Adobe Uses Brightidea to Streamline the Innovation Process
Adobe is a 3.2 billion dollar company, with nearly 6800 employees worldwide. With more than half of its revenue generated outside the United States, Adobe’s Flash® Player and Reader® software combined are installed on more than 700 million connected PCs and devices worldwide. Furthermore, Adobe’s Reader software is distributed in 26 languages and on 10 major platforms worldwide. All of the world’s top 10 PC manufacturers ship their systems with Adobe’s PDF technology pre-installed, and over 250 million PDF files currently exist on the web. As the world’s leading creative technology provider, over one million designers and developers use Adobe Flash and Adobe Dreamweaver® software has more than 3 million active users. More than 90% of the world’s creative professionals have Adobe Photoshop® installed on their desktops.
Adobe has revolutionized the way the world engages with ideas and information. For 25 years, the company’s award-winning software and technologies have redefined business, entertainment and personal communications by setting new standards for producing and delivering content that engages people virtually anywhere at anytime. From rich images in print, video, and film to dynamic digital content for a variety of media, the impact of Adobe solutions is evident across industries and felt by anyone who creates, views and interacts with information. With a reputation for excellence and a portfolio of many of the most respected and recognizable software brands, Adobe is one of the world’s largest and most diversified software companies.
The Challenge
Adobe has historically been one of the top technology companies on the cutting-edge with respect to innovation. Having always regarded innovation as a key differentiator, Adobe has maintained a company-wide culture that has promoted innovation for many years.
However, in addition to implementing an entire division devoted to innovation, the company also created a leadership position dedicated to championing innovation at all levels within the organization.
The Idea Mentor, who reports directly to Adobe’s Chief Technology Office, is responsible for the day-to-day management of the New Business Initiatives Unit (NBI), a department which bears ultimate responsibility for growing new idea development and fostering Adobe’s innovation culture.
Yet, despite an already thriving culture for innovation, Adobe’s top idea engagement team within the NBI Unit knew there was room for growth, as an immediate need existed for an enterprise scale idea platform. Furthermore, the solution would be complicated, as it would necessitate flexible functionality so as to not only perform with, but also improve, the existing innovation programs and processes currently in place. Solution requirements would also need to be particularly flexible, as making radical changes to the current programs was not an option.
The Solution
Adobe used WebStorm to conduct an internal competition called “Product Ideation Shootout.” Following a conference hosted by the Silicon Valley Product Management association, an event consisting of the leading Product Managers in the technology sector, various members of top management at Adobe and Brightidea met and began discussing potential idea management solutions and the various program options.
Adobe was currently in the process of sourcing an idea management solutions provider that could achieve the many technical and functional requirements necessary to run alongside its existing ideas platform.
Up to this point, however, Adobe management had not been successful in sourcing such a flexible and customized solution. Thus, after learning of the many features and benefits of the Brightidea Solution, Adobe management requested Brightidea engineers develop and implement an enterprise scale idea management trial adhering to the very specific and detailed requirements necessitated by an organization as complex as Adobe.
Initially, Adobe utilized Brightidea’s WebStorm Solution to headline an upcoming Tech Summit in both India and the United States.
By first utilizing WebStorm in a one-time, trial capacity at such high-profile events, both organizations had a great deal at stake – but also a great deal to gain.
Depending on the outcome, Brightidea would likely have the opportunity to implement its WebStorm technology in a much broader capacity.
And, from the converse perspective, if the idea platform at the Tech Summits proved successful, the NBI Unit at Adobe would have secured huge wins in its quest for furthering innovation. Furthermore, quality ideas submitted via WebStorm would also serve as evidence that regular innovation initiatives are not a luxury, but a business necessity.
The Results
Upon the unveiling of WebStorm at Adobe’s U.S. Tech Summit, the solution proved an enormous success.
Debuting as Adobe Idol, a spin-off of American Idol, the solution served as a “Product Ideation Shootout” whereby awarding the best idea submissions with prizes at the Adobe Idol finals at the close of the Summit. As part of the prize package, the winning three ideas are being further reviewed by Adobe project teams and possibly slated for product development and implementation.
To put the Solution in a practical perspective, the final results of the U.S. WebStorm/Adobe Idol competition generated over 750 participants, and almost 100 idea submissions, 3 of which were actually submitted by Adobe’s Co-Founder. The India Tech Summit also proved a success, generating over 320 participants and 65 idea submissions. These numbers, in addition to the overwhelming buzz and excitement generated internally about innovation, led Adobe’s NBI team to not only praise the work undertaken by Brightidea, but further extend the scope and nature of their relationship.
Furthermore, Adobe felt so positively about the Brightidea Solution, WebStorm technology is now being implemented in many additional areas of the company.
Feature enhancements, including updates to Adobe’s number one product, Creative Suite, are among the many facets of Brightidea’s extended involvement with the Adobe organization.
“WebStorm by Brightidea was the best way for us to globally collect, rank, and categorize our ideas that we could find. By rolling out Brightidea company-wide, we are now able to measure and monitor our innovation, turn our ideas into implementable projects, and foster innovation culture.- Rick Bess, Idea Mentor and Innovation Officer
The Future
Adobe is now rolling out WebStorms on a global scale for multiple business units. The Brightidea Platform is being used to turn collected ideas into implementable projects. Adobe’s NBI Unit is also collaborating with Brightidea on additional new products and feature enhancements, even the possibility of creating an Adobe AIR version of Brightidea. By linking Brightidea with some of Adobe’s key partners in the industry, the two organizations are building, strengthening, and leveraging key relationships that can only bolster business opportunities for both companies.