria, will send you Startup suggestions into the aumentoo platform. To learn more about our partnership, watch our recorded webinar on Youtube.

How can I run Startup applications/challenges via aumentoo?
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You can either invite startups directly to join aumentoo and create their own company profile or you can run challenges where startups apply and present their ideas. In the latter case, you post a link to your online channel (e.g. on your homepage) and startups wishing to apply can directly fill out the form online. You get the information directly in aumentoo in the tab “Registrations” and you decide which startups shall be added to your portfolio.
For 2023, we are preparing a new Idea Management feature, that will make it possible to add and assess ideas of your team, too.

How can I use aumentoo to log Startup Engagements?
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Similar to a CRM (Customer-Relationship-Management) system, you can log any kind of startup engagements like, notes, meetings or events in the startup’s profile itself. This will help everyone that has the access rights to take a closer look at the interactions with this startup.

How can I use Project Management within aumentoo?
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We understand that you want to document projects and cooperations with startups. These projects might be the creation of certain prototypes but also new business models. You can document all the steps of your individual projects in the “Projects\’\’ section in aumentoo. Here, you can add the new projects, search for the right collaboration partners, monitor milestones and track activities, like calls and meetings. As an admin you get an holistic overview of all the past, present and future projects of your company and you can monitor the progress.
To manage your projects successfully you also need participants with different roles. You can involve internal associates but also external ones. Of course, you have the ability to assign various user roles allowing only the respective persons to access and work on the project.
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Technical Questions

Of course, we get asked a lot of technical questions, too.

Is company-wide access via SSO possible?
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Yes, of course, you can access aumentoo via Single-Sign-On.
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What Cloud providers does aumento work with? And do they adher to data policy standards?
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We can run aumentoo on whatever cloud provider you wish. If no preferences are given from our customers side, then we are normally running aumentoo on the Google Cloud. However, our top chosen providers are Google Cloud, AWS and MS Azure. All of them are running their servers in Europe.
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Do you have any Questions?

These were the most answered questions of this year provided by our sales and support team. We hope we could give you a helpful glimpse into our innovation management platform. If you still have open questions, just pop a message – we are happy to help!
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Patent Data – Powerful Source of Innovation Intelligence

Laura Magnani — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 13:03:45 +0000

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Ever wondered if it’s possible to predict the future success of a startup as a non-expert? Or if there is a way to gain further insights into companies’ strategies without involving consultants to conduct expensive assessments?
In this blog post we will dive deeper into the big topic of patent data. We know that before partnering or acquiring external innovations, such as startups, it is important to check whether or not a cooperation makes sense. A technical due diligence, which includes the analysis of patent data, will help you gain further insights.
So let’s learn more about patent data as a powerful source of innovation intelligence and a useful way to analyze how startups are going to perform in the future.

What is Patent Data

So what is patent data? We have spoken to Lucas, the CEO of QuantIP, a company that has daily contact with patent data as they use machine learning algorithms to predict the success rate of patents. As a result, they help companies doing comparisons of competitors, technical due diligence and many more analyses by assessing global patents.
This is what he says:

A patent is not just the right you hold in hand to defend your inventions… It is an investment of the company made in the past in order to make revenue in the future. This makes Patent Data the best resource of innovation intelligence
Lucas von Reuss, CEO @QuantIP

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Why is Patent Data the best source of Innovation Intelligence

Analyzing Patent Data can be an interesting way to learn more about a company\’s strategy and investments. There are several points that make patent data such a valuable source of information.

Global and Historical Coverage

One point is certainly the global coverage. This means data is available from companies and institutions all around the world and not just from specific regions. You are able to get meaningful insights in all important technical fields.
Although recent patents are important to draw significant analysis for future markets, you can benefit from data sourced throughout a wider time range. Patent databases provide you with information from the last 250 years starting with patents like James Watt’s condensator for the steam engine.

Standardized and Comparable Data

Data must be comparable so that it can be analyzed thoroughly. This brings us to the next point – a transparent filing process that leads to a standardized data structure. Fortunately, patent data falls into this category as it is now highly standardized. This allows you to easily compare German patents to Japanese ones, as well as Americans to Chinese ones.

Early Indicator for Innovations and Future Products

Patents are costly. Nobody is going to invest in an idea that does not generate profits in the long-run. Hence, we can assume that these investments are an early indicator for promising innovations.
As mentioned before, patents are an investment in the future. Thus, they are an indicator for future products, as they anticipate technologies and designs that might lead to completely new products and markets.

The Insights you gain from Patent Data

Now, you are certainly asking what kind of insights you are able to extract from patent data and how this data is going to help you make decisions.
Well, as we have learned patent data is usually sourced globally from different sources. You get a variety of insights connected to patents and these are some to focus on:

Number of active / pending patents: These numbers will tell you how active a company is in terms of inventing new technologies, designs, etc. and of course in applying for patents. Is the company still investing in R&D and new technologies? The amount of new patents will give you the answer.
Fields where the company has patents (e.g. Healthcare, Medical Equipment..): This information tells you in which fields the company is active and where its current and future business focus lies.
Changes over time: You may find this data interesting as it shows you the amount of new patents over a certain period of time. A company reducing the amount of new patents could be an indicator for fewer investments in R&D. Hence, they may have changed their way of working or have set other priorities. Maybe there was a swift change in the operating fields which would result in fewer patents in one field and an increased number of patents in another. This information suggests that the company is changing their strategy. If an increased number of patents come up in a certain technology field you may ask the question if this is the new field to focus on and maybe change your future strategy, too.
Top Inventors of the company: This is a list of who handed in most of the patents for a company. Use this to detect the real innovators of a company.
Competitor Overview: Figure out which companies are focusing on the same technologies and topics and compare them.

These data are only a few samples of the insights that you will gain from a patent data analysis. Based on the above mentioned data and more, QuantIP has developed a patent rating system. The patent ratings and their distribution allow you to see how successful the patents are in the various fields and predict future success rates of the company.

How to Use Patent Data

If a startup has reached a certain status in the innovation process it makes sense to add more information to its profile. This will make it easier for you to evaluate the startup properly and make a better decision whether or not it is wise to invest in this company or cooperate with them.

Review & Deal Sourcing

Use the provided data to easily review the startups in your portfolio and to get an overview of the current investment opportunities. Find relevant targets fast.
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Due Diligence

Due diligence allows you to spot weaknesses and risks and helps you to run a meaningful analysis whether it is wise to collaborate or invest in a certain startup. It is often done by external consultant agencies, which can be expensive and time consuming.
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Monitor Changes

Track changes in strategy of the scouted startups over time and the overall developments in its business field. Spot new trends evolving. You can also use the data to monitor and evaluate the performance and competitiveness of already made investments.
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Patent data might not be very present as a source of innovation intelligence in the internal innovation process. But, you see, there are different use cases that can be covered by using these datasets. You don’t have to be an expert to analyze the impact of this data.
Discover the Patent Data Analysis Feature in aumentoo.

Summing up

A huge amount of global and historical patent data is made available in a standardized and structured way. This allows you to draw conclusions about the next big innovations and products in the future.
Patent data is the best source of innovation intelligence as it helps you analyze and assess your company or the companies you are scouting. It mainly supports you to:
Get an overview of the current and global patent situation in technology fields that are interesting to you
Find out who the direct competitors are and how they perform compared to your company or the startups you are scouting
See the evolution of the company and its strategy over a certain period of time

We think patent data is an exciting way to get better insights in the startups you are scouting and that it will enrich your innovation process, when used at the right time.

It is important to put IP strategy at the beginning of the innovation process and not at the end. It certainly pays off in the long run
Harald Ostler, CEO @aumentoo

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Fancy more Information about Patent Data?

If you would like to see the whole chat we had with Lucas from QuantIP and learn more about patent data than drop your email in the form and you will get the link to our webinar “Patent Data – The Best Source for Innovation Intelligence”.
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How to find the right innovation management software

Laura Magnani — Mon, 09 May 2022 14:42:11 +0000

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Find the Right Innovation Management Software for your Company

with our 6 Helpful Criteria

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Great, your boss has finally agreed to a new and fancy software that will support your innovation management process? Then let us help you find the right one! In this blog post, we are showing you the steps before buying a new application and we are also sharing tips on which criteria you should focus on while making your decision.

01 PREPARATION

Collect information about your needs for the new innovation management solution

First of all it is important to know the exact needs of your company or organization.
Do you need a tool to scout the latest startups of your industry? Or do you need an internal idea management tool, where your employees can submit new ideas? Or are you looking for a more complex platform to manage the whole innovation process?
Should it be an open tool that can be used as a collaboration tool by different stakeholders, like your innovation department, startups, universities, industrial experts, etc.? Or do you prefer an internal tool, just for your small team?
Take notes and speak to your colleagues, what do they expect from the new software? Figure out the crucial features that are needed by the team. Involve the actual users of the tool in the decision making process to avoid disappointments and waste of money on the wrong tool.
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02 TIME MANAGEMENT

Set a Deadline and Check the Technical Requirements

Everyone knows that you work more efficiently when you have a deadline, where everything has to be completed. This gives a sense of urgency to the task and prevents it to be deleted or forgotten in favor of other todos. So, think about a future date where you want to use the new innovation management software system and when the implementation process has to be completed.
Take into consideration that the implementation process takes longer when you need to implement it on your internal servers as an on premise solution. So, check with your IT department which requirements there are so that the application runs smoothly on your devices. And above all, to avoid critical policy problems.
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03 SEARCH

Get a Selected List of Suitable Innovation Management Software

After you know the needs of your team and you have set a realistic deadline for the project, it’s time to find suitable solutions. Look at the tools’ homepages and compare the different solutions on review sites like Gartner or TrustRadius.
Maybe you have friends or colleagues that already use an innovation management tool in their company that they would recommend.
After you have checked all the information you could find about potential tools it\’s time to start selecting. Best way is to request a demo or even better go for a free trial to get a closer look & feel of the applications.
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04 DECISION

The Following Criteria will Help you Choose the Right Innovation Management Software

Now that you have a list of selected interesting tools it is time to choose the best one. We have summed up some criteria that we learned were crucial for our customers that might help you as well – Feel free to get inspired by them.
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SCALABILITY

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Is the innovation management software capable of supporting your growth?

By the concept of scalability we mean the ability of the software to keep pace with your own growth. This means not only in terms of a rising number of user accounts, but also in terms of an increasing amount of stored data. Let’s clarify this by showing you an example: You decide to get a tool for your small team. After a while, your team grows and also colleagues from other departments want to use the tool to be more productive. So, you need more user accounts. More people involved also means more data to be handled with. Imagine now if your tool can’t handle the growth in time, you would lose users and data…and you know time is money
Besides the mentioned, it is also important to take a look at the development of features. Does the software provider add new features or update the application on a regular basis? Today is a very volatile time and tools need to adjust to the current needs quite fast to remain interesting and to fulfill their users’ needs.

SECURITY

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Is information stored in the application safe? Does the software provider follow GDPR rules?

Security gets more and more important in todays’ time – and should also be a very sensitive criteria to focus on. Not only is it important for the software provider to stick to the GDPR rules and protect the personal data of the customers but also to protect the application from malicious attacks from the inside and outside. For that reason, the software provider should have a secure software development lifecycle (SDLC) in place where security is considered at every stage in the development of their product or service.
Tip: Also look after tools that support Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) as a defense against potential account compromises.

FLEXIBILITY

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How well does the application adjust to internal requirements? To which degree is it customizable?

Every company has its own terminology and corporate identity. If you are not willing to get standardized and rigid software, then you should look out for more flexible tools that are highly customizable. Depending on your desired degree of customization, some applications are able to change their design, like the colors, and also the wording of input fields.
If you invite different stakeholders to join your tool, you might also need more specified user roles than the predefined roles. This will give you more flexibility and prevent users from seeing content they are not allowed to see. For example: Imagine you are working together with external sources like startup scouts or consulting agencies to provide you with possible partners for your projects. You want them to onboard your application, but you don’t want them to see all the sensitive information your colleagues are working on. This situation requires customizable user roles, permitting you to set viewing, writing or no permissions at all to certain information.

ANALYTICS

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Does the innovation management software support your decision making process? Can you see and measure the success of your activities?

It is always important to define and monitor set key performance indicators (KPIs). To help you better analyze the success of your measurements, be sure that the software does track the metrics that are important for you. These metrics could be the amount of new projects you develop with your team, or the number of engagements you have with startups of your industries. You might also extend the KPIs on external stakeholders for example to discover which of your sources do the best job to scout the latest startups in your business field.
While searching for your new innovation management software look for those tools that support a vast number of analytic possibilities.
If you say analytics are fine, but you also want to actively evaluate and monitor innovations, ideas and/or startups. Then you might need a tool that also supports your decision making process with features that allow you to assess the innovations in a way that is right for you.

COLLABORATION & MOTIVATION

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Does the tool enhance collaboration and does it motivate your team?

For a successful implementation of the tool, it is important that it is used. So, check if the software does enhance collaboration between the users. This includes the simplicity to share documents and information between the users, like an integrated chat. Furthermore, ask the question: does the tool motivate your team, for example through built-in gamification elements or the possibility to interact with each other? And is it easy to use and inclusive, so that even the person who dislikes technology does not have problems joining the team work.

SUPPORT

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Which level of support is given to you by the software provider? Is someone available as soon as you need help?

This is quite an important criteria. Before you choose a tool, check what level of support is given by the software provider and how the user onboarding process will look like.
Maybe you have to pay for extra support, which you have to consider.
Things are easier when you have a real customer support agent at your side who is responsible for you and your matters. Lucky those, who have never had a bad experience with an anonymous customer support hotline.
Extra Tip: If you have found a nearly perfect innovation management application, but only a teeny tiny feature is missing, speak to the provider, maybe they do have an open API that your IT department can enlarge with missing features.

WE HOPE THESE 6 CRITERIA POINTS WILL HELP YOU THROUGH THE DECION MAKING PROCESS

Now it\’s up to you to choose the right tool for your innovation management – you might start to take a closer look at our aumentoo platform

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Match-Maker – aumentoo and Allgäu Digital are working together

Laura Magnani — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 11:44:43 +0000

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aumentoo and Allgäu Digital are bringing companies and start-ups together

aumentoo and Allgäu Digital work hand in hand to create a digital ecosystem for innovation in the German region Allgäu with a platform for knowledge transfer, networking and collaboration.
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Kempten (AG, 10.02.2020) – Innovation is like dating, the right partners have to be found first – But where?
aumentoo and the digital start-up center Allgäu Digital are working together to connect regional start-ups and companies on a digital platform. This cooperation aims to promote innovation and to strengthen the own entrepreneurial growth of the participants and in the long term also the Allgäu as a successful business location. Right from the start, Allgäu Digital not only acts as a start-up center, but also as a networking partner for companies and startups in the Bavarian region.

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Providing a productive environment for innovation is the DNA of our company. We founded aumentoo as an innovation platform that enables corporates, start-ups or hubs to plan, run and manage innovation.
Harald Ostler, CEO aumentoo

The future is collaboration. I am convinced of that. Innovative power unfolds above all in cooperation: regardless of whether it is two companies collaborating with each other or a start-up partnering with established companies. We see it as our mission to bring the right partners together. This makes the region resilient and innovative.
Antonia Widmer, Leitung Allgäu Digital

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Win-win Situation for Start-ups and Corporates

So far there is no digital platform in Bavaria where companies and start-ups can search and find each other. Innovation only arises through contact, exchange and the joint application of new ideas and techniques. The platform supports start-ups and companies with three essential factors to innovate successfully:

Find suitable partners
Structure, plan, manage and implement innovation processes
Benefit from a wide knowledge base with trend reporting, news, analysis and scientific articles

This is how the Cooperation looks like

Companies submit projects, questions or search requests on the platform and receive suggestions for start-ups that match the search criteria such as industry or skills.
Start-ups, on the other hand, are visible to corporates, they can easily network and keep their profile information up to date. An extended knowledge database complements the possibilities of the platform. Knowledge transfer, experience and skills are crucial factors for entrepreneurial success. In terms of the shortage of skilled workers and trainees, targeted cooperation and networking and thus the sharing of ideas, knowledge and skills will be of great importance in the future.

Allgäu Digital – That\’s behind it

Allgäu Digital is a joint project between Allgäu GmbH and the city Kempten in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Kempten and IT-Gründerzentrum GmbH, Augsburg. Allgäu Digital is part of the digital organization Digitales Zentrum Schwaben (DZ.S).

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Allgäu Digital, Antonia Widmer and aumentoo, Harald Ostler © Allgäu GmbH

WE ARE ABLE TO COVER FURTHER USE CASES WITH OUR AUMENTOO PLATFORM

Are you interested in a cooperation with us?

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aumentoo’ s End-of-Year Review and Prospects for 2022

Laura Magnani — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 14:35:27 +0000

The new year has just begun – and we look back on a busy and eventful year 2021!
Many challenges have been mastered by our team and new chances and development opportunities have emerged. Now, we would like to give you a short recap of the past year and at the same time present insights for this new year.
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Achieved Milestones 2021
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New Cooperation Partners

Last year we were able to win some new cooperation partners who perfectly match aumentoo’s scope with their valuable expertise:
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QuantIP

The Munich-based company analyzes and evaluates patents, among other things. Thus, QuantIP facilitates the technological due diligence of companies for investors.
Soon, these evaluations and information can be requested and viewed directly in aumentoo. This ensures an easier and faster decision-making in favor of or against a company.
https://quant-ip.com/patent-rating-en/

Trendone

As a strategic innovation consultant, Trendone delivers the top future topics that you have to keep an eye on. By integrating the trend radar in aumentoo, our customers are always only a mouse click away from the latest technology trends and innovations.
https://www.trendone.com/en/

OMIND Consulting

Omind supports companies in implementing open innovation through a special HRM strategy and mindset coaching. In connection with aumentoo, the Omind integration offers the opportunity to analyze and evaluate teams and their mindset.
https://omindconsulting.com/

Thinkers.ai

Thinkers.ai is the intelligent search engine for data-driven company management. By integrating Thinkers.ai, we can provide our customers with even more accurate data.
https://www.thinkers.ai/en/

Allgäu Digital

Allgäu Digital is the digital start-up center in Kempten and supports the regional startups in all matters. For example, they provide networking opportunities or enable startups to access a coaching program across Bavaria and the regional pool of experts. aumentoo will support Allgäu Digital and its network as a partner.
https://standort.allgaeu.de/allgaeudigital

Kick-Off for the aumentoo UI / UX Redesign

In order to enable an extraordinary user experience, we started to beautify aumentoos\’ “looks” together with a project team from Furtwangen University. In this context, the students from different courses analyzed the application, conducted user interviews, compared different designs and started developing the first prototypes of the platform so that aumentoo can shine in a new and even more intuitive design in 2022 – be curious!
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New Features 2021

Like the past years, we have been hard working and have developed many new features and have improved existing functions. Here is just a rough overview of the most important features that we have integrated this year:
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Extensions to the Request Management

Small excursion in between – Startups, investors, technologies and concepts are created as profiles in aumentoo. All profiles are designed in such a way that all data relevant to the respective group can be added there.
Additionally, users are able to search for and find the perfect project partner using the Request Management feature. The partner search is initiated by submitting a request form.

Additional fields and properties were added to the form in order to specify the requests even more precisely.

With the “Quick Assessments” feature it is possible to evaluate the proposed startups / cooperation partners directly in the request. Now, experts or colleagues can evaluate the suggestions and the administrators can see at a glance which cooperation partners best match the requests of the team.
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Better Insights & Analytics

A lot of different information and data sources flow together in aumentoo. In order to maintain an overview of the startup preferences of your own team, we have expanded the profiles and the KPI monitor to include new analytics options.

A newby is the internal analysis of the profile itself. The users’ visits and impressions are measured so that, above all, the responsible can see how well the profile is performing. Maybe this is an insider tip?

Tracking the number of visitors and interactions within the profiles also makes it possible to map the net range of all profiles, requirements and projects in the KPI monitor. At an early stage, the most popular profiles and new trends can be discovered.
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More Personalization Options

aumentoo is a user-centric application. Therefore, it was also very important for us to align the platform as best as possible to the needs of the individual users. For this purpose, we have created additional user roles that can be configured even more precisely.

In addition, the own user profile has been expanded to include additional areas, now event suggestions tailored to the user are shown here.
The dashboard can now be configured in such a way that only the information that is relevant for the user is displayed. If someone likes it clean and tidy, then all widgets can be hidden.
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aumentoo Marketplace

Probably the biggest and coolest feature of 2021 is the aumentoo Marketplace. This is a place where you can download apps that you would like to link to aumentoo. Here, you will not only find external apps, but also applications developed by us that complement aumentoo perfectly.
The latter includes, for example, the app that we are developing together with our partner Trendone. Here, users get an overview of current trend topics and can discover suitable developments and articles.
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Fancy a free trial of aumentoo and the new features?
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Prospects for the New Year – Spoiler Alert!
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We have more exciting projects planned for the new year. In addition to the extention of our marketplace, we already have some new app ideas in the pipeline as well as exciting cooperation opportunities. Even more actions and integrations will then be possible in aumentoo.

The new aumentoo design will be revealed for our users.
Starting from 2022, we are also planning events for our customers and for all innovation leaders.

We’re looking forward to it!
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Our team is looking forward to meeting YOU
Do you have a use case that you can cover with aumentoo, or do you think that aumentoo can support your working area?
Contact aumentoo
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Open Innovation Software – Buzzword or Real Added Value?

Laura Magnani — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 07:51:48 +0000

The Open Innovation approach is becoming more and more popular, especially due to digitalisation. The ever-advancing digitalisation is leading to more pressure to innovate in companies. According to the Bloomberg Innovation Index 2021, Germany is this year\’s fourth most innovative country in the world, losing 3 places compared to last year\’s ranking. South Korea achieved the highest number of points in the Innovation Index 2021.

Product life cycles are shortening noticeably. This is especially true for the IT market. Driven by ever new innovations and performance possibilities, today often only three to four months pass before new devices appear on the market. To keep pace with this development, opening up the innovation process is almost inevitable.
Open Innovation Introduction
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But What Exactly Does the Term Open Innovation Mean?

Open Innovation refers to the opening of the innovation process to the outside world in order to increase the innovation potential. Knowledge from customers, universities and suppliers flows into the innovation process.
The term Open Innovation was first used by the American economist Henry William Chesbrough. [1]

According to the known economist Joseph Schumpeter, on the other hand, innovations are created within the company and must be developed in a closed form of innovation generation. Therefore, a company develops and markets only its own ideas. Regarding Chesbrough, the emergence of various factors in the dynamic environment at the end of the 20th century challenges the foundations of the closed innovation model. [1]
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Image1: \”The Disruptive Innovation Model\” based on \”Open Innovation in Life Sciences\”(A. Braun, E. Eppinger, G. Vladova, S. Adelhelm)
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The image describes the opening of a company to innovations from outside. In contrast to closed innovation, Open Innovation involves, for example, an exchange of knowledge between other companies, universities and customers. Ever shorter product life cycles lead to higher pressure to innovate. That\’s why Open Innovation is becoming even more important today. [1]

Oliver Gassmann and Ellen Enkel describe three different key processes in their paper on Open Innovation [2].
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Outside-In vs. Inside-Out vs. Coupled Innovation

Outside-In vs. Inside-out Innovation
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Outside-In Process

The outside-in process describes the integration of external knowledge into one\’s own innovation processes. The knowledge of suppliers, universities and customers should be used to accelerate the progress of the innovation process. By integrating external know-how, the risk of an investment failure can be reduced. For instance, many companies use customer feedback to improve themselves.
IBM, for example, has opened up its innovation process to the outside world. For that to happen, IBM holds so-called \”Innovation Days\”, inviting leading scientists, suppliers, customers and potential partners to provide external input on the company\’s research activities in order to stimulate discussion on common interests and identify emerging business areas at an early stage.
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Inside-Out Process

The inside-out process describes the externalisation of internal knowledge. Companies use this process to earn royalties on patents or innovations that they do not use for operational business activities.
Nokia, for example, has its own patent portfolio because the Research and Development department is so large and many patents are created that Nokia cannot use itself. Currently, Nokia has licensed 200 patents.
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Coupled Innovation Process

The Coupled Innovation Process aims to develop innovations in alliances, which means combining the outside-in and inside-out processes. For example, HP and Canon have joined forces to develop new printers. Most companies and joint ventures realize that such cooperations cannot work unilaterally. Therefore, care must be taken to strike the right balance between giving and taking. The right partner is crucial for a successful coupled process.
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Opportunities and Risks of Open Innovation Approaches

Open Innovation brings with it some opportunities and also risks.
One risk that can be mentioned is that Open Innovation may lead to an unintentional outflow of internal company knowledge. It can also lead to an increase in the complexity of the innovation process, as many different people work on the same project. Another risk is the internal barriers within the company, for example the negative attitude of employees towards new innovations from outside the company, which can slow down the innovation process. [1]

However, the opportunities of open innovation outweigh the risks.

It helps to increase efficiency in the company. On the one hand, the integration of external knowledge can lead to a considerable shortening of the development times of a product until its market launch. On the other hand, outsourcing innovation activities, for example in the form of scientific cooperation, can contribute to savings in development costs.

Open Innovation leads to a competitive advantage in terms of information over companies that close themselves to innovations from outside. This can be, for instance, cooperation with a start-up or a university.
As practical example, Amazon has opted for Open Innovation with the voice assistant Alexa, as its competitor Google\’s voice assistant continues to grow. In order to keep the information edge, Amazon has launched an annual competition, the Alexa Prize. Teams from different universities are selected to conduct researches under the lead of Amazon scientists and engineers to improve the interaction between humans and AI and create stunning prototypes.

Additional sources of revenue can be generated by sharing internal knowledge. These can be innovations that have nothing to do with the company\’s business model – as described in the example for the inside-out innovation process.

Furthermore, Open Innovation helps the company to increase its competence. The networking of employees from R&D with colleagues from other departments can prevent operational blindness. [1]
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Open Innovation Software to Support the Internal Innovation Process

An Open Innovation Software or Innovation Management Software is a solution to support companies in their innovation process and thus reduce the dangers posed by the aforementioned risks.
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What are the Advantages of an Innovation Management Software?

Open Innovation Software
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With suitable software, all people involved in the innovation process have insight into the process and can actively contribute, for example through comments, suggestions or evaluations of the innovations/ideas. This not only increases the motivation of each individual but also their commitment. A sense of community among the participants is created and continuously promoted.
People outside the company, such as consultants and service providers, can also be granted access to the data, thereby facilitating their collaboration with the company.
Good software should always be designed in a way that the various user groups have tailored access rights in order to view only the content that is intended for them. This protects sensitive data.
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If all information on innovations, project partners, ideas and new technologies is collected, evaluated and analysed in one platform, this increases transparency. Data can be recovered and decisions can be tracked.
Consolidating all information in one tool also prevents certain data from being lost due to the leave of individual employees.
Barriers and resistance to change in the company are best broken down through improved communication and more transparency. These two benefits can be provided by a suitable innovation management software.

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The growth in complexity is also seen as a risk of open innovation. However, this can be reduced by using a suitable tool and the innovation process can even be optimised. This is because workflows can be mapped in the software and checked for efficiency.
The use of innovation management software also reduces innovation time, from ideation to product launch in the market. Valuable time can be saved through improved and eased communication between all participants, through the implementation of company-wide process steps, as well as through the automation of manual work. Duplication of work or the parallel work of different departments on similar projects can also be avoided by consolidating the innovation process in one software.
Assessments can be forwarded to experts to help facilitate the decision-making process.
Thus, it can be said that innovation management software leads to better and faster results.

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All the points mentioned so far help to establish a culture and a sense of innovation in the company in which the implementation of new ideas and projects is eased and encouraged.
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Fancy a Free Trial of our Innovation Management Solution?
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Conclusion

Open Innovation is becoming more and more important in today\’s world. Due to shorter life cycles of products, the urgency for innovation is increasing. Above all, innovation should be opened for the outside, as this can save considerable costs. With suitable Open Innovation Software, companies are supported in their innovation process and can bring innovations into the company more efficiently. Suitable software helps to unite all participants in one place and to keep them informed about the latest developments. It also helps to establish a sense of innovation in the company.
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References

[1] A. Braun, E. Eppinger, G. Vladova, S. Adelhelm: Open Innovation in Life Sciences
[2] O.Gassmann, E. Enkel: Open Innovation – Die Öffnung des Innovationsprozesses erhöht das Innovationspotenzial

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The post Open Innovation Software – Buzzword or Real Added Value? appeared first on aumentoo.

Disruptive Innovation – What Are We Actually Talking About?

Laura Magnani — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 12:22:05 +0000

The Usage of the Term Disruption in Business

When working in an innovation related field, the term disruption is quite frequently used. It usually occurs in relation with disruptive startups. Oftentimes you are warned of innovation that will disrupt your own business. Schimpf 2019 sees an inflationary use of the term disruption. It seems to be in vogue. Everybody is talking about it.

Let\’s take a closer look! What\’s behind this term?
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The Management Theory Disruptive Innovation

The term Disruptive Innovation goes back to the work of Bower und Christensen (1995): „Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave“. The article explains a model that states: a company tends, due to incremental innovation, to create an even better and more expensive product over time. As a result, the company at a certain point surpasses the needs of the mainstream and hence, reaches the top customer segment.

By doing that, the company leaves a gap in the lowest customer segment. This space is filled by new market entrants. They start to “disrupt” existing market players with new, functional and oftentimes cheaper technologies. These disruptors then move up the market due to performance improvements. Finally, they reach the top customer segment themselves. Now, they are endangered to be disrupted as well (Bower und Christensen, 1995).
The management theory Disruptive Innovation
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Figure 1: The Disruptive Innovation Model (Christensen, Raynor, McDonald, 2015)
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In an Interview Christensen names Toyota as an example for this model. Continuous product improvements made it possible for companies like Hyundai or Kia to enter the lowest customer segment with cheap offerings. But now, as they are developing towards a premium company themselves, one can observe the same phenomenon with the chinese manufacturer CHERY. (YouTube: Disruptive Innovation Explained)
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In the Debate: Disruptive Innovation

So, is the theory today still appropriate to categorise startups as disruptive? This is a controversial issue in business practice.

Christensen (2015) therefore widens his successful management theory, explaining that not only those are disruptors who enter the low end of the customer segment, but also those companies who have a significantly different business model, compared to established firms (Christensen et al., 2015). However, opponents of the theory in return contradict, that the theory overall focusses on linear business models and can not explain platform- or community-based business models, such as Uber. [1]
In the debate: Disruptive Innovation
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An interesting debate on that topic took place on twitter, when Elon Musk accused Christensen to be wrong with his theory.

Musk justifies his statement by explaining that tech-innovation always enters the market at the top customer segment and reaches the mainstream via economies of scale. [2]

Figure 2: Twitter-criticism of the Disruptive-Innovation-theory (Source: Twitter).

Todays Relevance and Importance

In summary, Disruptive Innovation stands for an important management theorie. Even though it is in controversial debate and was further developed over the past years, for managers it is important to know its meaning. Market entrants and innovation have to be categorized properly, in order to create a good strategy. [3]
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References

Schimpf, S. (2019). Praxis Disruption. Wie Unternehmen potenziell disruptive Technologien erkennen, bewerten, entwickeln und umsetzen. Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Bower, J. L., & Christensen, C. M. (1995). Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave. Harvard Business Review. 73 (1), 43–53.

Christensen, C. M., Raynor, M. E., & McDonald, R. (2015). What is disruptive innovation. Harvard business review, 93(12), 44–53.
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Further Read

[1] Why Clayton Christensen Is Wrong About Uber And Disruptive Innovation.

[2] ELON MUSK, CLAYTON CHRISTENSEN, AND THE ART OF DISRUPTION

[3] Was ist disruptive Innovation?
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The post Disruptive Innovation – What Are We Actually Talking About? appeared first on aumentoo.

External Innovations – Why it is Crucial to Collaborate with Startups

Laura Magnani — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 15:41:52 +0000

If the competition from startups is so strong for companies, why is there little focus on collaboration?

The post External Innovations – Why it is Crucial to Collaborate with Startups appeared first on aumentoo.

TechBoost Startup Programm Participation

Laura Magnani — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 13:21:03 +0000

Boost Your Business

This is what we are now saying, as aumentoo has been accepted to the Telekom TechBoost Startup Program

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TechBoost, the Deutsche Telekom start-up program, fast-tracks selected technology start-ups with up to € 100,000 credit for the Open Telekom Cloud as well as discounts for Telekom products and tariffs. Furthermore, in case of extensive cloud usage TechBoost start-ups benefit from valuable sales and marketing support – according to the motto:

Boost your business!

Beschreibung TechBoost Programm
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https://telekomhilft.telekom.de/t5/TechBoost/ct-p/techboost
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With our participation in the startup program, we not only benefit from the corporate\’s large network and discounts on Telekom products, we also gain access to the Open Telekom Cloud (OTC).

The Open Telekom Cloud is a public IaaS product from Deutsche Telekom and managed by T-Systems. Since operation is carried out exclusively at German data centers, T-Systems as a German provider fulfills all relevant security requirements and regulations for operation of secure IT services.
Beschreibung Open Cloud
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With OTC we have gained another strong partner for our infrastructure so that we can offer our customers the best possible performance while maintaining the highest data protection standard.

As the General Data Protection Regulation – GDPR – came into force and is applying since May 25, 2018, stricter rules for handling personal data were introduced in the EU. Since sensitive corporate data is also managed and stored in the aumentoo application, the topic of data protection and data security is extremely important to us. It is therefore our main concern that the security and availability of our users\’ data is guaranteed in the best possible way. For this reason, we only work with the best technologies and service providers.
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We look forward to a good and successful cooperation with the TechBoost team!

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aumentoo Next Generation

Laura Magnani — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 11:16:27 +0000

It is still January and not too late to wish you a Happy 2020!

Last year was a quite busy and exciting one – so this is the perfect opportunity to recap the past and to give you a clue about our future plans and features.
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Growing Business Development Activities

We started to expand our sales and business development department, hired new talents and enlarged our office. We gained new customers and were able to attract reseller/partner that believe in our software and vision.
Furthermore, we became member of important digitalization associations, like Bitkom and PFI-D and managed to partner with known companies to make our aumentoo application even better.
Let’s discover more about these companies and the benefit for aumentoo Next Gen:
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Crunchbase

Crunchbase is a platform to find innovative companies and the people behind them. It is the leading place to get insights about startups, companies and competition data.

By integrating the Crunchbase database in aumentoo you are able to find the next unicorn faster and with less overhead. Simply search for your targeted startup and get the regarding information automatically within seconds – as easy as pie!
This will save you a lot of your precious time, we guarantee it.
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Ubermetrics

Ubermetrics is a leading provider of media intelligence, media monitoring and analytics tool for brands, companies and agencies.

By integrating the Ubermetrics media analysis reports we assure that you stay updated with news regarding your company, competitors and keywords that are relevant for you. Never lose track again of the stream of information! Instead stay updated with overviews that enrich your startup scouting process.
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Launch of aumentoo V2

Finally, the most important – our aumentoo V2 Next Generation went successfully live at first customers with a lot of new features and a completely new user interface. This will lead you to a social media user experience, while working on your daily tasks, making work much more pleasant and easier.
Ask for a demo to take part in the aumentoo experience.
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Experience aumentoo
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This Years Newbies

For 2020 we have prepared a lot of new hot stuff to further boost your user experience. Here is a taste of what we are currently setting up:
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Business Card Scanner
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Scan the business cards of your contacts with the mobile application on your iPhone and import his/hers company’s data in aumentoo.
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Offline Availability
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All the features in the mobile iOS app are now also available offline. You can now work on tasks while flying to interesting fairs all around the world, without needing wifi. All of your changes will be updated as soon as you are reconnected to the internet.
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Chat Bot
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Chat with aumentoo Bot and ask him about changes in your portfolio, new profiles and open tasks.
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Individual User Analytical Widget
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You will have a new widget on the dashboard. This widget is all about you! See what kind of user you are – are you more a Creator or an Analyst? Depending on your activities you can monitor your performances and become aumentoo’s next ambassador.
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These are just a few to mention. We have a lot more ideas to make your user experience even more unique.
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