Where is the road map?

[hayden]

Common guys, we have been asking for ages now. You need to post some sort of roadmap for CommitCRM. The world is changing very quickly now and we need to be able to plan a head.

Personally, I need to know CommitCRM is going to be changing and adapting to the new technologies.

I need to know if certain features are coming or not.

Lack of this is going to force us to change systems sometime in the future. I feel we are running blind. Random new features come only a few weeks before a new version is released. Apart from this, we have no idea.

Everyone that has this concern should post here to get their attention.

[lpopejoy]

Yeah... I feel like I've said my share on this both privately and publicly. But I'll add my vote anyway.

[Mister-c]

+1 to this. We need to know what is being worked on and what is planned for the future. Also some idea on release target dates would be good. At the moment we blindly pay for updates without knowing what is coming and when it is coming.

[Support Team]

On average we release 3-4 new versions a year.

The idea to publish a road map is being discussed here internally over and over again. With a public roadmap it means that new (and existing) customers will rely on coming features when deciding to buy the system, subscribe for upgrades, etc.. We need to keep the flexibility of changing things at the last minute, add unplanned features and remove scheduled one that did not make it. These changes will make some customers very angry as they "relied" on something we decided not to include. Yes, we know that we can display a big disclaimer with all the legal terms that will allow us to do anything... but these are legal terms... we still won't feel comfortable with making changes and being agile as we need to, at the end this might force us to stick to a road map we no longer believe in simply because we published it.

Yes, we are aware of most if not all of the benefits a public road map provides, this been discussed on this forum before and in length.

In the meantime, until we find how to approach it in a way that everyone wins, feel free to contact us directly with any specific question you may have and we will be happy to provide you with all answers.

While I understand not everyone will agree with the above, I do hope that it makes (some) sense.
Dina

[hayden]

Some type of road map is better than none. I actually wouldn't care if something was axe because you couldn't make the release schedule. Atleast we have some idea.

Like someone else said, I feel completely blind. It's no use emailing Commit, your standard response is 'it's on the list'.

[bdbrower]

Another +1 on the need for some kind of road map. I can understand your hesitance to CommitCRM to a public road map and risk disappointing some if the road map changes, but right now you are disappointing far more by keeping us in the dark and not giving your customers the ability to know how CommitCRM is going to grow and adapt as this fast-moving industry changes.

Anyone who has used CommitCRM for long knows that contacting you with questions about new features, functionalites, or improvements usually results in one of two answers: either it's "on the list" or it's not. Finding out that something is "on the list" really doesn't mean anything because being "on the list" doesn't mean that that issue will be addressed soon, or even ever. Without a time frame, being "on the list" doesn't really mean anything.

Bottom line: If you are going to ask your customers to pay upfront for future updates it seems only reasonable that you be obligated to provide at least a minimal road map/release schedule of future updates. And with respect, please don't reply with the "we don't charge as much as others, so you can't expect as much from us" line that is sometimes given (in a more subtle manner) when these issues are raised; I went with CommitCRM because it was a good, competitive product at a very competitive price, not because it was the "cheapest" product from the "bargain basement" of CRM products (which I don't consider it to be). Besides, publishing a public road map (or even a private one available only to update subscribers) will not be a significant "added cost" item for you.

If nothing else, stop "teasing" and make a decision; either you are or you are not going to provide some kind of road map. Just let us know so we can make decisions we have to make as a result of your decision. And remember: Not deciding is basically the same thing as saying "no". Eventually we will have to accept that as the answer if you don't announce a decision.

Please don't misinterpret this as dissatisfaction with the product; if that were the case my company would have moved to another product already. We still find it to be a very good product at a great price. But at some point, as we morph more completely into an MSP provider, and as CRM's importance continues to grow exponentially, the presence of or lack of a road map will become a factor in determining the CRM product we use as our company grows.

I think this is a far bigger issue with far more of your customers than you may realize. And how many customers do you NOT have as a result of not having a roadmap? I'm sure that would be hard to quantify, but the number may be bigger than you think.

[Support Team]

Thanks for your detailed post, comments and feedback.

Some items to we wanted point out:

We're not "teasing". While we do not currently publish a road map (so you can consider it as no) we do evaluate and discuss this over and over again and this is why we say so. As transparent as this can be.

Subscribing for upgrades is completely optional and you can always use the Single Upgrade option (i.e. pay only after you see what's been included in the release and decide whether you want to upgrade or not). An upgrade subscription is, by far, more affordable yet all options are available - annual subscription, single upgrade, or - not to upgrade at all.

When a request for a new feature arrives into our inbox we always log it or, if it already exists, add a vote to it.
We're not sure what else you would expected us to say at that time. If we don't know whether it will be included in the next release or not this is what we say. If we do know that it is coming we also say so.

For what it worth, we see everyone's feedback here as a constructive one and we highly appreciate it.

Thank you.

[Mister-c]

So when is 5.8 due and what is in it? ;)

[northwestmsp]

To quote another thread I just posted:

"Lastly, and this comes down to a core, root issue at CommitCRM that has concerned me from the start. That's your software development, and now, bug/patch release management & planning, or complete lack thereof. Every successful software developer (I worked as a software PM for years) has a PLAN. They have milestones, deadlines and feature lists. They know exactly what's going into their next release, exactly when that release will be released and strive to meet those deadlines. Right now CommitCRM can't tell us when the next release will be out, what features will be in the next release, or what features won't be in the next release. Some days I wonder if the dev team just decides it's time to work and flips a coin over what to work on."

Consider an internal voting system. Allow the CommitCRM community to drive development and innovation. Let us put up feature requests, and give the rest of the community the ability to vote on them. The most successful companies LISTEN to their customers, do that and you'll keep the ones you already have. Better to keep your existing customers and get us all on subscription than run the risk of a couple of customers "waiting until the next release" to buy it. We're not on subscription because it doesn't matter. There's no real, tangible value to it. I'm a business person, a numbers guy. If I can't absolutely define the value, I won't buy in.