How do you do competitive intelligence in terms of getting competitor pricing and evaluating competitive software products?
To get accurate competitive intelligence (CI) you generally need to go to an independent source. You can do some research on your own, but pricing and product evaluation are often tough to get directly. You need someone to talk with customers of the competitive solutions to really understand why people bought them, how people use them, what they like/dislike, what they paid, etc. An independent party can also make recommendations based on the findings; recommendations that often carry more weight than internal recommendations. In summary, do what you can internally but then seek professional independent assistance to get the whole picture. One good resource for information on CI is The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP).
