Neither BT nor Factiva would disclose the total or ongoingcosts associated with intellact, and any ROIROI analysis fallsinto the anecdotal category. Woolf says he has heard a numberof stories over the years in which intellact is credited withproviding the necessary details to expedite or close aparticular deal or capture the attention of a certaincustomer. For example, he cites a company survey in which oneaccount director reported his sales team generated 1 millionpounds (about US$1.5 million) in new business by usingintellact briefings. The most compelling hard ROI thus farcomes from a 1999 survey of intellact users, conducted aspart of an ongoing internal marketing campaign to boost thesystem´s popularity. The 800 respondents indicated thatintellact was saving them a total of 12 full-time employees. Alles zu ROI auf CIO.de

The Future

Last October, intellact was moved out of BT´s U.K. Retaildivision and into the enterprisewide Business Servicesunit. According to BT Business Services CIO Tudor Rees, theswitch in jurisdiction reflects an appreciation forintellact´s role in the company´s international portal. Inpart, it also made it easier to market intellact as acomponent of BT´s knowledge management offerings, from whichBT´s line-of-business CIOs choose when planning their ownslate of resources.

Until the switch, intellact users were essentially enjoying afree ride on the research and technology funds theU.K. Retail division spent on the system. The move toBusiness Services ended that scheme, and intellact nowcharges the BT groups it serves. So far the charges are beingslowly phased in, but the ultimate goal is to get the usersto completely fund intellact´s operations.

The call for cash has led to a counter call for more contentselectivity. When intellact was operated gratis, nobodycomplained when Woolf´s staff added another news feed. Now,however, division managers are starting to get sensitiveabout closing the gaps between what they pay for and whatthey use. Accommodating those selections seamlessly is stillan open problem for intellact.