Online forum gives IQMS users role in software’s evolution

IQMS is asking the experts—its users—how its EnterpriseIQ ERP software can be improved, launching a Community Server that acts as an online user group where IQMS licensees can submit changes to the program that are voted on by other users. If the modifications are accepted, they are then implemented by the company. Randall Flamm, IQMS president, told MPW that in the past, the company has offered multiday user groups where IQMS customers would travel and in a conference setting submit potential changes for the system. Flamm says the new “agile software” approach allows for an “ongoing user group that can be active all year long” for changes that occur at “the speed of light, instead of the speed of an airplane.”

If a current customer doesn’t want to accept the change that has been pushed forward by the group, they can opt out of it, and Flamm said before any modifications are implemented, IQMS verifies they will not have a deleterious effect on upstream or downstream systems. Glenn Nowak, VP of IQMS, said the Community Server, which has undergone a soft launch before being pushed out to its 500-plus customers, has already generated interest from existing clients. “[Community Server] is solving the everyday business issues of our customers,” Nowak said, adding the community of users has put forward tweaks to the program that IQMS had not anticipated but are of value.

Flamm said business continues to grow in the downturn, if at a slower rate, with around 25 software implementations currently underway. In 2007, anticipating the downturn, but not its depth, Flamm paid off all the company’s debt, including purchasing its buildings. In December of that year, the company beefed up its professional services group, hiring four to boost that team to 16 individuals. —[email protected]