As governments tackle the challenges of running wide-ranging consultation programs, vast stakeholder networks, and strict transparency requirements, they need stakeholder management software that streamlines engagement, captures valuable feedback, and helps demonstrate accountable responsiveness.
Stakeholder management software is essential for governments aiming to build public trust, engage diverse communities, and make well-informed policy and project decisions. In a recent report by Verified Market Reports, the stakeholder management software market was valued at $2.5B in 2024 and is projected to reach $6.7B by 2033, signalling rapid adoption across sectors, including the public sector, as organizations seek to centralize interactions and act faster amidst growing complexity.
Two leading stakeholder management platforms, Jambo and Simply Stakeholders, offer capabilities that support everything from relationship understanding to communication tracking and feedback analysis. But which software is genuinely suited to meet the complex needs of government departments and agencies?
In this comparison, we evaluate how Jambo and Simply Stakeholders perform in real-world government contexts, focusing on managing high volumes of stakeholder data, reporting on engagement outcomes, fostering meaningful public participation, and ensuring compliance with rigorous government security standards. Continue reading to learn which platform best empowers governments to enhance stakeholder relationships and improve decision-making.
What is stakeholder management software?
Stakeholder management software is a centralized platform that consolidates all stakeholder data into a single, reliable source of truth. It lets teams log every interaction and build a complete chronological history, replacing guesswork and scattered notes with accurate, up-to-date records.
For example, Jambo SRM software helps government agencies:
- Log and track all stakeholder information in one secure system
- Produce fast, audit-ready reports with accurate, high-quality data
- Ensure commitments made to stakeholders are documented and followed through
- Reduce administrative efforts while supporting compliance and risk management
Comparing stakeholder management software features: Jambo vs Simply Stakeholders at a glance
| Feature | Jambo | Simply Stakeholders |
| Compliance and accessibility | WCAG Level 2.1 AA compliant, GDPR and UK GDPR compliant, ISO 27001/27017 certified, multilingual interface (English/French), secure AWS regional data storage | SOC 2, GDPR compliant, no WCAG accessibility, no multilingual interface, data stored in Azure data centres |
| Secure AI | Privacy-first AI tools, user data never used to train AI models, and all AI tools are opt-in | AI-driven sentiment scoring and relationship analysis, with less emphasis on data privacy and governance |
| Geospatial and analytical capabilities | Advanced Esri ArcGIS Pro integration, automatic address geocoding, integrated Esri map viewers, customizable dashboards, and easy data export | Map-based views, add stakeholders from the map, GIS via API only, unknown mapping technology, no Esri integration |
| Security and governance | Enterprise-grade security, yearly penetration testing, SIEM-compatible activity logging, SSO, RBAC, secure AWS infrastructure | SOC 2, encryption, and a lack of granular user permissions |
| Customer support and onboarding | Dedicated customer success team with government expertise, rapid onboarding and implementation, advice from IAP2 expert customer success team members, and customer feedback-focused development | Lack of experience onboarding government teams outside of Australia, no IAP2 customer success team members, and no focus on rapid implementation are mentioned |
Jambo vs Simply Stakeholders: stakeholder management features for government teams
In this section, we provide a side-by-side comparison of Jambo and Simply Stakeholders. We explore how each stakeholder management solution addresses the unique requirements of public sector organizations, including compliance and security, user experience, communication management, data analysis, and more. This comprehensive overview aims to help you make an informed choice about which platform best aligns with your government's stakeholder engagement and management challenges and goals.
1. Track stakeholder commitments and issues
Jambo stakeholder management software provides tools for public sector accountability. Commitment tracking ensures that all promises, mitigations, and legal obligations made during public consultations or in policy commitments are logged and followed up on, with automated reminders to prevent oversights. An Issues Timeline provides government agencies with a detailed, permanent audit trail of every concern, while comprehensive reporting options help streamline regulatory reviews, public inquiries, and ministerial briefings.
Simply Stakeholders offers commitment tracking and grievance management, and links obligations to specific project milestones, but lacks Jambo's automated workflows and deeper audit-trail capabilities, which significantly reduce administrative overhead and human error.
2. Compliant and accessible stakeholder engagement
Jambo helps government agencies engage and manage stakeholders while meeting the highest global standards for compliance and accessibility. With just one click, users can switch the interface language between English and French, while benefiting from a fully WCAG 2.1–compliant accessible design. Suitable for federal, state, and local governments of all sizes, Jambo is both GDPR- and UK GDPR-compliant, simplifying the management of email opt-ins, privacy preferences, and government-aligned stakeholder communications. Furthermore, all data is securely stored in AWS data centers with flexible regional options to ensure compliance with data sovereignty requirements. The software itself holds ISO 27001 and ISO 27017 certifications, underscoring its robust commitment to security and best practices.
Simply Stakeholders meets essential compliance requirements, storing data in Microsoft Azure data centers and providing SOC 2 and GDPR compliance, along with privacy controls. However, it does not support WCAG level accessibility, a mandatory standard for most government agencies, nor does it offer a built-in multilingual interface, both of which come standard with Jambo, making Jambo the more inclusive and compliance-ready choice for diverse government needs.
3. AI-assisted stakeholder insight
Jambo leads with privacy-first AI tools designed to improve stakeholder engagement workflows. The AI Sentiment tool analyzes communications in real time, automatically identifying positive or negative sentiment, and the AI Summarize tool efficiently distills lengthy consultation notes into concise summaries, providing clear, decision-ready insights for busy government leaders. Crucially, Jambo's AI fully respects data privacy, never using client data to train external models and offering opt-in controls for users.
Although Simply Stakeholders includes AI-powered sentiment scoring and relationship analysis, it does not emphasize privacy protections to the same degree, leaving some uncertainty around data governance for sensitive government communications.
4. Geospatial mapping and analytical capabilities
Jambo delivers advanced geospatial intelligence through seamless integration with Esri ArcGIS Pro. Government teams can easily define project boundaries, add addresses that are automatically geocoded, toggle map layers for different views, and utilize Esri-powered integrated map viewers to identify and understand engagement hotspots. With customizable project dashboards and intuitive analytics, Jambo enables government leaders to monitor the most critical information, such as project health and engagement trends, at a glance. Additionally, all data and materials are easily exportable, simplifying legal and regulatory reviews.
Simply Stakeholders offers map-based views and allows users to add stakeholders from the map; however, its integration with GIS systems relies on API integrations rather than a direct, native integration. Moreover, Simply Stakeholders does not disclose which mapping technology powers its system, suggesting it lacks the advanced capabilities and reliability of Esri's ArcGIS platform, which sets the industry standard in geospatial analytics.
5. Security, permissions, and governance
Security is paramount in government environments, and Jambo delivers enterprise-grade protection trusted by leading public-sector organizations worldwide. Featuring comprehensive activity logging compatible with SIEM systems, Single Sign-On (SSO) support, and role-based access control (RBAC), Jambo ensures secure collaboration across multiple departments and safe access for contractors or third-party users without risking inadvertent data exposure. Its commitment to security excellence is further reinforced through continuous penetration testing, secure AWS data centers, and adherence to ISO certification standards.
Simply Stakeholders meets core government security needs with SOC2 accreditation and encryption, but lacks the extended security integration features and highly granular permission controls available in Jambo.
6. Integrations and ecosystem
Jambo offers a rich ecosystem of integrations at no additional cost, including Outlook, Esri ArcGIS, and Zapier, as well as over 7,000 popular apps such as SurveyMonkey and Typeform. Its public API enables customization and secure data exchange, empowering governments to build workflows tailored to their unique operational requirements.
Simply Stakeholders supports APIs and a Zapier integration, but its integration portfolio is less extensive and comes with fewer built-in connection options out of the box.
7. Customer support, onboarding, and ongoing development
Jambo goes beyond software delivery by offering a dedicated customer success experience rooted in deep public sector expertise. The team includes IAP2-certified practitioners with expertise in stakeholder engagement best practices, regulatory compliance, and data governance. As a result, government clients experience rapid onboarding, typically in a matter of weeks, and ongoing support that combines technical assistance with strategic advice, making it easy to adopt Jambo stakeholder management software. Jambo's collaborative approach to product development ensures the platform evolves in response to real-world government customer feedback.
Simply Stakeholders provides dedicated onboarding and customer success specialists focused on initial setup, but lacks the same depth of stakeholder engagement expertise, industry-specific guidance and rapid deployment emphasized by Jambo.
Why Jambo is the best stakeholder management software for government agencies
Here's how Jambo is uniquely positioned to help government teams achieve their stakeholder consultation, engagement and management goals more effectively than Simply Stakeholders:
1. Indigenous and community-specific engagement
Jambo is purpose-built to address the specific needs of government departments or agencies and their relationships with Indigenous communities.
Jambo was built to support the legal duty to consult. It captures the nuanced history of community interactions, which is critical for legal and regulatory defensibility of engagement in North America.
Jambo's Global View enables government departments to see every interaction with a specific Indigenous community across all projects, preventing missing context, "consultation fatigue" from repeat questions, and ensuring a unified government voice.
2. Bilingual capabilities (English and French)
For federal, provincial, or municipal governments in Canada (or international government teams in Francophone regions), Jambo offers a superior localized experience. With a one-click toggle, Jambo allows users to switch the entire interface, notifications, and system emails between English and French instantly.
Also, unlike many platforms where the language is set at the account level, Jambo allows individual users to work in their preferred language while contributing to the same shared project database.
3. Deep integration with Government GIS
Jambo's integration with the most widely used government GIS tool is a differentiator worth noting.
Jambo for Esri ArcGIS Pro add-in: Jambo provides a free, dedicated add-in for Esri ArcGIS Pro. This allows governments to add spatial engagement data directly into Jambo, enriching engagement projects and making it easier to visualize project boundaries alongside environmental and social data.
4. "Secure AI" for added data security
Jambo Secure AI was built for governments concerned about data privacy. Jambo's AI tools, such as AI Sentiment and AI Summarize, are designed to operate within their secure environment. This ensures that sensitive user data is never used to train AI models.
Jambo AI Summarize is specifically designed to handle the "raw and detailed" notes typical of public hearings and ministerial briefings, turning hours of notes into concise, actionable summaries instantly.
5. Rigorous evidence and audit readiness
Jambo's Account Logs API is designed to enable integration with SIEM. This allows government IT departments to treat Jambo as a core part of their secure infrastructure, tracking every data view or edit for forensic-level accountability.
Also, when generating reports for a public consultation or legal requirement, Jambo can export all associated attachments (contracts, videos, PDFs) into an organized, zipped folder structure, saving hundreds of hours of legal discovery time.
6. Accessibility compliance
Jambo has made a firm commitment to WCAG accessibility compliance. For government agencies, accessibility is not just a feature; it's a legal mandate. Jambo's interface is specifically audited to ensure that government employees with disabilities can use the tool as effectively as their colleagues, reducing the risk of internal compliance failure.
Learn more about what Jambo offers government teams →
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Which platform is better suited for government stakeholder management: Jambo or Simply Stakeholders?
Both Jambo and Simply Stakeholders support stakeholder relationship management; however, Jambo is more purpose-built for government use. Jambo offers WCAG-compliant accessibility, a bilingual English/French interface and support, secure AI tools, deeper audit trails, and an Esri integration. These capabilities are increasingly mandatory in public-sector environments and are not fully supported by Simply Stakeholders.
How do Jambo and Simply Stakeholders compare on compliance and accessibility?
Jambo meets WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards and is compliant with GDPR and UK GDPR. It supports governments in fulfilling their responsibilities as data controllers, including regional data hosting options to meet data sovereignty requirements. Simply Stakeholders does not currently offer WCAG-level accessibility or a multilingual interface, both of which are often mandatory requirements for government agencies.
Which platform offers stronger accountability and transparency for public consultations?
Both platforms offer commitment tracking, but Jambo provides more advanced accountability tools. Jambo's automated reminders, built-in Issues timeline, and permanent audit trail reduce the risk of missed commitments and make it easier to respond to public inquiries, audits, and regulatory reviews than in Simply Stakeholders, which uses more manual workflows.
How do Jambo and Simply Stakeholders AI tools compare?
Both Jambo and Simply Stakeholders offer AI-powered sentiment analysis. Jambo also includes AI-powered communication summarization designed to condense long-form public consultation and hearing notes. In addition, Jambo places greater emphasis on privacy-first AI, ensuring that customer data is never used to train AI models.
Which platform has better GIS and mapping capabilities for government projects?
Jambo offers a dedicated Esri ArcGIS Pro add-in that allows spatial data to flow directly into stakeholder engagement projects. Simply Stakeholders provides map-based views but does not disclose the underlying mapping technology and relies on API integrations to add GIS data. This makes Jambo the stronger option for governments with complex spatial, land-use, or environmental data needs.
How do the platforms support Indigenous and community-specific engagement?
Jambo is designed to support a wide range of engagement activities, with a strong and explicit focus on Indigenous and Tribal engagement. It enables teams to capture every interaction and build rich historical context over time. Through Jambo's Global View, this engagement history can be reviewed across projects, making it easy to see, understand, and respect the whole relationship a government has with a community. Simply Stakeholders also supports stakeholder communication tracking; however, there is no specific mention of Indigenous or Tribal engagement on their website.
Which software is more audit-ready for government oversight and legal reviews?
Jambo is designed with audit readiness in mind, providing detailed activity logs compatible with SIEM systems and the ability to export all engagement records and attachments in structured formats. Simply Stakeholders supports documentation reporting but offers fewer forensic-level logging and export capabilities than Jambo.
How do Jambo and Simply Stakeholders compare on security and access controls?
Both platforms meet core security requirements, but Jambo offers more advanced enterprise-grade security controls, including ISO 27001 and ISO 27017 certifications, single sign-on (SSO), role-based access control (RBAC), annual penetration testing, contractor access management, and detailed activity logs. Simply Stakeholders provides SOC 2 compliance and encryption but offers fewer user permissions and activity management features.
Which platform is better for bilingual or multilingual government teams?
Jambo supports one-click switching between English and French, enabling individual users to work in their preferred language within the same project. Simply Stakeholders does not offer a multilingual interface, making Jambo a better fit for Canadian and other francophone government teams.
How does customer support differ between Jambo and Simply Stakeholders for government teams?
The Jambo Customer Success team brings deep, real-world experience in stakeholder engagement. Team members are IAP2 members and have successfully onboarded governments at the local, regional, and national levels. This means customers receive not just technical support, but practical guidance grounded in proven engagement best practices. Simply Stakeholders offers customer support; however, their website emphasizes platform setup more than ongoing engagement, support, and strategic guidance.
Want more answers to your questions? Read through our FAQ page →
Proven results with Jambo for Canadian Crown Corporations
The impact of Jambo on governments' stakeholder engagement is clear. Provincial Crown corporations eliminated inefficiencies and security risks by moving away from spreadsheets and sticky notes, seamlessly consolidating their sensitive stakeholder data into Jambo's secure, unified platform. This shift resulted in fewer data management headaches, vastly improved project continuity, and increased trust with critical stakeholders, including First Nations communities.
By centralizing communications and commitments, Crown corporations now reliably track every promise, minimize the risk of data loss during employee turnover, and ensure compliance with stringent Canadian privacy regulations.
As one Engagement Strategist at a Canadian Crown corporation put it: "Jambo was the right choice for us."
With Jambo, teams save time, boost accountability, and build more transparent stakeholder relationships, all while meeting the highest data security standards.
Ready to see how Jambo can transform your stakeholder management processes?
Request a personalized demo or learn how leading Crown corporations across Canada have built stronger partnerships and protected sensitive data with Jambo. Make the switch to secure, efficient, and compliant stakeholder management today.
