Did you know that the “N” in Model N stands for “next?” That’s right. At Model N, we are constantly thinking about new ways to make our customers more efficient, more compliant, and more successful. After all, our technology supports the endeavors of life sciences and high-tech innovators who deliver complex, truly life-changing products – medicines, devices, sophisticated electronic components – and we’re proud to be their partner.
But to power innovators, one must also be an innovator, and we believe that the creativity and ingenuity of our employees are critical to our success. It’s not just the engineers who keep coming up with new features and solutions to save our customers money and identify new revenue streams while remaining compliant. It’s also the HR, sales, finance, and marketing colleagues that boast creative new approaches to set our customers and us up for success. To tap into this pool of ideas, we decided to launch N-Ovation.
What is N-Ovation?
N-Ovation is a 24-hour global event that challenges Model N’ers to come up with new product ideas, find creative ways to solve our customers’ problems, or improve internal efficiency through process changes. Think of it as an internal hackathon with a shark-tank-style pitching in front of a jury. It’s an opportunity for every employee to bring fresh ideas to the table and make a positive impact.
Our first year
In 2021, when we launched the program virtually, two hundred employees stepped up with new business ideas, concepts for products and solutions, and ways to make our internal processes more efficient and effective. We couldn’t have anticipated such an incredible turnout in the first year, and picking a winner amongst the many great ideas was very difficult.
In the end, the winning concept – an executive dashboard that articulates Model N’s value by tracking and analyzing all sales, costs, rebates, chargebacks, and other fees, and displays the net results in easy-to-decipher graphics – was turned into an actual product. The Customer Value Dashboard helps our customers see how Model N supports their business in real-time by providing metrics around overall savings from contracted sales, chargeback, rebates, and fee savings resulting from chargeback validations.
N-Ovation 2022
For N-Ovation 2022, we aimed to have an on-site component that would bring Model N employees together in person as much as possible to tap into the collaborative spirit. After our call for submissions, nearly one-third of our global employees raised their hands to participate in N-Ovation 2022. We were beyond thrilled about this fantastic turnout and ended up adapting our rules to help the participants form 44 teams to pitch their concepts to our jury “shark-tank” style.
After listening to 25-minute pitches, examining the supporting material, and conducting a five-minute question-and-answer session where the jury probed different aspects of the idea under consideration, 12 teams were short-listed to appear in front of the executive team members, including our CEO, to make their final pitches.
Our judges had the tough choice of picking a winner but ended up selecting “Team Pluto,” who came up with a solution to a significant challenge faced by virtually all of our customers. Everyone at Model N is excited to kick off the work on this product that will deliver significant value and impact.
As you can see, our Model N’ers have a lot of ideas and we’re excited to foster a culture that supports innovation. Who knows, maybe that winning concept is just what you and your business have been looking for.
