RE: Should users have a say in the software development process?

If the software is for internal use only or is part of a very specialized 
process, probably, if it affects how the users do their jobs, but that's up to 
the organization.  If the sofware is going to be marketed and made generally 
available to the user community, absolutely!!
   
  Back in May 2001, I was the Product Marketing Manager for PentaSafe's 
VigilEnt Security Agent for iSeries (green-screen based tools that also ported 
up to PentaSafe's enterprise security management console).  In concert with the 
Development Manager/Director, a "customer council" was initiated to help us 
scope out precisely what the new version of PS's RRM (Remote Request 
Management) exit point product would look like.  Prior versions were rife with 
problems and it was decided to dig in deep and swing for the fences with a 
total re-write.  
   
  Well, we brought more than 10 high profile users of the old version of RRM 
from across the US and the UK to Houston for an overnight and all-day closed 
door 
session to find out exactly what they needed to have in an exit point security 
management solution.  What followed was a well-directed beta program and 
managed availability phase before the product went GA.
   
  Suffice it to say, anyone who has had any knowledge of the exit point program 
market over the past few years and has evaluated the solutions objectively can 
tell you that version 7.0 and later (now at 8.0) of PentaSafe's (now NetIQ) 
PSSecure RRM module is THE most powerful and robust remote access management 
tool out there.  It is truly a firewall for i5/OS and OS/400.  All because we 
took the time to listen to what 
the market demanded.
   
  Pentasafe is long gone and I don't work for NetIQ anymore, but I still 
believe that the reason RRM is the best exit point solution is because of the 
integral involvement of the user community in bringing it to market.
   
  PS - See y'all at COMMON.  I'll be doing a story on the upcoming V5R4 
security enhancements for IT Jungle 
(http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfhindex.html), so I will be wanting to talk to 
anyone that has intimate knowledge of the security changes and/or has an 
"opinion" to share! 
   
  Best regards,
   
  Steven W. Martinson, CISSP, CISM
Consultant - Servique, LLC
Cell 281.546.9836
       
4801 Woodway Drive, Suite 300E
Houston, TX 77056
"Uniquely Qualified"

                
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