None of the Enterprise customers are expected to use the forums. However, they often do get advice on how to integrate a specific client or App, or our support team uses the forums for ideas on solutions.
Enterprise Customers provide feedback/requests directly to the sales/SE/support team, and we collect those needs separately, often under NDA. We make commitments directly to individual customers or the whole base as needed. We are in direct email and phone contact. Customer contract sizes range from $10K to $10M.
Prospects that decline to use us also influence our future directions. If we see why we were not selected, that influences what we need to fix. The sales team also influences the plans to meet their targets.
A lot of Enterprise requirements are platform/appliance related. They are often unrelated to CE requirements.
So, the forums are focused on the self-help community (CE) and represent a slice of our interests. Planning has to take into account a much broader set of interests, including long-term commercial viability and growth. We have 200+ employees to maintain and reward.
We recently agreed to support the deployment of over 250 CE systems - the customer was prepared to pay for specific commitments. That was a reasonable process for both sides.
We disclose plans as they become commitments. Unlike proprietary solutions, anyone with a strong interest can track code changes in GitHub.
We welcome community input using the tools we provide. If specific commitments are needed, talk to our sales team and buy the systems you need. We can then make financially reasonable commitments. The Community generally benefits from these commitments because many of the features are integrated into CE without any requests being made.
Is the planning process complex? Yes.
Do the forums have all the info needed to plan? No.