July 10, 2009
IFS Enterprise Explorer 1.0 is available in IFS Applications 7.5 SP4.
A two-year journey
It has been an exciting journey, from the initial research and
design sketches, through the BIG announcement at the World Conference
in Berlin up until today when IFS EE is released.
In addition to being a leap forward in positioning IFS Applications
as the user-friendly ERP software,it has also been a pioneering project
when it comes to developing close to customers.
The first part of the project focused on the visual design and new concepts
so that these would be showcased in Berlin.
I remember some in the audience who doubted that we ran the application live,
but we did.
(What they didn't know was how little outside the very narrow demo script that actually worked.)
Next, the early adopter program was launched to get real end-user input on IFS Enterprise Explorer
at an early stage (more than a year before release). This early feedback on what users understand,
where they get confused etc. has been valuable for building true usability into IFS EE.
Testing was first done on the Alpha release inMay 2008,
and later on the Beta release (which was installed at customer sites)during winter 2008-9.
Besides helping us to build a truly usable product, the purpose of the early adopter program
was to make sure that we had some customer references by the time IFS EE was released.
Now, at release time, we have one excellent reference in Chief Industries,
and three other customers with experience and positive statements about IFS EE.
And let’s not forget ourselves—hundreds of IFS employees have already had first-hand experience
of using IFS EE (release candidate)in production, namely in our own IFSBiz application.
The Production Release of IFS Enterprise Explorer is today, 10 July 2009,
being made available in our core product IFS Applications 7.5 SP 4.
There are some restrictions in the release,
and further add-on deliverables will be made available during the fall.
More information about the release and the roll-out can be found here >>
Rolling out through IFS group
With the roll-out of IFS Enterprise Explorer already started,
most regions have identified the initial projects that will use IFS EE.
Some are starting now, to be followed by many more during the fall.
As you start to work with IFS EE, you will find that a lot of things are familiar toyou
as an experienced IFS Applications user, but there are also many new things,
plus some old goodies that work a bit differently.
The documentation and webinars will helpyou get orientated,
but if you are at a loss, the best place to turn is to the IFS Enterprise Explorer forum on openIFS >>.
There you can get help from other IEE users.
Wondering why there is no Clear button anymore?
Or what happened to Print Table Content? The answers are already there in the forum.
On a personal note I just want to say that it is a privilege to be part of something
that is so central to IFS and IFS Applications. The hurdles and challenges I will soon forget,
but the mountain of positive feelings and words of appreciation I will remember forever.
As IFS EE now rolls out throughout the IFS group, I hope your experience will be similar
—that any early problems are quickly overcome and forgot about, and that the lasting memory
is of positive reactions from customers and happy users.
All the best,
Dan Matthews, CTO
