Issue 2, 2014 |
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The first annual 2014 TechEd user conference of Software AG’s North America User Groups was held from April 29 – May 1, 2014 in Rosemont, IL — a destination that is centrally located in the U.S. and easy to travel to from all major cities.
Participation
The conference attracted customers from 77 companies from all over the U.S. Among the customer participants were companies such as JP Morgan Chase, The Coca-Cola Company, Staples, Amway and Duke Energy. There were 180 participants in attendance for the inaugural year of the TechEd user group conference.
Product-related sessions provide insights
Customer survey feedback showed once more that these user group conferences are extremely useful to the daily jobs of the participants. The TechEd sessions spanned the four Software AG product brands most relevant to the North America User Groups: Adabas-Natural, webMethods, ARIS and Alfabet.
Participants gained insight into Software AG’s suite of products. Keynote presenter CTO Mighael Botha linked Adabas-Natural, webMethods, ARIS and Alfabet customers together with an engaging keynote presentation on Intelligent Business Operations (IBO), which showed how customers can change their businesses to run smarter and faster. The presentation was followed by a platform demo.
Shared experiences
Software AG experts informed participants about road maps, new technical features as well as tips and tricks. Customers shared their experiences with Software AG technology, some with impressive use cases and figures. Panel discussions and facilitated roundtables supplied an additional interactive aspect and received high praise from the participants.
All session presentations by customers and Software AG are available online here.
On the right track
Support of Software AG’s user group concept was evident from the heavy attendance over the past years at the International User Group meetings. We wanted to replicate that format for the U.S. User Group by having the presidents attending and helping to plan the TechEd conference.
Throughout the TechEd conference, a personal and friendly atmosphere made customers feel comfortable to communicate freely and openly. Attendees made ample use of the opportunity to network, share and discuss ideas with Software AG experts and other Software AG customers. We held a customer celebration party at Kings Bowling, where attendees had fun bowling, playing billiards and enjoying the camaraderie of their fellow peers.
The feedback collected at the end of each day was overwhelmingly positive. Customers were highly appreciative of Software AG providing a platform where they could compare notes on their common challenges and learn from one another. Many expressed excitement that we will be holding these conferences on a regular annual basis going forward.