This Early Adopters Program FAQ page shares the purpose and process of the EA program. The EA program should be positioned as part of the total value of the annual license of JMP. The EA allows customers to have:
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What is the purpose of the Early Adopters (EA) program?
The Early Adopter program provides a way for current JMP annual license users to participate in the development cycle of the next version of JMP in a very agile way. It gives users alpha and beta versions of the software to test out, provide feedback and give us comments and suggestions on new platforms, changes, and retirement of features. It also allows power users to test their scripts, submit crash and telemetry data, and otherwise feel like they are involved with development process of the product in a way that is just not possible otherwise.
What are we asking customers to do in the EA?
Download and run pre-production (beta) versions of the next release of JMP, try out and provide feedback on new platforms, new functionality in existing platforms, scripting/JSL changes, feature retirement and ongoing work in larger, multi-release projects (like GenReg, FDE, Projects etc.). All of their feedback is reported via a special beta feedback channel (jmpbeta@jmp.com).
How do customers become early adopters?
Customers are invited by either Product Management or sales teams via the JMP Early Adopter Program SalesForce campaign. Product Management sends initial invitations once the program is launched, and sales teams can invite qualified customers to join throughout the EA cycle. SEs can also invite customers directly by providing the link to
jmp.com/earlyadopter. Invited customers request access to the EA program by submitting the form at
jmp.com/earlyadopter. Product management reviews all requests, seeking input from sales teams if needed. Approved EAs are granted access to a protected page on jmp.com, which has download instructions, information on new features to focus on testing, pre-recorded webcasts demonstrating new functionality, and structured activities from the JMP Lab to work through.
How long is the EA, what is the EA cycle for each release?
The EA program begins approximately 15 months before the general availability of the next version of JMP. We make an initial alpha release (EA1) available, for a 2 month period, and then new versions from EA2-EA9 are released every one and a half to two months. Please visit the
JMP 17 Dates page for all JMP 17 release dates.
What is the process for how people get invited to the EA?
At the end of each EA, we conduct a survey and ask who would like to be considered for the next EA. This information is added to an interest list that product management maintains. We target JMP Partners, thought leaders, educators and authors. We also identify members of past programs from target accounts and premier accounts. This initial list is compiled, and invitations are sent out by product management at the start of the program. After the initial invitations, sales teams can recruit for the EA program, and we also recruit at JMP Days, Discovery events, through the JMP Lab, and from Tech Support.
What are the criteria for a good EA candidate?
An EA member must be a current annual license user of JMP, be an experienced user (as the EA program cannot be used for learning JMP or technical support), and be willing and able to provide feedback on the beta versions of the software.
What is the customer’s experience in the EA?
The customer has access to a protected web page on jmp.com, which lists new features coming in the next version of the software. They have access to download a version of the software for Mac and Windows (download requires a SAS Profile and accepting of T&Cs for the download). They also have access to lab activities and recorded videos demonstrating new features. We will email the customer when new recordings are available, as well as when new versions of the EA are available.
Can I invite people to the EA?
Yes, anyone that meets the criteria above can be invited to the EA program. Sales teams (exclusive of SEs) can invite customers by (1) adding them as contacts to the SalesForce campaign with the status "To be Invited" and (2) Clicking "Send EA Invitation" to send the invitation. SEs should work with their teams to invite customers to join the program. Note that the registration does not carry-over from previous programs; customers must re-register each time. Product management or sales teams must not register on the customer’s behalf; the customer must register themselves and should provide the name of the JMP team member who invited them.
How do I know who has been invited?
Search for the JMP 17 Early Adopter Salesforce campaign (or use the link at the top of this page) to see the current members of the EA program. To Be Invited means that they have been added to the campaign but have not yet been invited, Invited means that they have been invited through the campaign, Registered means that they have filled out the form, Alpha means they have been accepted into the program for EA1, Beta means they joined the program after EA2 was available.
How do I make sure someone gets into/is approved to be in the EA program?
All registrations are reviewed by product management before acceptance. You can email product management and let them know to look out for an EA registration coming in. You can also let product management know if there is a candidate that should NOT be considered (please cite the reason).
What if customer has trouble downloading or installing JMP EA?
Have them contact jmpbeta@jmp.com, with information on the EA release and the error they are receiving. If the issue is related to the customer’s SAS Profile, suggest they check out this page:
https://www.sas.com/en_us/profile/help.html.
What if I have someone abusing the program?
The EA versions of JMP are pre-production software. As such there are bugs, incomplete features, crashes and potentially wrong numerics- JMP 17 is a work in progress. It should not be for production work - it can be used for testing only. If you have someone who is using the EA for production work, or using the EA to obtain JMP Pro, let Product Management know and we can triage appropriately. The "Declined" status will be used in the campaign to indicate that the request for access was not granted.
How do customers give feedback in the EA?
jmpbeta@jmp.com is the email address for all EA feedback. Technical support does not support the EA program-internal JMP QA team members triage feedback and developers and testers investigate individual items. JMP staff (development, product management) should not be emailed directly about the beta. If you receive feedback directly, forward it to jmpbeta@jmp.com.
Can JMP employees join the EA program?
We welcome JMP staff to join the EA program to keep track of what is coming in the next version of the software. SEs should always be demoing the current shipping version of JMP to customers (see this
post on the community). If you wish to use and test the EA version of JMP, ask a member of the JMP Product Management team (or your Sales team) to add you as Staff to the SalesForce Campaign (this bypasses the registration process). Or, you can request access at jmp.com/earlyadopter.
Where can i find data on the early adopter program?
We have
JMP Live reports that show the number of EA members over time as well as a packed bar chart by company name.
As a salesperson, what do I have to do with an Early Adopter lead?
Only contacts should be in the EA program. If you agree that a registered lead should be accepted in to the EA program, please convert the lead to a contact in salesforce. Once converted to a contact, product management will change the status from registered to alpha or beta, which will trigger an automated email with download instructions).
Are customers required to download each EA version?
The answer is generally “No” for customers, though of course we hope they stay up to date. However, if you are giving feedback as an SE, then we would like you to be submitting issues that you have verified are still problems in the latest EA. The person working to replicate your issue will be using the most current EA, and the first thing you’ll be asked to do if we have any trouble reproducing it will be, – “Can you try it on the latest EA and let us know if it still happens for you?”
As an SE testing out the EA, are there things I shouldn’t do?
- Do not email developers directly asking for features to be put into the product.
- Do not use the JMPBeta list as a way of asking for new features out of scope for the next version of JMP.
- Do not use the JMPBeta list as a way of getting technical support on new features in the latest version of JMP.
- If you are using daily builds do not expect that a feature will be complete or documented.
- Do not invite customers by sending them directly to jmp.com/earlyadopter - please invite through the SalesForce campaign.
I found a bug or want to request a new feature. What do I do?
