PROVO, Utah, July 8, 2009 – SirsiDynix, the world leader in library automation technology, announces the launch of a Strategic Partnership Program designed to foster even greater interactions between the SirsiDynix Engineering organization and leading customers. Customers that participate as strategic partners will have direct input into the product design process and provide feedback throughout product implementation.

Many software companies involve customers in beta programs to test the software products before they are released. However, these beta programs are ‘after the fact’ events – that is, the customers are beta testing products that have already been designed and developed and any changes, made on the basis of the beta program feedback, are going to be limited in scope. The SirsiDynix® Strategic Partner Program moves the customer interaction from being ‘after the fact’ to being integrated into the software development cycle.

• Benefits for participating customers include:
• Direct interaction with the SirsiDynix Development, Software Test, and Product Management teams.
• Previews of product requirements and designs, product demonstration, early access to code, and access to ‘early release’ products.
• Input into product design – especially User Interface (UI) usability design.
• Quarterly webinars run by SirsiDynix Engineering, covering product roadmap, future direction, product features, early previews, etc.
• Direct influence the product’s evolution, in accordance with their needs.
• Participating in the future product roadmap.

The first project to run under the auspices of the new Strategic Partner Program will be the SirsiDynix® Symphony® Web Services Community Technology Preview (CTP). Symphony currently provides the most powerful API in the library automation industry. Making that power available through web services will lower development costs for customizations to Symphony as well as for innovative new library-created applications. Chris Tonjes, Director of Information Technology at District of Columbia Public Library said “Symphony is a mature and robust ILS. The Symphony API lets us build most anything we want to. We have a number of exciting projects in queue and we’re very interested in working with the new web services.”

Talin Bingham, Chief Technology Officer at SirsiDynix stated, “We’ve invested a lot in agile development in recent years. Getting more customers directly involved in our development process is the logical next step in this evolution. We’re looking forward to meeting with customers at the ALA Conference in Chicago this year and in webinars following ALA to get this program rolling.”

For more information about the Strategic Partner Program or if you are a SirsiDynix customer interested in participating, contact your SirsiDynix sales consultant or email sales@sirsidynix.com.

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About SirsiDynix

SirsiDynix is the global leader in strategic technology solutions for libraries – vital institutions whose primary mission is to make sense of the vast world of information for people and communities. This is an exciting role as libraries assist people in discovering and using knowledge, resources and other valuable content for their educations, jobs and entertainment. In concert with key industry partners, SirsiDynix supports this strategic role for libraries by offering a comprehensive integrated suite of technology solutions for improving the internal productivity of libraries and enhancing their capabilities for meeting the needs of people and communities. SirsiDynix has approximately 4,000 library and consortia clients, serving more than 300 million people through more than 20,000 library outlets in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. For more information, please see www.sirsidynix.com.