SirsiDynix Users confident in merged Customers group

The Joint Conference, a meeting of SirsiDynix customers, was both the first and the last of its kind, drawing some 746 librarians to Dallas from April 6–8. Beginning with the election of a new single board, the two former users groups—the Customers of Dynix, Inc. (CODI), mainly Horizon customers, and Users of Unicorn Group, International (UUGI)—formed a new group called COSUGI, or the Customers of SirsiDynix Users Group Inc., to serve as the new face of this megavendor's customer base.

The years since the merger of Sirsi and Dynix in 2005 have been no less than “turbulent,” admitted chief sales and marketing officer Keith Sturges during his remarks at the opening session of the meeting, both for the employees of SirsiDynix and the users of the company's many supported products, including the Symphony, Unicorn, and Horizon integrated library Systems (ILS) as well as other library automation tools and services.

With this change, the company and its customers alike are focusing aggressively on the future. The sting of the shift away from long-term development on Horizon as a flagship product has yet to fade for many users, still occasionally mentioned in the same breath as the systems librarian's cautious “wait and see” mantra governing upgrade decisions. But sessions on upgrade paths to newer products were well attended during the gathering, and questions about component compatibility between older systems and new were among the most prevalent.

As described by Carla Clarke and Chris Hauser, former chair and VP, respectively, of UUGI and CODI (Hauser will chair the newly formed COSUGI), the new group also reflects genuine movement toward more open communication between the users groups and the company, especially regarding the development and upgrade process of product enhancements. Not everything was perfect, Hauser mentioned, citing many Horizon users' self-identification as “refugees,” but he nonetheless underscored the notion that most users represented by CODI felt that tangible progress was being made.

For its part, SirsiDynix has made a concerted effort recently to highlight a record of on-time product releases, reinforced in company executives' remarks to the users and during all discussions of the company's development road map (more to come on this in the weeks ahead). To counter a focus from some quarters on high-profile staff departures, employees with particularly long tenure with the company were explicitly recognized. And, in what was easily the most dramatic moment of the conference, all 74 of the SirsiDynix employees who traveled to Dallas were brought up on the stage, serving to tether the company's “Come with Us” conference message to its unmistakable employee presence.