The best competitive intelligence software should have security features, produce useful output files, capture relevant information, and allow for external users. It should also avoid unnecessary information and be configurable for auditing purposes. However, hosting external users can increase costs and the risk of malicious attacks.
A company uses competitive intelligence software to monitor information about the company and to extract data about competitors ethically and legally. Considering the amount of information that is poured into such a program, the best competitive intelligence software will likely have several security features. A competitive intelligence program creates an output file for analysts to interpret the information it gathers, and this file should be presented in a useful graphical or text file, depending on the analysts’ needs. Different competitive intelligence programs capture different information, and a person should look for a program that captures useful information for the specific activity. Another thing to consider in finding the best competitive intelligence program is whether it should allow outside users to enter your system, increasing both the flow of information and the risk of a malicious attack.
Vast amounts of information are added to competitive intelligence software on a constant basis, making it easier for a hacker to attack an unguarded system. A program with security features can avoid a hacker. Some common security features for competitive intelligence programs are encryption, which will make information abstract unless it is properly decrypted; authentication, which allows users to verify their identity; and hosting the program on an internal server, which could prevent unauthorized users from accessing and attacking the program.
Competitive intelligence software can gather huge amounts of information, but if it fails to produce that information, the program is useless. An output is a file representing the collected information. For example, a graph file can show how the owner’s business compares to another business. To facilitate the work of analysts, the program should have output formats commonly used by the company; a wide variety of output files is generally considered useful, as this allows analysts to create different outputs for different reasons.
When competitive intelligence software is used, it expands and collects a wealth of information. While having a lot of information is helpful, having a lot of unnecessary information is unnecessary and costly. This can increase operational costs, as new servers will be required to host useless information and analysts will not be able to use the information to benefit the business. The program should be built to gather useful information, such as consumer opinions or trademark infringement, or it should be configurable so that analysts can audit the information obtained from the program.
Some companies allow outside users to access the competitive intelligence software domain, while others are closed to the public. If external users are allowed, they can participate in surveys that will increase the flow of information. At the same time, hosting external users can cost money in bandwidth and authentication, if used, and can increase the risk of malicious attacks.
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