How and when do you reach out to companies & founders for DD?

Hey guys, I'm curious to know how and when your firms/groups approach founders/companies for DD. To preface, I work in a Corporate VC group and I'm starting to become frustrated with how our team procures information regarding companies. 

Our methods of DD is limited to the free version of pitchbook, news sources in our industry, and google. With this I'm expected to understand the company, their closest competitors, and how they differ to the finest detail. I'm new at this and to be honest I'm really struggling. I'm unable to turn around my decks as fast as everyone else and my research isn't that great because IMO the tools I'm given isn't very helpful. 

I desperately want to just call up these companies and talk to someone and ask them questions about their tech or explore other resources such as market research databases. My team shuts this down and understandably, is a bit standoffish when I propose a different method to their established ones. I understand as the new guy I'm expected to follow their lead and I'm really trying, but I feel like there has to be a better way to go about initial company & competitor DD. Can you guys explain how your team does it so I can understand if I'm being setup to fail or I'm not doing a good job? 

Thanks