What's Your Budget Priority?
Jinfo Blog

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract

For many organisations it's budget planning season. Researching, evaluating and selecting which products and technologies to include and deciding when to make the leap to the next generation technology make this a challenging time. FreePint's product reviews, vendor commentary, technology analysis and Communities of Practice help support budget planning and return on investment decisions throughout the year.

Item

If your organisation manages to a calendar year budget, you're probably in the thick of it right now. So many of our customers have told us that they don't have a spare minute to breathe in the next 60 days - not until the budget is in and approved.

Budgets are always a challenging exercise, as the needs always seem to exceed the resources available. New products are released all the time, and existing products change - sometimes past recognition! - and need to be re-evaluated.

Technology has the potential to create new efficiencies and faster decision-making, but often with significant expense and risk. Is this the year to invest... or wait for the next-generation options to come online?

Furthermore, the increasing emphasis on being able to measure and demonstrate the return on investment for information products and services requires that we think differently about the tools at hand, how they are deployed, and what expectations we can have about them. 

FreePint seeks to support the many conversations you have and analyses you need to conduct to build and support a sensible budget, in the planning stages and throughout the year:

FreePint Product Reviews and Vendor Commentary

A centrepiece of the FreePint Subscription is our product reviews. Recent reviews have continued to focus on the highly competitive market for news aggregation services, including reviews of M-Adaptive and Meltwater News and Buzz. We've also published a Mini Review of NewsEdge.com, updating our full review from 2012 with the latest feature and content additions.

Technology Analysis

There's always plenty of technology-related news and potential projects to consider. But which are likely to be valuable and which suck away your time, money and will to live? FreePint analysts provide you a peer-based perspective on the latest technology trends. Articles like the recent Thinking about Installing LinkedIn Intro? Think Carefully! and Big Data - We Have the Technology, Now Where are the Skills? give you the insight you need to evaluate technology on its merits against your business objectives, as well as identify gaps in your organisation that can be barriers to success.

Peer-to-Peer Dialogue

In addition to our articles and reports - any of which you can share with colleagues at your organisation as part of your subscription benefits - organisations with a FreePint Subscription at the Team level and higher can participate in our Communities of Practice (CoP). Recent calls have focused primarily on the changes in the news aggregation market; upcoming calls on understanding the value proposition and influencing the intranet are in the works.

These calls enable you to speak directly in a confidential environment with peers and other industry experts. And if the wealth of FreePint content isn't enough, putting a CoP call on your calendar ensures you get value from your FreePint Subscription.

What's Your Priority?

Whether your budget requires you to reduce your spending, demonstrate ROI, consider alternative providers or make the case for increased staff, a FreePint Subscription can help you do so. 

Don't create another budget without the help of FreePint. Complete the online form, "How Can FreePint Help?" to get started today.

« Blog