Users of software applications, particularly those in big companies that spend a lot of money on the technology, have always had a role in influencing the development of those applications. Whether it is augmenting current applications with new features and functions or helping to architect new applications, the dialogue between users and producers of software has always been an important aspect of how software grows.
How that dialogue works, however, has changed over time. Today, as the stakes involved in betting big on key applications have risen, the process has become much more structured and serious. Not only is the software’s functional direction important, but, increasingly, how it can be used effectively is at the forefront of discussions.
One example of this new business value discussion occurred recently at the Atlanta headquarters of The Coca-Cola Co. Coke hosted a meeting of the Consumer Products Advisory Council (CPAC), a group of 33 consumer products companies that use SAP software. A key part of CPAC’s charter, according to Emiel van Schaik, senior vice president, Manufacturing & Consumer Industries at SAP, is to help SAP improve products and develop new ones, but CPAC members are also keenly interested in sharing best practices information and networking.
Mark Dajani, senior vice president and chief information officer at Kraft Foods, who was at the meeting, says Kraft has two objectives with CPAC. Kraft, he says, is focused on learning through collaboration and networking as it strives to connect in new and better ways with its customers. “We want to break the cycle of having a business problem and looking for a piece of software to solve it,” he says.