A year ago we did a Q&A Wednesday feature with Compulsivo regarding their Prefinery product, which allows software companies to manage their beta programs. Today, they are announcing that Prefinery supports the beta programs of web-based software as well. Prefinery manages the entire process of collecting and fulfilling requests for invitations for Web sites in private beta.
“With FiveRuns Dash going into beta, we recently began using Prefinery to help us manage the beta invite process. What was once a manual process involving shared spreadsheets and email folders is now much simpler using Prefinery,” said Steve Sanderson, VP of Product Development and Technology at FiveRuns. “As a result of this, we have more time to focus on supporting our Dash beta users. The integration with Prefinery only took us a few minutes.”
It takes less than a minute to install the Prefinery invitation widget which allows companies to collect invitation requests without customers ever leaving their Web site. Furthermore, the invitation widget is customizable, allowing companies to specify what information must be provided when an invitation is requested. Requests are easily approved or rejected from within the Prefinery software. Once a request is approved by the company a unique invitation code is generated and an e-mail invitation is sent to the customer. Companies author the text of the e-mail, which is sent from their address. A company’s customers never even know that Prefinery is powering the beta program.
Prefinery also offers a feedback widget, allowing companies to easily gather feature requests, bug reports, comments and suggestions. This valuable feedback can be used immediately to improve software quality and identify future features. All feedback can be easily exported and viewed in a spreadsheet or imported into many popular bug tracking tools.
“Prefinery helps you get your awesome new Web site in the hands of a small, select group of early adopters quickly and easily,” said Justin Britten, Compulsivo’s founder and CEO. “Prefinery helps you save time and money by providing a drop-in solution, letting you stay focused on your product and not your beta program.”
Prefinery for Web software is available immediately and is sold as a monthly subscription service.