Consider

This week, I attended a launch party for the rebranding of Intraspect Europe into Consider.

When Intraspect appeared on my radar a few years ago, it looked like a sophisticated alternative to Lotus. More recently, it has been positioned as a collaboration tool, with specific reference to Organizational Intelligence. Intraspect founder Tom Gruber waxes eloquent on the fact that there are many stupid organizations packed with intelligent individuals.

My own view of Organizational Intelligence identifies six elements: Perception/Monitoring, Appreciation/Sensemaking, Reasoning/Action, Knowledge/Memory, Learning, and Communication.

Achieving organizational intelligence calls for a combination of good technology and good working practices, and Consider claims to deliver both. We shall see.

What is the scope of the system whose intelligence is in play? Consider wants to support not just single firms and agencies, but also virtual enterprises and multi-agency environments -- in other words, collaborations between several organizations. For example, the technology is being used by Ogilvy & Mather, a leading brand management firm, to establish brand management collaborations with its clients. (This is a form of deep support, which Ogilvy & Mather itself markets under the brandname BrandPlace.)