Archive for October, 2009
We’ve just posted a video overview of our Connect Beta Test Management software, which provides a ~10 minute introduction to a Beta/Project Manager perspective of using our product. Connect is an enormous product that was extremely difficult to summarize in such a short time, but we worked hard to pack as much information into as brief a period as possible, while still using a realistic use-case that our potential customers could relate to.
This video includes a quick look at managing various aspects of a beta project including Surveys, Tasks, Feedback (Bugs, Suggestions), Forums, Reports, Knowledge Base, and Users, and can be accessed here:
Why Didn’t You Run a Beta Test?
Posted October 30th, 2009 by Michael Fine in Beta Guru. View CommentsSo your company just released its latest product and to the horror of the development team, several critical bugs have slipped into the release. Your engineering team is scrambling to get the issues addressed and support is screaming as they get inundated with calls and e-mail. Everyone is busy pointing fingers, and the common thread among your product reviews, social web commentary and general customer complaints is “Did anyone beta test this thing?” And as the company faces the scrutiny of the press, the public and the customer, the one question that gets asked is “Why didn’t you run a beta test?”
Beta testing is often an overlooked, yet critical part of the quality process of any development effort. Yet, many companies opt to pass on it for a variety of reasons. Many times these reasons have a logical foundation and for the most part seem like a good decision at the time. Unfortunately, this generally ends badly.
The following are some of the “famous last words” that result in companies not running beta tests.
Over the past eight years at Centercode we’ve dealt with a tremendous variety of clients with an equally wide variety of products. There’ve been many constants in our business, but one thing that always seems to vary is the location of the beta test program. Companies place beta testing responsibilities in a variety of departments and give its ownership to people with a wide range of backgrounds.
So, where do you locate a beta test program? There are some obvious locations and some less obvious. Many organizations shuffle it around, desperate to hand it off to anyone willing to take on the challenging task. Others fight over it, demanding complete ownership to ensure they get what they want out of the test. In the end, who has the best argument?
Marketing seems to make sense. The product manager ultimately owns what is delivered to market and the feedback generated in a beta test is critical to both current and future products. Beta tests generate lots of valuable marketing data including testimonials and user feedback about product concepts. As the owner of the beta test, Marketing can use the entire process to help deliver a great product to the customer.
For the first post of our new Connect Blog we’d like to announce the imminent release of Centercode Connect 9.1. Connect 9.1 is a small release focused on Project Management Usability, bug fixes, and a number of small long-requested enhancements.
Introduction
As our set of Project Tools has grown in breadth with each new release, our interface for accessing them has not. Connect 9.1 aims to resolve this by revisiting and improving the interface surrounding our Project Manager tools, including both Project Setup and Project Resources.
Simplified Project Setup Process
Creating new Projects in Connect is now quicker than ever. We have replaced the Project Setup Wizard with a single consolidated page which incorporates the basic Project options including name, description, template, string set, and theme. Once this page has been completed, new Project Managers will land on the revised Project Tools page, including new help via inline tips.
The New Centercode
Posted October 20th, 2009 by Luke Freiler in Connect, Corporate, Programs. View CommentsMy name is Luke Freiler. I am a co-founder of Centercode, and as of 2009 I have taken on the role of CEO after spending 8 years serving as CTO and leading the design of our beta test management system – Centercode Connect.
So What Does the New Centercode Mean?
For Centercode’s first 7+ years, my co-founder Rich Morgan served as Centercode’s CEO. Rich has a background in finance and operations, and he focused on getting the business established while I concentrated on creating the beta test management system I envisioned. During a discussion in late 2008, we concluded that we needed to refresh our business by broadening the reach of our software and updating our managed beta offering. This provided the perfect circumstance for something we had been discussing for a while – me stepping into the leadership role as CEO.
