Five apps for tracking your competitors’ performance
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Whether you’re in sales, executive leadership, or working asrna junior IT analyst, keeping up with competitive companies is a great idea.rnMost industries will have innovators, cost-cutters, vanguards, and upstarts, andrnwatching these companies and comparing them to your own will give you a sensernof where your company sits on the spectrum, as well as where the industry isrnheaded.
Mobile devices are great tools for competitive analysis,rnallowing you to get a quick read on your industry during a morning commute or arnsales call on a customer, where your chair might still be warm from arncompetitor making a similar visit. Here are five apps that will help yournanalyze your competitor’s performance.
Note: This gallery is also available as an article.
Newsle (free, web application)
Newsle (free, web application)
If you want to keep up with competitors, suppliers, orrnindustry peers, add a few key executives from each to your Newsle list, and yourncan easily keep up with the press about those companies.
Bing Finance (free, included with Windows 8)
Bing Finance (free, included with Windows 8)
There are heaps of stock tracker applications, but the free Bing Finance that’s included in the default installation of Windows 8 is notrnonly pretty but seems to pull from a broad array of news sources, from financernblogs to major newspapers around the world. I like that Bingrnprovides a general market view with some key stories and, for each company yournadd, provides basic stock performance information, relevant news, and severalrnpages of financial performance information, starting with a nice summary ofrnfinancial metrics that includes an industry comparison.
Glassdoor (free app for iOS and Android, paid and free subscription options)
Glassdoor (free app for iOS and Android, paid and free subscription options)
Like all services that allow public reviews, do be awarernthat reviews tend to represent the extreme rather than the norm. People who arerngenerally happy with their car, restaurant or, in this case, employer,rngenerally don’t go out of their way to post an online review. Temper therninsights you get from Glassdoor, especially the horribly negative ones, with arnhealthy grain of salt.
Feedly RSS Reader (free mobile apps/web app)
Feedly RSS Reader (free mobile apps/web app)
I also like following general industry blogs. With thernconsumerization trend in IT, a quick scan of feeds from sites like Engadgetrnkeeps me up to date on board trends along with specific company news.
CrunchBase (free web app with third-party mobile apps available)
CrunchBase (free web app with third-party mobile apps available)
Crunchbase also lists a company’srnprimary products and provides contact information. If you want to get therndetails on that hot new startup, CrunchBase is the right place to start.
