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This is common for software where the people who take the decision which software to buy are far removed from the people who are going to use it. No product ma

This is common for software where the people who take the decision which software to buy are far removed from the people who are going to use it. No product manager cared about this, because this feature needs to work only well enough for a sales pitch, if even that.

josephcsible 4y ago
> software where the people who take the decision which software to buy are far removed from the people who are going to use it As far as I'm concerned, that's the definition of enterprise software.
bri3d 4y ago
100% agree with the buyer not being the end-user. As long as the product supports the needs of the buyer (administration and reporting, rules engine for product selection, etc.), the needs of the end-user can be neglected. HRIS software (PeopleSoft, SuccessFactors, Workday, etc.) is the same way. The deals keep close and the checks keep coming in. I don't think it's fair to say with a lot of this software that no one cares, though, just that the business as a whole adds up to a poor frontline experience. It would surprise me exactly 0% to learn that there was a whole "improve the Concur UX for frontline users" team who repeatedly get their feature asks deprioritized in favor of something needed to close a deal. And, also consider that when it comes to these sorts of big enterprise products, many are drowning under 20+ years of trying to support every bizarre customized customer corner case, third-party integration, and often with no ability to deprecate an old feature. Perhaps adding sort capability breaks some arcane customer scripting functionality added ten years ago which is poorly understood, but cannot be removed due to a clause in the MSA.
deleted 4y ago
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triggercut 4y ago
Usually I would agree, but SAP and other ERP software are handled differently from most other software procurement. Procurement is one of the core functions of the SAP ecosystem, so those most closely involved in buying it here are usually the ones who will be using it.

josephcsible 4y ago

> software where the people who take the decision which software to buy are far removed from the people who are going to use it As far as I'm concerned, that's the definition of enterprise software.

bri3d 4y ago

100% agree with the buyer not being the end-user. As long as the product supports the needs of the buyer (administration and reporting, rules engine for product selection, etc.), the needs of the end-user can be neglected. HRIS software (PeopleSoft, SuccessFactors, Workday, etc.) is the same way. The deals keep close and the checks keep coming in. I don't think it's fair to say with a lot of this software that no one cares, though, just that the business as a whole adds up to a poor frontline experience. It would surprise me exactly 0% to learn that there was a whole "improve the Concur UX for frontline users" team who repeatedly get their feature asks deprioritized in favor of something needed to close a deal. And, also consider that when it comes to these sorts of big enterprise products, many are drowning under 20+ years of trying to support every bizarre customized customer corner case, third-party integration, and often with no ability to deprecate an old feature. Perhaps adding sort capability breaks some arcane customer scripting functionality added ten years ago which is poorly understood, but cannot be removed due to a clause in the MSA.

deleted 4y ago

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triggercut 4y ago

Usually I would agree, but SAP and other ERP software are handled differently from most other software procurement. Procurement is one of the core functions of the SAP ecosystem, so those most closely involved in buying it here are usually the ones who will be using it.