Analyst Perspectives

When it comes to managing product information, organizations know they have room for improvement; only 27 percent trust their efforts completely, and less than a fifth (19%) are very satisfied with them. Almost half (48%) say they have too many incompatible tools, while 41 percent do not have a centralized information repository and 45 percent use a manual process to create a single complete, consistent and reliable product record. All of these facts and more from our product information management (PIM) benchmark indicate that businesses need a set of integrated processes and applications to meet their responsibilities. The benchmark found that adaptability, functionality and usability top technology and vendor considerations among the core components of our Value Index methodology.

While some IT analyst firms think that PIM is just a subset of master data management, they could not be more wrong. The business processes related to product information have specific requirements that are more about the process and channels than just focusing on master product data. In addition, the leadership and budget for PIM comes from businesses that realize that transformational steps can significantly improve their performance.

Our recent Value Index research on the technology providers in product information management  rated Stibo Systems the hottest Hot vendor on an overall weighted basis. Its level of support in manageability, reliability and capability topped all other vendors. Stibo Systems’ focus on business needs across departments has been essential to its success.

Stibo’s STEP Information Server includes a publisher, portal and workflow that can be adapted easily to just about any industry needs. In its latest STEP 5.3 release, which is a solid platform for product information management, Stibo has improved its search and product information lifecycle support to span across channels where versions and details could vary. It has also has advanced its digital asset management capabilities to ensure these assets can be managed across roles and used in different ways across channels. It has improved the adaptability of the platform with its information integration and synchronization in cases where its software must integrate into existing systems. While many organizations might already have their own specific information management, data integration and master data management technologies, Stibo can integrate with existing investments and adapt to existing architectures.

Critical to product information management is the ability to perform reporting and analytics on the information; our benchmark found this the most important technology for improving product information management. In this latest release Stibo has improved its ability to make it easier to optimize product information processes with facts and not just opinions. It integrates product information in a master repository and provides it across the varying channels in which product information needs to accessed and shared efficiently. While the product offers much to admire, the company could benefit from more specific product marketing that would better communicate its capabilities and use across roles, and highlight its support for tablets and mobile devices.

Stibo is poised for growth with a solid foundation and a mission to address the highest benefit (47%) we found in our PIM research, eliminating errors and mistakes in product information. But let’s not forget that customer satisfaction is critical, and in fact is the number one business case factor in more than half of organizations. With more than half (57%) of businesses planning to change their existing product information management in the next 12 to 18 months, Stibo has a significant opportunity, but fierce competition will keep the company busy improving its products to meet the expanding needs of its customers. You should look at Stibo Systems, a red Hot vendor for product information management.

Regards,

Mark Smith

CEO & Chief Research Officer