I attend a lot of software vendor customer conferences, and I’m often surprised at how flaccid and complaisant many supposedly independent user groups are. Rather than aggressively representing the rights and interests of user members, user group leaders often seem more interested in getting their smiling pictures taken onstage with the vendor’s CEO.
I understand why this is. Top user group officials are usually volunteers with real and demanding day jobs, and many seem to get involved with user groups more for the networking opportunities than for hardcore advocacy.
Still, as SAP’s recent experience with its user groups over software maintenance pricing makes clear, these days such groups have a real and important role to play in keeping software vendors honest and focused on the legitimate needs of their customers.
In the SAP case, the Americas SAP Users’ Group and other groups around the world got actively involved after many customers complained about SAP’s announced plan to raise software maintenance prices from 17% to 22% over a number of years. Rather than shrugging and smiling for the cameras, many SAP user group officials went to work to understand the concerns of their members. Some even went public with their objections. SAP UK & Ireland User Group Chairman Alan Bowling, for example, used his blog to question SAP’s move.
User group officials also worked with SAP, and last week produced an agreement that might just pay off for SAP customers. The apps provider and a dozen or so user groups agreed to a benchmarking program, based on mutually-agreed-to key performance indicators, intended to prove or disprove SAP’s claim that its new Enterprise Support offering will deliver benefits commensurate with its planned 30% price increase. As part of the agreement, which I understand was personally approved by SAP co-CEO Leo Apotheker, SAP won’t enforce the price increase if it can’t demonstrate the promised value. The company also said it would delay imposition of the full 22% maintenance charge.
Make no mistake, this is not a PR stunt. User group officials will be involved in the benchmarking, which will be validated by an independent (though unidentified) third party. There’s no guarantee that SAP will be able to clearly demonstrate a 30% value increase from Enterprise Support.
Whether or not it does, however, one thing has already been clearly demonstrated: The power of user groups that are engaged, truly independent, and not in it just for the photo-op.
—Jeff Moad, MA Executive Editor
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Posted by Diane Himes at 05/08/2009 04:23:49 PM |