Overview of the Sources of Intelligence

Competitive intelligence can be obtained from a wide variety of sources. Some of the sources are obvious but many are obscure. Some are easy to use or access, others are extremely difficult or uncooperative. The key skills in all competitive intelligence are the ability to identify the sources that are likely to have the data that are required and the ability to extract them. At its simplest competitive intelligence can involve scanning the national and trade press for news items on competitors and maintaining a watch on their websites. At its most complex it could involve direct interrogation of competitors’ staff. The route that is chosen will depend largely on the data that are required, the importance attached to having access to the intelligence, the time and physical resources that are available and the budget. Needless to say, complex intelligence-gathering exercises tend to use more resources than those that have more straightforward objectives, though there is always scope for surprises. Seemingly simple intelligence objectives can sometimes prove unusually difficult to fulfil.