MindGenius: Alive and Kicking, and moving Fast!!

MindGenius Version 4 was recently released and has been well received by customers and those in the industry. Although the mind mapping software has been commercially available since 2001, it was really with the release of MindGenius 3 that the marketplace started taking notice again, with slick new functionality and far greater usability than earlier versions.

With a clear strategy in mind since 2009, the Management Team had created a product road map that focused on improving MindGenius's existing strengths and staying true to the MindGenius ethos of not adding features for features sake.  Instead they must have a clear purpose and support business processes. Since MindGenius was originally conceived within a business (Gael Ltd) to support the company as it grew,  functionality was only added if it helped address issues that the business was facing every day such as the capture of knowledge and information, managing tasks and projects, facilitating brainstorming sessions and strategy planning.

Version 3.5 was even more warmly received with its feature rich integrated Gantt chart which helped improve upon the extensive project management capability already in MindGenius. 

The importance of gathering ideas in an organization is key and the value of being able to gather knowledge was already recognized in MindGenius. The new brainstorming mode in Version 4 looked to take this to the next level and help users to facilitate personal or group brainstorming sessions. 

The new brainstorming mode also brought the Question Sets into sharp focus. While Version 3 did have a small number of Questions Sets, they were quite hidden in the product and the user couldn’t edit or add their own. In Version 4, the user has control over this and can edit and amend as they require.  

The new brainstorming mode also allows users to link ideas to questions & categories as they are captured and automatically create question & category centric maps on exit, meaning action can be started straightaway.  This robustness in terms of delivering business processes isn't capable in all mind mapping applications as they don't have the ability to allow users to cope with large amounts of information or the functionality to make it possible.

With this functionality, MindGenius helps companies to improve the quality and productivity of brainstorming sessions, strategy planning, project planning and management, team collaboration and communications, and business meetings and presentations.

As the product functionality was enhanced, the company started making real inroads into the enterprise sphere and in 2010; MindGenius signed a series of large, global enterprise wide agreements representing thousands of software licenses with major companies including PZ Cussons, Baker Hughes, Champion Technologies and Konica Minolta.

From Birch Worldwide, who feel they have added $1 million in extra revenues in a 4 month period by allowing them to gather ideas from its worldwide workforce, to Star Refrigeration using MindGenius to achieve their largest ever export order, look at their business from a different angle and develop a ground-breaking heating system, MindGenius users are gaining value from easier understanding and manipulation of their ideas.

Other examples where users are going beyond mind mapping to deliver business processes include the international management team at Accenture using MindGenius to improve collaboration and productivity, Speedo’s global research and development team using MindGenius to collate data from scientific and sporting communities and BSG Valentine using MindGenius to visually represent financial strategy to engage their clients. 

In addition, Baker Hughes,( the global oilfield services company) employees use MindGenius to communicate, collaborate and complete projects across geographical boundaries and to improve the efficiency of meetings, project work and team interaction and Elections New Brunswick, used it to help plan their 2010 provincial general election.

So, what’s next for MindGenius? Expect to see further business focused solutions delivered via desktop, web and mobile platforms as well as initiatives to bring together the ever growing MindGenius community.

The MindGenius Management Team:

Derek Jack is Director of MindGenius and sister company Gael, where he has been involved with the company since its inception in 1992. As the Gael business continued to grow, Derek was instrumental in setting up MindGenius Ltd in March 2008. 

Donald Maciver formed Gael in 1992 and is now Chairman of Gael and MindGenius.  Donald is a firm believer in MindGenius’s ability to transform the way businesses operate and perform and remains the products biggest evangelist.

Dustin Newport, Commercial Director of MindGenius brings 6 years’ experience in the mind mapping field with more than 18 years’ experience in software at some of the industry's leading technology organizations. 

Kelly Robertson, Marketing Manager, has over 8 years marketing experience and is focused on developing a MindGenius community and further helping new and existing users understand the benefits MindGenius can bring in both business and education.

Jamie Rorrison is Development Manager. He has been involved in MindGenius development since Version 1 and led the development of the well-received Versions 3 and 4.