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When we can expect a clear road map and timetable for RE (?8?) from Blackbaud?
You presented some vague dates and blured plan during the conference.
We are your clients and we need to know what are the product development plans in order to prepare our organizations for changes.
Just one example...
You have to admit that plan to get rid of Crystal Reports and replace RE reporting tool with MS SQL reporting services is a major strategic change in next version. This planned change is not posted anywhere on main Blackbaud site.
Reporting is the RE/Development area where lots of non profit investment and skills have been tailored to Crystal. It would require major re-training and most likely new staff hiring to reflect this single change.
You are planning to host RE apps and data for your clients as a standard feature and not the option. This alone however welcomed by some of the organizations would be an outcry for others.
What are the plans to address change control, possible major conversion blows, pricing model in relation to current licensing for existing clients?
Most of the charitable clients haven't got unlimited resources and budgetary flexibility to address changes in short to medium term.
As mucha as I enjoyed your presentation during the conference I need a clear commitment from Blackbaud to current clients. Otherwise we would look into other open source options. I am sure by the time you have the new product architecture ready we are going to consider few other options.
I have a request from my CEO and CIO to present development plan in CRM area by the end of the year and I am looking into all possible options because I can not get any clear timetable from Blackbaud. You have to understand that lack of transparency hurts Blackbaud.
Your RE development policy can not be hidden in discussions and blogs. Blackbaud Enterprise CRM and Blackbaud Direct Marketing are products for limited number of clients. We need a clear statement and a road map with timetable for RE.
Just to add my two cents, I also have been positioned to forecast where we are going hardware, services, applications, etc with Blackbaud products. We're happy with the direction we have gone, but now more than ever, I need to be aware of the cost and affect on the organization of any future upgrades, purchase or changes.
My company accepts our commitment to Blackbaud products, but having made that commitment, I need to forecast the affect on our budget. There are big changes coming. I need to make decisions now that will affect our infrastructure, personnel, etc.
I would appreciate information also. It would be helpful to have suggested recommendations for future products. Do I need more storage, another web server, an employee with more web experience? Any info would be appreciated.
__________________ Nora Isaac
Senior Manager Information Technology
The ALS Association, Greater Phila. Chapter www.alsphiladelphia.org
Nora,
I tried to get the answer at all possible levels in Blackbaud, from developers, sales representatives, forums etc.
Shaun announcements, however vague,during conference had dates attached but in the presentation published at conference web site all dates were erased.
Some other presentations related to new technologies and future of RE (apart from Shaun's and the two presented by Andrew Mosawi) were like bunch of boys presenting their hobbies and favourite toys.
This is not a way of presenting the future development of the product.
Fundraising is a mature market and it has to be treated seriously.
Nora - I do believe you hit the proverbial nail on the head. I have been in discussions with key players across all departments (especially as the board goes to approve the FYE08 budget) and have had difficulty articulating an outline for my strategic IT plan. Our organization has a tremendous amount of resources--IT infrastructure, workflow process, personnel--tied into Blackbaud products. It is vital I understand the direction Blackbaud is taking in terms of product development so I can provide the best service to my organization and to the patients and families we serve. Thank you.
__________________ Cat Lee
IT Specialist
ALS Association - DC/MD/VA Chapter clee@ALSinfo.org
Andrew and Cat,
I'm sure there are many who feel as we do. I heard some great things at the conference, but also questioned why we were hearing them in that venue only. I do understand that most BB employees have to do their jobs supporting, providing consulting services, etc. for current product. So they wouldn't necessarily be new info providers. However, we get newsletters - how about adding one from the product development side. I'm not saying we need to know every idea on the table, but those BB is building a future on - should be shared with us. We're building futures also.
__________________ Nora Isaac
Senior Manager Information Technology
The ALS Association, Greater Phila. Chapter www.alsphiladelphia.org
Nora,
I tried to get the answer at all possible levels in Blackbaud, from developers, sales representatives, forums etc.
Shaun announcements, however vague,during conference had dates attached but in the presentation published at conference web site all dates were erased.
Some other presentations related to new technologies and future of RE (apart from Shaun's and the two presented by Andrew Mosawi) were like bunch of boys presenting their hobbies and favourite toys.
This is not a way of presenting the future development of the product.
Fundraising is a mature market and it has to be treated seriously.
Andrew
Andrew, to be honest I felt I was incredibly frank at the conference and answered every question head on. I can't even recall one question or point that I dodged. Now, I understand not everyone could be at the conference, and more info will continue to be released.
I outlined every key aspect of our platform direction:
- Move away from Oracle
- Migration to App server based architecture from client server
- Discussed that RE8 was at least 18 months out,especially given how hard we need to work to make a "shrink-wrap" migration
- I made it very clear that we are investing in Reporting Services for our future reporting technology, and moving away from Crystal
I personally made the decision to remove dates because when something is 18+ months away, I really am not comfortable with something on a slide being construed as a release announcement. As we approach certainty we will release more info.
In addition I have posted a publicly available LIVE demo of the next generation for all of you to access directly, and post screen casts that demo exercising the new technology as well as releasing code as open source for any folks that want to do something with today's APIs. I actually think that represents an unparalleled level of openness in the sector.
I agree we need to be more transparent and feel we have made amazing strides in this area. As I noted in my recent labs post more info is coming. We just want to be as responsible as possible with information we formally release. If I release a date and a customer purchases hardware and services based on that date and we miss it for whatever reason, the consequences are quite serious.
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