At the end of April we were proud to announce the release of the latest version of Q-Pulse as part of the ongoing continual improvement of our products and services. With each iteration of Q-Pulse, we aim high in terms of content and quality, and our latest release is no exception. Version 5.6 includes a large number of well-targeted features and enhancements as the result of our listening to customers across all our channels, including our consultants, the Community, User Groups, Help Desk, and this further reinforces our ever-improving communications with you, our customer.

Version 5.6’s introduction of Q-Pulse Web Services positions us to work even more closely with customers in integrating, extending and establishing the use of Q-Pulse within key business processes. Version 5.6 is the result of 6 months’ hard work and commitment, not only from all of the Technical team, but from all business areas in Gael working together, and we are genuinely excited at the improvement we believe it can make to your processes.

Version 5.6 has also been significant with regard to the branding changes that we have made. We recognise that we have expanded our offerings to include both Community and Academy, but have never consolidated how we have presented these offerings to the customer. Over the next two months the branding changes that we have made in Q-Pulse will be rolled out across all our websites and marketing collateral, in order to adopt the consistent branding approach that we feel is needed.

We are also moving forwards with several other projects, which support our strategic objectives of providing support services that meet the needs of our customers. This has gained momentum with the release of the Support Portal within the Community, which gives customers one place to access all support-related activities. The next stage will be implemented by July when improved online tracking and visibility of all support calls will be available to all customers as part of our integration of Support into our back-office systems. Beyond this, we have many ideas for sharing information with customers through the Portal, and hopefully we can include you in these in order to make sure we deliver a solution that meets your needs.

Customer use of the Community continues to increase, and we at Gael have undoubtedly benefitted from having a forum in which we can keep you up-to-date with all of the changes happening within Gael, as well as giving you the chance to let us know what you think of the changes. We also recently launched our Validation Service and I am delighted that the initial projects with customers seem to be of major benefit in what is a complicated and heavily documented domain.

Finally, we see it as extremely encouraging that comparative year-to-date figures for sales show a 29% growth in 2009 compared to 2008. So despite the difficulties the media constantly reports in relation to the marketplaces in which we operate, our results continue to reflect the recognition that Q-Pulse offers a solution to overcome operational pain, even in these challenging times.

Overall, we are delighted with the start to 2009 but as ever with Gael, we remain excited with regard to the challenges that we continue to have ahead in the rest of the year.

Ashley Marron
Chief Operating Officer