2011 FreeBalance International Steering Committee
It’s that time of year. FreeBalance International Steering Committee (FISC) planning. Most software companies have user groups. Perhaps this is a cynical point of view – user groups seem to be forums where vendors tell customers what they are going to get, when they are going to get it and when they will be forced to upgrade.
It’s all about the software company.
The steering committee is a different approach. It’s all about the government customers. FISC is an opportunity for public financial managers to share lessons learned. To discuss emerging trends. And, to set company direction.
That’s right – FISC is where customers tell us what they want and when they want it and whether they will upgrade or not. We think that this is necessary for a customer-centric approach. And making solutions sustainable and adaptable to reform and modernization.
The FISC agenda is almost complete. We have two international experts in PFM keynoting. Four workshops. Four lessons learned sessions led by customers. Key topics this year are revenue, transparency, capacity building and government performance.
The FreeBalance product roadmap is a key deliverable at FISC. We present the working roadmap showing product deliverables for the next 2 years. Some of the deliverables are commitments made to customers. FISC members discuss and vote on each roadmap item. This changes our roadmap – product feature schedules are adjusted based on customer needs. Features committed to other customers are often accelerated.
Tags: capacity building, customer centric, FISC, FreeBalance, revenue, transaprency