I have demo’d Feature Plan before, and been very impressed.
My major feeling is that Ryma (the company that builds the app) has a crystal clear understanding of what they want to accomplish. My demo was done via phone — I believe I had trial software, but am not 100% sure. I went back to their site as I thought about writing this post to see if I could find a trial or something so I could include screenshots, but alas, it was either not availalble or I failed to locate it.
There is something I’m saying, I think. Take my example — I’m evaluating how other products out there stack up to my homegrown spreadsheet / doc tools. Now, were I able to find a downloadable demo on the Ryma site, I’d have a much clearer view. Instead, if I want to check out the product, I can either get a candy-like 5 minute Flash-based demo (which is fine), or contact a Sales person, which not so fun. The last thing I want to do is answer questions such as, “why are you interested?” and “what did you like and not like?” and all that stuff. Blech.
I just want to check the product out again, see if it’s changed at all since I saw it over a year and a half ago. I’d reckon to think that others feel the same way, but can’t be 100% sure. If anyone from Ryma reads this blog, is that a metric involved in determining the success of the cross-channel sales strategy?
I have nothing against Ryma — they are a fanstastic group. I’ve met their VP of Marketing at a TPMA event and even had some contact with one of their product managers; these guys are on the ball, no question.
One thing I do remember from the demo was how stuffed the user interface was when I first saw it — option and function happy a litlle. Maybe it’s not in their target definition to go after smaller orgs, but I’d look at it much more carefully if there was a stripped-down, low-cost version that I could grow into my companies day-to-day product management and program management activities.
Anyone out there that’s gone through a similar reality check on what they are using for an ongoing product management tool? If so, any interesting findings?