7 tips on evaluating an innovation agency

As innovation budgets increase, procurement professionals must be able to evaluate potential innovation agencies before partnering up. Innovation agencies provide a mix of products and services such as defining and positioning innovation in an organization, building and validating new products and business models, and supporting collaboration with an external ecosystem. Here are seven criteria to evaluate an innovation agency and partner, including knowing which skills you are looking to add, asking for use cases, finding local market knowledge, building in flexibility, selecting an innovation consultancy that understands your industry, looking for a flexible, hands-on, and collaborative way of working, and assessing the real impact.