By Steve Rowen, Managing Partner
10/7/2008
Here in Newport Beach, California, Island Pacific’s 2008 User Conference has been impressive. While all user groups have some portion of sessions dedicated to getting honest (if not brutally honest) client feedback, analysts are normally not invited into those rooms. Here, an open door policy has been thoroughly baked in.
Right off the jump, CEO Davy Rosen kicked off the week’s events with an opening presentation outlining exactly what his company’s objectives (and reasons) were for the event. “This event is not a sales pitch,” he told the general audience. “It is an honest pleasure that our systems have stood the test of time with many of you and that you’ve taken time away from your work and families to be here with us.” He went on to explain that IP was more interested in learning what retailers thought of their upgrades and pending plans were then it was in selling existing upgrades.
Next, Mike Dotson, VP of Global Sales, candidly shared data with the audience regarding “who’s using what,” with more than 75% of the IP client base still utilizing older versions of the company’s product. “We won’t run away from that,” he shared, “and we understand that many of you have reasons why you can’t currently upgrade to release 3.2, but we still want to help you get the most out of your investment in Island Pacific.” He also acknowledged that the company really was in a damage restoration mode, as its culture of inclusion and brand realignment was absolutely necessary.
“We know exactly what the perception of our brand was just a few short years ago. We need to get our name back in good standing and build our brand to where it should be.” He then outlined where the company plans to spend its time and effort, both via strategic partnerships and trade association participation in order to restore brand image. Which, in the interest of full disclosure, is a list that does not include RSR.
COO Richard Gaetano then took an opportunity to walk the audience through what some of the new merchandising solutions actually look and feel like, and informed the assembly that the average tenure of an IP customer is more than 10 years. “We’re truly not chasing technology for technology’s sake,” he informed, but that IP has moved toward a Services Oriented Architecture because that is exactly what its clients have demanded. Future enhancements include a new graphical user interface, customer order management capability, demand forecasting, and an enterprise service bus.
The rest of day one was dedicated to breakout sessions, taking deep user-interface dives into such IP products as Planning, Automating Data Collection, Allocation, and Replenishment, while also reserving time for enhancement review sessions and joint-presentations with such partners as IBM. Within the enhancement review, (moderated by IPt’s Judy Facchen), I was thoroughly impressed by the vendor’s candor towards, relationship with, and willingness to learn from its users. At one point, an IP representative informed a highly engaged room of users that “If all of you utilize our online forum to let us know that ‘we need these three things,’ we’ll absolutely include them in 3.2. We won’t hold them until we cut version 3.3.”
Day 2 (today) will focus on customer order management, PCI DSS compliance, shipping solutions and case studies with such clients as Ralph Lauren.
It is also worth noting that when I was approached by IP to attend the show and deliver its keynote address, the vendor opted away from a presentation focusing on areas of research we’ve conducted that highlight the need for even such technologies as those they provide. Instead, I was asked to provide a general “state of the union” on retail, including work we’ve done on such topics as Loss Prevention, Workforce Management – even Loyalty Programs. None of which they offer. They asked for this specifically, because they thought it would be of most interest to their users, and most beneficial to the industry as a whole.
All in all, it was one of the most interactive and responsive events I’ve yet attended. And in Island Pacific’s case, responsive is a good way to start.
