IdeaConnection, an open innovation service provider, and Brightidea, a designer of on-demand innovation management software, announced that they had formed a technology and services partnership. An April 29 news release explained that customers of Brightidea will now be able to get access to IdeaConnection’s global network of highly-skilled technical experts; they will also enjoy IdeaConnection’s full range of open innovation services. In return, IdeaConnection’s customers will take advantage of Brightidea’s SaaS suite of advanced products to facilitate corporate innovation programs.

The market of innovation management services remains remarkably fractured. Take, for example, providers of open innovation services: some experts put their number at around 200 worldwide. Then there are multiple companies producing innovation management software, and so far, only Spigit and Mindjet have joined their efforts by merging into a single company. No wonder that many organizations, especially those at the very beginning of their innovation journeys, feel confused or even scared when trying to navigate this complicated maze of offerings, features and price models.

The partnership between IdeaConnection and Brightidea, while no formal M&A, is therefore a step in the right direction. Creating a one-stop shop of innovation services will help organizations launch their innovation initiatives without agony of going through an oversized toolbox of almost identical tools. This partnership also makes a lot of sense because it emphasizes the urgent need of consolidating internal corporate innovation programs and external (open) innovation activities.

In other words, the partnership between IdeaConnection and Brightidea is a bright idea.

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