I had the chance to talk with  a company called OVO the other day, and learn about their vision to help companies "Innovate on Purpose." Given my recent research findings indicating companies are looking to operationalize product innovation, I found what they had to say very interesting. And any company that has an idea drawn on a paper napkin on their homepage can't be all bad, I know that I have come home with some great ideas hashed out on napkins, scraps of paper, and all matter of advanced innovation media (including paper plates). Enough of that, let's get to OVO.

What do they Do?
I spoke with Jeffery Phillips, an industry savvy guy that runs sales and marketing for OVO. I won't do them full justice here, but they are a relatively unique firm focused on the process of innovation. They have a dual focus of helping companies define an effective innovation process, and supporting innovation with software technology. Many companies I talk to help with product ideation, market research, or brainstorming. For example, we had Michael Treacy of GEN3 Partners speak at our Aberdeen Product Innovation Summit in 2007, and he had some fascinating things to say about helping companies innovate around parameters of customer value. Tony Ulwick of Strategyn talk about innovation by addressing unmet needs. A number of other companies have software to help manage needs, including specialists like Imaginatik or PLM software suite providers like Siemens PLM. But I was struck by the combination of process, methodology, and software for innovation offered by OVO.

What do they Offer? 
The software products we discussed include a distributed brainstorming product called Spark and an idea management solution called Incubator. An idea would come from Spark to Incubator, and then from there progress to a structured product development process (most likely in a PLM system). Their other products are innovation-oriented services, including development of innovation as well as development of innovation processes to drive repeatable innovation. 

Who do they Work With?
I haven't talked to a customer yet, but would welcome a conversation to learn more from their perspective. They named some top name companies, but I don't think I was supposed to repeat them here. OVO is not a huge company, but they are very interesting and they are probably worth a conversation if you are looking to enhance your product innovation process.

So that's what I heard from OVO, I hope you found it useful. What do you think? What else should I have asked them?