On October 14-16, WorkWise will be hosting their annual customer conference at the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. WorkWise has been a customer of ours for a long time, and they’re utilizing Skytap in a unique way at this year’s conference. I sat down with Carl Wysocki, WorkWise’s director of R&D Technology, and Harry Mosesian, director of business development to learn more about their company, and next week’s big event.
Noel: To get started, I know WorkWise uses Skytap for a number of use cases, and I was hoping you could go into those a bit.
Harry & Carl: WorkWise uses Skytap for QA testing, User Acceptance Testing of specialized modifications, and for the opportunity for customers to have a “safe play” area to try new features of our software.
Noel: That’s interesting, so in regards to the specialized modifications that you mentioned, how does Skytap assist with those?
Harry & Carl: If a customer has custom modifications, they can often be demonstrated on a test system at the customer site. However, in some instances, the customer’s environment may be too outdated to accommodate the new software. That’s where Skytap plays a role, allowing the customer to visualize the modifications, in an updated and modern environment.
This is particularly important for existing customers who are evaluating the value of new features, and are considering an upgrade to our latest release. Seeing is believing, and sometimes customers want to “drive” by themselves.
Noel: That’s awesome. Let’s get to this year’s event. How many years has WorkWise been putting on this customer conference?
Harry & Carl: We’ve been hosting this event since WorkWise started in 2001.
Noel: Is there any overall theme to this year’s event, or are there any new features/products that WorkWise will be introducing or training on?
Harry & Carl: We are ALWAYS introducing new features! It’s our mantra. We are always improving and innovating—it’s a continuous process. Sometimes this means leveraging new technology to the product’s advantage, but our primary focus in on the customer’s use of our software. How can we make it more intuitive, more functional, and how can we help make the software more malleable and configurable to match the changing demands of our customers?
The theme of this year’s conference is “Get Connected,” which has multiple meanings. Getting connected with other customers, our business partners, and WorkWise professionals is one aspect, while getting connected to the software through new features such as Mobile Metrics, Bi-Directional CAD Integration, and many additional step-saving features that have been added to our exclusive Role-Based WorkBenches.
Today’s businesses demand a lot of from their employees, and often that demands requires access to very different parts of RB-ERP. The WorkBenches allow customers to bring those disparate functions together, and integrate/tailor them to the tasks-at-hand for the role of the user.
Noel: I know that while Skytap has been utilized at previous years’ conferences, but this year is a little different. How is Get Connected 2014 “powered by Skytap”, and what made us a great fit for showcasing WorkWise to this year’s attendees?
Harry & Carl: Skytap is a great vehicle for us at this year’s “Get Connected” WorkWise conference. We don’t have to worry about having high-powered Pcs or servers at the event, as we can access Skytap, anywhere, on practically any style of PC or Mac.
It makes life easier from an IT/R&D/QA/Sales perspective. I can get the latest software uploaded to Skytap ONCE, make it available, and churn out customer copies for all WorkWise interests—at the click of a button.
Noel: That’s so cool. So, what are some of the features of this year’s event that people should be excited about?
Harry & Carl: This year’s conference is the first ever where we are combining customers and sessions for both of our Product Lines, RB-ERP and OnContact CRM. There will be great opportunities for customers of both products to exchange ideas and sessions that fit their specific needs.
All of the educational sessions and the social gatherings will provide venues to see new features, to openly talk about how they are used, to have in-depth discussions with WorkWise staff, other customers, and other vendors who are present.
Noel: We’ll of course be attending and are really looking forward to it. To wrap things up, what do you hope those who attend are able to take back to their own companies and teams?
Harry & Carl: Our customer conferences are great opportunities for our customer to see (and have 100% focus) on new features in our software, and discuss with peers how these new features can benefit their business.
