Ideate

Full Economic Costing is complex, but it doesn't have to be difficult. While we leveraged the latest web technologies to deliver a compelling FEC application, we also used some traditional techniques – first we listened to some pretty smart folks, then we thoughtfully deconstructed the problem before trying to solve it.

Though Ideate applications can standalone, they are designed to work together to support tight coordination across research offices; facilitating inter-office data sharing and minimizing duplication. Ideate applications use a project folder metaphor, where the project serves as a convenient metafile for organizing all related details pertaining to a single research study. When a researcher launches a project all related applications are joined-up in an umbrella process. The project acts as a one-stop-shop logging all changes and tracking all components on behalf of the stakeholders. As details change over the lifecycle of a research project, Ideate reacts accordingly, updating relevant administrative offices and/or notifying additional business units. Instead of separately coordinating with multiple offices and then juggling the related tasks that might follow, Ideate connects all the dots for a singular unified experience.

Personalized portals summarize all tasks in one convenient location, and feature interactive dashboards with graphs and charts that provide real-time insights into research activity. Users can view statuses, trends, and projections at a glance, and flexibly filter, sort, and drill into reports.

The Ideate Framework is purpose-built to accommodate the dynamics of the research enterprise. The light-weight Framework is based on a Service Oriented architectural style. Instead of hard-coding a solution to a generalized business specification, Ideate deconstructs business requirements into discrete functional components called services, which act as flexible building blocks for assembling applications to suit varied needs. This service paradigm supports far greater customization and adaptability than traditional monolithic development methodologies.