by Jon Darbyshire – October 28, 2009

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the Archer Community has been honored in the 2009 Forrester Groundswell Awards, which recognize excellence in achieving business and organizational goals with social technology applications. Thanks to all of you who casted a vote for Archer and provided your commentary on the value of the Community to your organization.

Here are just a few of the comments our Community members shared on the Forrester Groundswell site:

“Archer's GRC system coupled with the Exchange and Community are unsurpassed in supplying the ultimate user experience.”

“The Archer Community and Archer Exchange have been invaluable to our company during our first year of utilizing many Archer products and beyond.”

“Archer Community is one of the best examples of customer-generated innovation in business today.”

Since we launched the Archer Community in 2007 as an online social network for Archer customers, partners and product experts, we’ve seen the following results:

•  More than 2,600 risk and compliance professionals have joined the Community, with nearly 1,100 new members in 2009 alone.
•  You and your colleagues have submitted over 1,500 product enhancement ideas, and Archer will deliver on 200 of those ideas in our upcoming 5.0 release.
•  Our membership has downloaded more than 30,000 resources, including training materials, product documentation and case studies
•  Forum participants have posted over 2,500 questions and responses, fostering a client-to-client support system.
•  Through the Community video center, you have access to more than 50 case study videos from our National Summit and GRC Roadshow, which allow you to see how other companies are using Archer solutions to automate risk and compliance processes.

I continue to be amazed at the rapid growth of the Archer Community and the volume of participation we see every day. Archer’s Product team derives great value from the interaction we have with you through the Community because it allows us to understand your needs and use that information to transform our product management efforts from an art into a science. I hope you also find great value in your collaboration with Archer experts and your fellow customers as you work together to build consensus about the product enhancements that hold the highest value for you as a community.

I encourage you to keep coming back to the Archer Community to vote on the latest ideas in the Idea Exchange, download new training resources, and engage with your peers in the forums. I look forward to collaborating with you on an ongoing basis to help shape the future of best-in-class governance, risk and compliance programs.