One of the most common questions we hear from Unica users is which version to upgrade to. The general concern is adaptability, as well as the stability of the latest software version. Whether you are looking into using the advantage of centralized offer management, or streamline your processes with deeper integration between Unica Campaign, Optimize and Interact, ready to begin your journey with Dockerization, or only looking into a much modern look and feel and new user experience; Unica V12.0 is “the” version to upgrade to.
A software update is the necessary enhancements to the current version, whereas an upgrade is a whole new version of it. And as HCL Unica team, we are proud to say #UNICAisBACK and we are confident in the whole new Cloud-Native Unica V12.0 Platform.
The source of this confidence, together with the dedication of the HCL Unica development team, is our clients and partners who contributed to the scope and development of the new features in Unica V12.0 with their feedback. If you are wondering how that is possible, I will tell you more… This article is not about the new features of Unica V12.0, but it is about how they came about.
Relationship Beyond Contract
As Darren Oberst recently mentioned in his interview with SD Times, the mantra of HCLSoftware is customer success, and one of HCL’s core values is “relationship beyond the contract.” As a services company, we are dedicated to helping our clients succeed through business challenges and create value out of the solution they have in hand. It is incredibly essential for HCL to understand the client’s needs and address those needs through the new features and improvements via the Unica suite. And for this purpose, HCLSoftware has founded the Sponsor User Program, where our clients and partners join our Product Management team at the various stages of product development.
The journey for V12 started back in 2019 Spring. We have engaged with over 1000 of our users through Unica events, one to one meetings, and over webinars over a year. Some of these users wanted to go ahead and get involved deeper in the product development stages. So, we onboarded them to HCLSoftware Sponsor User Program. HCLSoftware Sponsor User Program allowed us to engage with you further to understand the direction Unica needs to lead and identify the deep dive features to enhance and extend Unica to address your business challenges and help generate better business outcomes!
We said it is “Your Unica, Your say!”
Program participants had the chance to-
- Influence the product roadmap and the features that are delivered.
- Work directly with Designers, Developers, Architects, and Product Managers.
- Get access to early releases well ahead of GA releases.
And so they did. We have gathered the feedback through different channels and incorporated them into the product roadmap and identified the scope V12.0 needs to deliver.
But it didn’t stop there.
Unica 12.0 Beta program
Unica V12.0 beta was an early access program that provided Unica patrons an opportunity to explore hands-on the features of Unica 12.0 before its GA release. As Unica roadmap has strongly been driven by the voice of our clients and partners who have expressed an interest to be involved actively in the direction, design, and evolution of features across our portfolio, it was time for them to preview/explore our upcoming release features and provide feedback prior to its official release.
Unica V12.0 Beta program has been a huge success where over 50 participants from our Clients and Partners have run tests on our hosted environment on the new features and provided their feedback. And our HCL Unica family, including developers, services professionals, product managers, product specialists, and our sales team, participated in the Beta program as well. Each new feature is thoroughly tested, and feedback is given back to our amazing development team, who did a fantastic job incorporating the feedback ahead of the General Availability on the 3rd of April, 2020.
If you have missed the V12.0 Beta Program, hang in there! Unica V12.1 Beta program will be announced soon!
Unica V12.0, Your Unica.
When we said #UNICAisBACK, we have been humbled by the response we’ve received. Our investment into Unica met with your interest in collaboration, and the result is the most comprehensive upgrade to Unica yet – with over 200 enhancements, 25 new features, 90+ native reports, 500+ REST APIs, and a new UI/UX.
We have listened to you and improved the user experience, which is now more intuitive. And we have listened to your needs in terms of a more open-source, Cloud Native platform, which is easier to integrate and easier to deploy.
Now, when I hear the question “Should we upgrade to V11.1 or go directly to V12.0?” with confidence, I talk about what Unica V12.0 really is and why it is better than ever. Unica V12.0 is a product of a collaboration of Global Unica family, HCL Unica team, Unica clients, and Business Partners.
Keep in mind, HCLSoftware is happy to provide a half-day walkthrough of the new features ahead of your V12.0 upgrade. Just let us know! Meantime, keep an eye on our LinkedIn page to read the feature of over 800 reasons to leapfrog to V12.0.
Read our CMO Tony Arnold’s take on the next chapter of Unica and what has everyone saying- The Next Chapter of Unica.
You can learn more about the HCL RELEASES UNICA V12.0.
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