ISIS - Frequently Asked Questions


What is unique about ISIS?

From a Client perspective, some say it's the access we provide them to senior, commercially influential management in leading companies - Industrial Opinion Leaders (IOLs) - who can help them make strategic decisions and launch new businesses. Of course, they're referring to our Summit and Discovery Panelists who can become their future customers and partners. Other Clients point to the significant time and cost savings they receive from our business development systems.

Clients value ISIS' advanced facilitation skills and techniques that optimize the value and efficiency of IOL participation and make things happen! Clients also value the shared risk taking (with IOL companies) enabled by the Summit System when used to accelerate commercialization of new technology. Have a look at Testimonials and our Sponsor brochure for other comments relating to ISIS system uniqueness and benefits.

When is the right time to consider involving ISIS in my business development program?

The earlier you engage the market to help you plan, assess, validate and commercialize new business, the sooner you'll achieve your new business objectives… and increase shareholder value. ISIS can link you with some of the most experienced and influential people in the market.

IOL involvement, combined with ISIS proprietary and highly structured systems, are powerful tools that accelerate and guide each of our business development programs with real world, senior level counsel. Results are powerful new strategies, the launch of new businesses, the formation of global alliances and other significant growth initiatives. Elements of our Precision Innovation, MarketDiscovery or Summit Business Development Systems integrate well into stage-gate and other in-house business development systems from idea generation to commercial launch. So whether you're at the front-end or back-end of new business development, now might be a good time to engage ISIS.

See Can you afford to do new business as usual and Business Creation Services for additional thoughts.

Can ISIS effectively deal with a product, technology or market it has not dealt with before?

Yes. Most new ISIS programs require us to deal with new product types, and at least some markets and industries in which we have not previously been involved. Our heavily market-driven methodologies are transparent across technical, industrial and market areas. The particular industry and market-specific expertise needed in all ISIS programs is supplied by participating IOLs whose senior knowledge and experience in their market, product or system categories, and areas of technology, is unequaled by any other form of input, including so called expert analysts or consultants. Further, since IOLs are among senior management of their organizations, they're in a position to influence commercial actions based on their opinions. Commercial actions taken by innovative market leading companies often drives new trends in markets. Consequently, the scope of industries we serve is constantly expanding.

If I've already identified initial applications, markets and customers with which to launch a new technology, why would I need ISIS?

That depends on the nature of the work you've done to date. Consider these questions. How confident are you that your first targeted markets and applications will enable you to capture maximum value and deliver the higher margins? Do you know if these avenues will optimize your potential return on investment/return on assets? How sure are you that there exists a sufficient market overall to justify commercialization in the first place? Are your contacts at market entry customers high level enough to make introduction of your technology a priority in their organization, and move on it quickly? Are there any reasons why you might want to test the waters in areas you've targeted before committing to commercialization?

We worked for a Client some years ago whose business development department decided to move forward with a new product. Their Chairman, upon receiving the department's presentation and recommendation to begin construction on the first factory was unconvinced of the opportunity and risk assessment, and asked the department to secure another opinion of market potential. They called us. We assembled, in a Summit, the leading buyers and specifiers (IOLs) of products of that type. It turned out there existed only 1/5 of the market potential needed for a minimal business success. As a result of having us perform the second assessment, using our methods, the Client received an indisputably clear and very candid view of the business potential. The Client's decision to terminate further work on this business development project immediately saved them $20 to $25 million USD.

Why would I need ISIS to work in markets where I have strong customer relationships... where I already know the key players in the market?

There are several reasons to consider…

• One is to ensure objectivity when it comes to assessing commercial potential in the real world. It's easy for bias to enter a project and spin results a bit when the developers are also the assessors. Better to let the market provide the assessment… particularly IOLs from leading companies in the markets or segments you expect to sell to.

• Perhaps you've not yet committed to commercialization and want to learn how much potential there could be for a new idea or new technology. In such a case, it might be advisable to remain anonymous so as to avoid alerting competitors to your potential new product plans.

• While you may have strong relationships with key players, on what organizational level are your daily relationships? Are they high enough to cause the right commercial actions to take place when you want them to? In other words, are your relationships on the decision making level that's needed to rapidly test and purchase your new products or services?

• You may be in an assessment or validation mode, but need to remain flexible when it comes to giving a final go or no-go decision to commercialization. If you decide not to move forward with products or technology you've discussed with key customers, they could be disappointed. Worse, you could damage your relationship with them if you decide not to move forward with a new product or service you discussed with them and which they expected to have access to. In this case, if you're not certain of commercialization, you may want to remain anonymous until a go decision is made. In ISIS programs, the Client remains anonymous.

Are the ISIS Summit and MarketDiscovery Systems just for industrial companies with new technology?

No. In fact application of these methodologies is broader than you might imagine. For example, we've had considerable success applying these approaches to the growth needs of insurance companies, telecommunication companies, defense contractors, medical equipment manufacturers, research institutes, garment manufacturers, office equipment makers, government lab spin-outs, venture capital firms, food processors and packaging firms. While we often focus our attention on Industrial Opinion Leaders (IOLs), we actually specialize in engagement of Opinion Leaders in general, whether Industrial, Technological, Market or Societal in nature.

Consequently, the ISIS approach to creating opportunities or solving problems can also be effectively applied to development of, for example, new banking services, retailing systems, patient care systems, new therapies, political platforms, the design of new recreational parks and social or societal issues, to name a few. Just consider the possibilities of what influential Opinion Leaders can resolve and take actions on using the our Summit System or MarketDiscovery approaches.

(See Industries Served and Representative Clients for listings of companies and industries in which these systems have been applied.)

What percent of Summit Systems are successful?

The short answer is, 100%! We measure success according to the degree to which a program fulfills all objectives set for it by the Client, in the Client's judgement, not our own. The vast majority of programs since 1982 have resulted in very significant business opportunities for Clients, and in many cases exceeded Client expectations. A handful of programs, in that time frame, have demonstrated why sales of a Client's new business direction, technology, product or service will not be able to support minimum Client-required financial returns. These results have been used by clients to terminate further investment and save many millions of US dollars. See Summit System Results for more detail.

When is the right time to commission a Summit System for purposes of technology commercialization?

History shows, the earlier you engage high level input from the market in the development cycle the better. Summit Systems have been valuable to companies with very early stage technologies, as well as to companies who believe they're "ready to launch."

Guidance received from Industrial Opinion Leaders in the early stage of a project enables cost-effective redirection or fine tuning before a major investment is made. There's always the chance that IOLs will demonstrate why commercial potential of the magnitude you need, just isn't realistic. While such a conclusion may initially be a disappointment, it could save you millions in development.

Later stage projects benefit from the potential to generate a high level of enthusiasm and commitment from Summit Panelists (your future customers and partners) to take commercial actions right now. This enthusiasm and commitment - we call it market-pull - translates immediately into sales and alliance development opportunities with Panelists. The result is dramatically increased speed to market with higher value applications and high return business models.

What are the basic differences between the Summit and MarketDiscovery Systems?

The Summit System and MarketDiscovery are the two fundamental methodologies we use for market-driven business development and to help Clients accelerate their growth.

Summit Systems are often used for Commercialization, Creating Technical Breakthroughs, Long Range Planning and Alliance formations. MarketDiscovery is commonly used for Market Assessments & Validation, Portfolio Prioritization, and Product Strategy Development.

In the Summit System, we bring IOLs together into a Summit Conference-like setting, which, including preparation and debriefing, may involve 4 or more days of each IOL's time. The Summit System typically engages 12 to 14 leading companies from domestic and/or international regions.

In MarketDiscovery we often work with IOLs on a one-to-one basis, where the IOLs may spend a total of one to three hours with us, either by phone or in person. Discoveries, because of their versatility, engage between 14 and 40 leading companies from domestic and/or international regions.

Time and cost budgets for Discovery are typically lower than that for Summit Systems. Other differences can be seen in the Product Comparisons Table. See The Summit System and MarketDiscovery for additional information.

How do you determine which Industrial Opinion Leaders to involve in a Summit or Discovery program… and how are they selected?

Following detailed planning sessions conducted by senior ISIS consultants with a Client at the outset of a program, ISIS conducts rigorous market intelligence with Industrial Opinion Leaders in companies and markets relevant to the subject matter. In a close working relationship with the Client, this intelligence helps determine the right markets, companies and people to engage in a given ISIS program.

Summit programs typically engage 12 to 14 innovative market leading companies during a conference. To select these, ISIS may have discussions with 100 to 150 companies.

MarketDiscovery programs may engage anywhere from 14 to 40 innovative market leading companies, depending on the program scope. To select these 14 to 40 companies, ISIS may have discussions with 45 to 120 companies.

This intense, highly disciplined intelligence gathering is used to identify, qualify and engage the right mix of IOLs for a specific Client program. Often, during this process, some companies and markets earlier thought to hold potential, by the Client or ISIS, are invalidated, while others are identified and validated. All Panelists recruited for Summit Conferences must receive prior Client approval before receiving an ISIS invitation.

Are Summit and Discovery Panelists just recruited from the largest companies in a market? (i.e. those with the largest market share?)

No. IOLs engaged as Summit or Discovery Panelists need to be highly influential, senior management from companies who are the innovative leaders in their fields and these may or may not be market share leaders. Innovative leaders are more frequently the early adopters of new ideas and technologies. They generally tolerate more risk and often possess more vision concerning ways to improve their products or services, and reshape their market and product categories.

Your odds of successfully introducing new products, and influencing new market trends in your favor, are considerably higher when you launch them through, and with the help of these types of companies, institutions or organizations. Sometimes, they are in fact the companies with the largest market share. See some example Summit and Discovery Panels that have helped our Clients launch new products and plan new business opportunities in the past.

How large is the IOL (Industrial Opinion Leaders) list that you maintain in my industry?

ISIS has relationships with hundreds of IOLs from innovative market leading companies throughout the world. These companies are leaders in fields as diverse as aerospace composites to fresh produce distribution to advanced telecommunications. Our existing relationships with IOLs result from their engagement in previous Summit and Discovery programs. An ISIS core skill is our ability to identify, qualify and engage such industry leaders on an as needed basis from any field. In fact, on average, 90% of the Panelists for each new Client program are new to ISIS. Therefore, the majority of IOLs we may engage in your program are not likely to be part of our current network.

We do not use a 'standing panel' or a set list of any type, as do many other companies. In fact, the right Opinion Leaders of just a couple of years ago are probably not the right people for today, since these senior people move to different companies, change positions or take retirement. For a Summit or Discovery to have the high value it does, we must engage people who are the current Industrial Opinion Leaders in the right companies, in the right markets. Thus, it is essentially unimportant how many IOLs from your industry we have worked with previously. More to the point is the need to identify, qualify and engage the right types of current Opinion leaders for your program, whether we've worked with them before or not. See Industries Served for the scope of ISIS work to date.

Why would someone want to be an ISIS Summit or Discovery Panelist?

Foremost among the answers we receive from Panelists is to gain early access to new technologies, products and services that can have a major impact on their own businesses. Networking opportunities with other Panelists, that present themselves during Summit conferences, is also a valuable benefit to many. For additional reasons, see our Panelist brochure entitled, Why would anyone want to spend a few days sharing ideas…

What kind of IP (intellectual property) agreements do Summit Panelists sign?

Summit Panelists are asked to sign a limited non-disclosure/non-use agreement at the beginning of a Summit conference. This one page agreement covers ideas discussed at the Summit and gives the rights to Summit System-generated ideas to the Summit's Sponsor (our Client). When Panelists have ideas they wish to keep confidential from other Panelists, but wish to share privately with the Summit's Sponsor, we have various mechanisms to enable such disclosure without the Panelist's company compromising its IP position.

Nine months to conduct a Summit program doesn't seem like accelerated development. Why does it take so long?

Nine months is not an insignificant amount of time to be sure, but that is what the Summit system requires, plus or minus a month.

Most Clients tell us the more expensive and time consuming parts of their new business processes are R&D, product/application development and manufacturing process development, not to mention the time required to put needed manufacturing capabilities in place. A Summit system, at approximately its halfway point, has preliminarily defined a portfolio of opportunities with a range of…

• potential business sizes;

• timing (when the market needs it);

• value to the market (profit opportunity); and

• technical difficulty.

In our experience, it is not unusual for Clients to need one to three years to meet the market's technical requirements on a laboratory or developmental scale. Imagine how much time might pass if they didn't have the right technical direction and focus.

The second half of the Summit system, the commercial transition phase, is about confirming the opportunities, making business decisions, defining technical and business strategy, targeting the right development partners (often Summit panelists), and basic business planning. In short it is about decision making and execution.

The acceleration enabled by the Summit System is to the Client's business development process overall. What the Summit system ultimately offers is speed to market, and a high likelihood of creating a successful new business, provided technical requirements and product availability can be met on time. (see one Client's assessment of cost and speed.)

We have a very capable sales/marketing department, so what is the value of the Commercial Transition Workshops I read about in your Summit and Discovery literature?

Much of the value from ISIS 'commercialization' programs ultimately resides in the decision making and commercial actions generated by these unique Client/Market/ISIS encounters. These workshops, and the infrastructure surrounding them, are a continuation of the discipline, a transfer of relationships, and specification of first commercial action steps with customers and alliance partners made possible by earlier Summit and Discovery operations. See Commercial Transition Workshops for more detail.

MarketDiscovery sounds like market research. What is the difference?

MarketDiscovery is fundamentally a business development tool used "directly within" the market to obtain high level intelligence upon which decisions are made and strategies developed. Market research is an "outside-in" activity; commonly a study of an industry or market, using a combination of secondary and primary sources to gather key market information. See MarketDiscovery vs Market Research for more detail.

How much effort does the Client have to put into Summit, MarketDiscovery and Precision Innovation programs?

A 'core' Client team works closely with ISIS on each program, starting with detailed program planning and then providing strategic input and decision making as the program unfolds. Core teams are typically comprised of 4-6 cross-functional decision makers. The actual work done by core team members largely occurs at scheduled meetings or workshops. See our Comparison of products for a projection of the actual number of days generally required of core team members for each ISIS program type.

How is Precision Innovation different from other ideation work, and your Summit and MarketDiscovery Systems?

The mission of Precision Innovation (PI) is to create high opportunity new product and business concepts - new, actionable ideas. PI combines structured creativity with very strong market input to guide idea generation. The result is real-world, market focused new product and business concepts. Not just a bunch of ideas.

Precision Innovation (PI) typically engages groups of cross-functional specialists from within and without the Client's company, combined with solid market needs input from market specialists. When implementing a PI program, we are less concerned with immediately influencing commercial actions with potential customers and partners, as we are with our Summit and Discovery programs. Consequently, we typically engage multidisciplinary (cross-functional) specialists in PI sessions, rather than Industrial Opinion Leaders, although IOLs are possible as well. PI, whether conducted as a 6-week single innovation session (iSession) or a multi-module PI 6-month system, is used at the front end of business development to explore areas of opportunity and to create ideas, directions and solutions. See additional details in Precision Innovation.

I'm interesting in gaining early access to new technology. How can I be considered for Summit or Discovery program participation?

Since the majority of Panelists in every Summit or Discovery program are 'first timers,' we are always searching for new Industrial (and other) Opinion Leaders in all fields, from industrial chemicals to high tech surgery; major appliances to pharmaceuticals; food packaging to smart toys; semiconductor manufacturing to telecommunications. If you would like to be considered for Panel participation, please submit your credentials on our secure IOL Credentials page.

If you have other questions?

You might find answers to other questions already addressed in one of the articles we've published. You can find these at Actionable Advice. Or, just ask us.