SAP delays launch of new community - provides no insights
Summary: SAP delays launch of new community network at the last minute. What happened is not clear but this is a major embarrassment
Unlike the LZ129 Hindeburg which flew before flaming out, SAP's much vaunted new community network isn't flying any time soon. With less than 48 hours before the planned launch, Mark Yolton, SVP of the SAP Community Network released a statement effectively postponing the launch indefinitely:
I have decided to postpone the launch to early 2012.
It's an understatement to say that the decision to delay the launch was not taken lightly... it was really difficult, nearly excruciating after so much time and work has gone into design, build, migration, testing. But, despite extraordinary efforts by our core SCN team, our partners in SAP IT, vendors/consultants, and key stakeholders, we don't feel that the new platform is of high enough overall quality to launch to our community members.
In the run up to the launch I heard a number of grumbles from senior people involved with SCN. Quality wasn't the only issue. I was hearing horror stories around lack of critical functionality compounded by a lack of gut checking with those who administer the system on a day to day basis. It was clear the strain was showing as Yolton became increasingly tetchy in Twitter posts, at one point implying that some community members should quit whining. That was never going to be the case.
SAP has not gone beyond what Yolton has outlined. While I have some information on this topic I will reserve getting into the detail until SAP steps up to the plate and explains what went wrong such that Yolton felt he had to pull the plug.
Early Twitter comment suggests bugs in the commenting system are to blame and in typical fashion, SAP is waving the 'quality' flag. That won't cut it. As SAP already knows, in the 21st century, quality isn't Job 1, being totally freaking amazing is Job 1.
As a company that has been praised for its social media/community efforts, (and milking it for all its worth) SAP is at risk of permanently blowing up its socmed cred. How SAP responds at this moment in time will tell us a great deal about the true character of the company. Any attempts at glossing over this major embarrassment, or for that matter blaming the Jive platform upon which SCN is built, will almost certainly lead to public ridicule.
This is social media 101 and the clock is ticking...
PS - on a personal note, I know several of the SCN development team. They must be feeling gutted.
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Agreed
Never use an acronym without defining it first. One of the first rules of clear communication.
RE: SAP delays launch of new community - provides no insights
RE: SAP delays launch of new community - provides no insights
A bit unfair
RE: SAP delays launch of new community - provides no insights
RE: SAP delays launch of new community - provides no insights
You're probably aware by now, but for others following this story, the comment bug that you linked to (the Tom Cenens tweet) is on the current release of the SAP Community Network (for the pedants, above). I'd imagine that this and other minor biugs are creeping into a creaky old system because developers have been concentrating on the new version.
Back to the point.... I don't like what has happened with the SCN upgrade, but I feel you are arguing at cross purposes with many others, myself included (the fault, if any, lies on both sides). I think you are saying that things must have gotten out of hand much earlier than Friday, we should not have got to the point where a major upgrade to a major community resource was called off at the last minute, especially given what you had heard through the back channels. Others are more forgiving of the project management failures, perhaps because they feel the need to support 'their' community, perhaps because they've been in similar situations themselves. I'll admit I fall into both those categories, but the main reason I'm not being as harsh as you is that the reason I go to the community is not for the bells and whistles, but for the underlying information, and that is still there.
HOWEVER .... Until Friday, SAP and the Community managers had presented the upgrade as a given. There is a credibility gap, and they will be given much less wriggle room by even me (one of their more ardent supporters) next time.
thanks
PS, I may be reading too much into one of the previous comments, bu I can't recall anything you (or anyone else) has written that shows any kind of delight or schadenfrude (sp ?) in the cancellation of the upgrade.