What is the pilot program?
The pilot program is where we give CRM Online customers access to our new features before it is released to everyone.
A pilot version has, of course, already been tested by our professional test and quality engineers, whose job it is to test everything we produce. However, lab testing can only take us so far.
By testing new versions in real-life situations and together with your own processes, we can find out whether the new features work the way they are intended to. Pilot testing in many different environments and different setups help us to further reveal the things that need fixing before the software hits the market.
Benefits for you
Clearly, we get a lot of value from your feedback. But, what’s in it for you? Why should you consider signing up to become a pilot customer?
- Before anyone else, you'll learn about new features and upcoming versions. This can help you plan how you can take advantage of these new features in your organization
- You can impact development by giving feedback on what and how the feature works
- We will help you take advantage of the new version and our local consultants will help you to do the upgrade.
- By testing new features, you have a chance to re-introduce the importance of CRM again to your organization and involve them in the improvement of your existing processes.
- Your technical responsible gains the necessary confidence to roll out the software to all your users because it has been tested and issues have been fixed
- You will benefit, along with all SuperOffice users, from the various improvements that have been put in place from the feedback from ALL pilot customers, in addition to the feedback you give
Ultimately, it's all about creating the best quality product and services. Your support is important and it also something that benefits all of us in the long run.
How does the pilot program work?
The pilot programs vary in length and scope depending upon what software needs testing. Below are some frequently asked questions to help you decide if this is for you:
In principle yes, as long as you are a customer of SuperOffice, using our cloud version SuperOffice CRM Online.
There are no requirements for the number of users or type of business you are in. Sometimes we are especially interested in a type of customer, whether it is because they have many integrations we want to check or when we want to run SuperOffice in a specific environment. But in general, anyone who is interested in participating is welcome!
Because a pilot version tested in your production environment will affect all users, it needs to be a decision that is taken in agreement with IT and/or Management and not just by individual users.
Pilot programs typically run for a 3-6 week period. You will get access to the latest version along, as well as help and support from our organization.
In some projects, we will need a longer and more extensive pilot test period to work out all the kinks.
You may experience a few major and some minor bugs that break certain portions of the product, but rarely will you find critical bugs that require immediate attention.
What each of us is responsible for during the pilot program is outlined in an agreement. In short, we agree that we:
- Will assist you in solving problems related to the pilot testing
- Fix any faults that are found during the pilot ta testing
- Review suggestions for improvements or changes
And you agree to:
- Use the product for a minimum time each week the way you will use it in real-life and or using the sample scenarios
- Ensure that at least two people are involved in testing and using the feature
- Provide weekly feedback during the pilot period via the forum, email and/or a final interview
- Give an endorsement about the product that we can use publicly.
There are no software costs involved when testing. Most often there are no costs involved later when it is generally released, but there may be exceptions.
Typically there are also no costs involved in the consultancy services which are used to help you get the pilot feature up and running either. Again, there may be some exceptions or limits to what is included. This is always explained and outlined to you by our product specialist before anything proceeds.
We have several ways for you to give us feedback during the pilot testing:
- Pilot Forum – this is the main communication channel to use. It is where we will inform everyone involved in relevant issues and is a place for you to post questions or provide feedback. You may receive answers from other customers, partners as well as our RnD resources. The pilot forum is only available to you when you have joined our pilot program.
- Feedback link in SuperOffice – there is a Feedback link under Help which is available to everyone all the time. It can be an easy option to send us a message about anything you have tested. We want to know if you are particularly happy with something as well as hear about any issues you may encounter.
- Send us an email – we have a dedicated mail address: beta@superoffice.com you can use to send in your questions or comments. This may be helpful when you want to discuss issues particularly relevant to your installation and you don’t want to post on a forum.
Sometimes we also send out a survey at the end of a pilot program to hear your thoughts and/or we arrange 1to1 follow-ups with your local product specialist.
No, this is not a requirement for pilot testing even if it is a project that is about to be released.
Pilot programs for CRM Online customers typically involve upgrading their existing version so that they can test the new features directly.
Other customers will run a test version with their data, while their existing version is still intact. This is recommended if your company has many integrations between SuperOffice and other business systems.
Both ways are great for pilot testing. The main thing is to place our products in different settings and have real end-users try it out the way they would use it.
The SuperOffice pilot programs are free of charge and covered under the current Terms of Service for your SuperOffice CRM Online installation.
When an app or a service is in pilot, it means that it is still in the testing phase. All new apps and services are first published in a pilot program. By signing up and start using the app during its pilot period, you have by default accepted the beta Agreement Terms.
Ready to sign up?
Signing up is easy. All your SuperOffice CRM Online administrator needs to do is to fill out this form to report interest.
Once you have signed up, we will find a suitable time to enable the pilot program feature on your CRM Online tenant.
Join this exclusive club of pilot testers and get involved in making SuperOffice better today!