1. Change Enhancement Process Overview Chris Walsh North American Area Representative SAGGroup Executive Committee In my spare time … Chief Technology Architect Utility Business Services, Inc. Union, New Jersey chris.walsh@ubs-inc.com

2. What are Change Enhancements? A request for a new feature or product improvement submitted by customers A process that provides Software AG customers a voice in the evolution of product development Terminology varies based on stage: ER enhancement request – “owned by you” EP enhancement proposal – “owned by us” CE change enhancement – “owned by Software AG”

3. Where do CE’s come from? Submitted directly by customers: –Online via ServLine24 ( http://servline24.softwareag.com ) –Manually via Support line Created by Software AG: –Result of a support request –Internal request

4. Who Can Submit Enhancements? Anyone with a ServLine24 ID: –must have a customer number with a valid essential services contract –access obtained thru online registration What if you can’t get access? –Send your request to the person in your organization who has the access

5. Customer Submit ER Change Enhancement Request Customer SAG R & D Accept / Reject CE Feedback ServLine24 Idea Pool ER EP CE Submit, Status / Info SAG User Group ER -> EP Filter / Prioritize Hand-over EP -> CE SAGGroup Executive Committee Customer interaction with R&D

6. So the process begins… Support reviews and verifies Identify duplicate requests Eliminate invalid requests Determine whether to reclassify as Support Request for a product problem Obtain clarification from submitter

7. Enhancement Proposal is created Added to ServLine24 Knowledge Base Assigned status “User Group Review” Identifying info is removed for privacy Eligible for review and feedback

8. Feedback opportunity Searchable via ServLine24 search tool Anyone can add comments to an EP that is in review status thru ServLine24 Comments and recommendations from user groups also generates good feedback Ultimate feedback is Software AG’s decision to accept or reject

9. Users provide feedback to SAG Proposal discussed at regional meetings User community is encouraged to “nominate” specific proposals for inclusion Voting takes place & priority assigned –Recommended High, Medium, Low, or Rejected Feedback and comments are documented and forwarded to Software AG Product Managers and Development determine if CE should be accepted/rejected

10. Evaluation consideration examples Does it benefit the general population and usage of the product? Would there be a negative impact to performance and stability? Should it impact goal of platform portability? Will it restrict a feature or particular usage? Feasible to be implemented as an option? What is return on effort? Are there acceptable alternatives?

11. Decision accomplished… Recommended EP’s become an official Change Enhancement (CE) CE logged within SAG internal system for further consideration Software AG provides feedback regarding their reply for the top CE´s If rejected, a reason may be supplied

12. Decision accomplished… If accepted, request could be documented with one or more of following: –How request will be implemented –How task can be accomplished –Which product release will incorporate enhancement Outstanding “recommended” requests are considered for future product releases

13. Opportunities for C/E Discussion Fall 2006 SAGGroup Meetings http://www.softwareagusa.com/usergroups/ 11/01 –Washington, DC11/02 –Denver, CO 11/03 –Murray, UT11/09 –Austin, TX 11/16 –Olympia, WA11/17 –New York, NY 11/27 –Toronto, ON11/29 –Edmonton, AB 11/29 –Sacramento, CA11/30 –Cerritos, CA 12/01 –St. Paul, MN12/06 –Malvern, PA 12/04 – Columbia, SC

14. Online Opportunities for C/E Discussion ServLine24 http://servline24.softwareag.com Developer Community http://developer.softwareag.com SAG-L http://listserv.uark.edu/archives/sag-l.html

15. ServLine24 Demonstration

16. Click “Enhance Proposals’ link to search, submit, and display EP’s http://servline24.softwareag.com

17. Search criteria aides in narrowing down the number of requests to review The Search page

18. Matching results are returned. Click on EP # link to view proposal details.

19. Provide as much detail as possible to both describe and justify the request Submit an ER

20. Additional information and comments can be added by clicking the “Add Info” button View an ER

21. Recommendations Proposed ideas for modernizing the C/E process…

22. Opportunities for improvement Access to ServLine24 is tightly controlled C/E descriptions sometimes hard to interpret C/E review process is attendance-based C/E review audience mismatched to actual C/E Communication of change enhancement feedback

23. Ideas to improve the process Creation of “Read Only” ServLine24 User Credentials –Open access to knowledgebase, documentation, technical papers, etc –Cannot submit support requests Ability to Request Clarification from Submitter –“Contact the submitter” option –Optional to participate –Privacy of submitter maintained

24. Ideas to improve the process Online Discussion Forum –New secured forum on Community –Topics grouped by product & family –Interactive discussions Electronic Polling –Obtain feedback on regular basis –Polling vs. Voting Improve the Feedback Mechanism –Better information and prioritization to SAG –SAG feedback communicated with proper context –Timely response coordinated with polling periods

25. With increased participation, user groups are more effective Let me know your thoughts Chris Walsh (908) 289-9433 x123 chris.walsh@ubs-inc.com Thank you!