Table 1
A Snapshot of the Case Study Data
Firm
InSoft
BusSoft
No. of years the online customer network has been in existence 2 yrs. 9 months 2 yrs. 4 months
Primary Focus of the Network Customer as resource Customer as user (in product support)
Characteristics of the Network:
Average no. of members
Type of member 
Services provided
350 
Individual users 
Discussion groups,
Email, Voting tools
80 (135)
User firms / End-users
Discussion groups, Email,
Collaborative tools, etc.
Support strategies adopted NPD team—Customer structural link
Knowledge base		 Customer recognition scheme
Gated community
Offline promotions
Other management issues identified: 
Define the purpose and scope of the online customer community clearly; Understand the technology skills of the customers (potential community members); Incorporate the online network in other product promotion programs to increase awareness; Make expertise visible to community members (experiential knowledge base, discussion archives, etc.); Create user-friendly environment for customers to contribute; Ensure that somebody within the organization has responsibility to link the community; Provide process transparency.