Inside MongoDB’s Early Access Programs

Gabriela Preiss and Mehar Grewal
July 29, 2024 | Updated: August 7, 2024

In tech, staying ahead of the curve is essential. Tech companies must continually innovate and release new developments to meet the ever-evolving needs of users and global market demands. One successful strategy is the use of Early Access Programs (EAPs) and Preview Features. These initiatives offer unique opportunities for both companies and users, fostering mutually beneficial relationships that drive product excellence. You may have heard them referred to as "Beta Programs," "Pilot Programs," or "Feature Previews," but they all fall under the same category of early user engagement aimed at refining products before general release.

So what are Early Access Programs and Preview Features?

EAPs and Preview Features allow a select group of users to test and provide feedback on new features before general release. These programs are aimed at loyal customers, power users, or those who’ve shown interest in the company's products.

EAPs grant users early access to upcoming features or products still in development. Participants engage closely with the product team, providing valuable insights and feedback that shape the final product.

Preview Features are specific features in a product made available for users to try before the official release. Unlike beta testing, which may involve a full product, preview features are often isolated components of a larger system.

What are the Benefits of Early Access Programs?

They offer numerous advantages for both companies and users. Direct feedback from real users helps identify bugs, usability issues, and areas for improvement that may not be evident during internal testing. This actionable feedback is crucial in enhancing product quality, allowing companies to release more polished and reliable features. This means higher user satisfaction and fewer post-release problems.

EAPs also increase customer engagement and appreciation among participants by offering a hands-on exclusive experience to them. This can foster loyalty and strengthen the relationship between the company and its customers. These programs also provide market validation, offering an opportunity to gauge market interest and demand for new features. This enables companies to make data-driven decisions about which features to prioritize and further invest in. By identifying and resolving potential issues early in the development process, EAPs reduce the risk of major failures post-launch and allow for better resource allocation and planning.

How does MongoDB approach Early Access Programs?

At MongoDB, EAPs are classified into two categories: private preview and public preview. Private preview entails an invite-only white-glove experience for a select few participants who closely test and provide feedback. Public preview implies the feature is available to the public to try, either as downloadable tools or features in Atlas.

Key Elements

Selective Participation: MongoDB’s EAPs are typically invitation-only, targeting power users, those who’ve shown significant interest in new features, or are part of our MongoDB Champions community. This selective approach ensures that feedback comes from experienced users who can provide valuable insights.
Direct Collaboration: Participants engage directly with MongoDB’s product and engineering teams. This direct line of communication allows for real-time feedback, in-depth discussions, and a collaborative approach to feature development.
Structured Feedback Collection: We use a variety of methods to collect feedback, including surveys, structured interviews, and feedback forms. This structured approach ensures that feedback is actionable and can be effectively integrated into the development process.
Iterative Development: Feedback is used to make iterative improvements to the features being tested. This agile approach allows us to quickly address issues, refine functionalities, and enhance the overall user experience.
Transparency and Updates: We maintain open and transparent communication with our EAP participants, providing regular updates on the status of the features, changes made based on their feedback, and future development plans. This transparency fosters trust and keeps participants engaged throughout the program.
Rewards and Recognition: Participants can share their stories on our social channels, be part of global events, and win MongoDB swag!

Be Part of MongoDB’s Innovation

MongoDB’s Early Access Programs offer participants the chance to gain early access to innovative features, influence product development, and join an exclusive, engaged community. As we continue to innovate and expand our product offerings, our Early Access Programs will help us deliver high-quality, user-centric solutions that empower our customers to achieve their strategic objectives. Join us in shaping the future of MongoDB by enrolling in our early access programs today!

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Welcome to the (Tech) Olympics!

Welcome to the Tech Olympics, where code meets competition! With the 2024 Summer Olympics starting today, we thought it’d be fun to imagine developers as athletes, showcasing their skills in a series of thrilling events. From relay races to coding challenges, the Tech Olympics would bring together the brightest minds in tech for a competition like no other. Whether you're a coding wizard, a bug-squashing maestro, or an AI aficionado, there would be something to test your limits and celebrate your talents. Opening ceremony The opening ceremony is one of the most iconic aspects of the Olympics. From the lighting of the torch to performances by local artists, the opening ceremony encapsulates the spectacle of the games, and is a necessity for the Tech Olympics. The Tech Olympics opening ceremony would kick off with a grand procession of teams involved, adorned in attire representing their area of expertise. Next, there’d be a performance by artists and developers using augmented and virtual reality to blend art with cutting-edge technology. Finally, there would be the lighting of the torch, but instead of the flame being run across the country, an application would be written and passed between developers from around the world that, when run, would light the torch and start the games. Now that we’ve kicked off the Tech Olympics, let's consider what its events might look like. Code sprint relay The "code sprint relay" would be a collaborative coding event where teams of developers would tackle a series of coding challenges in relay format. The twist would be that each member could only code for a set period (say, 5-10 minutes) before handing the code off to the next person. This setup requires clear communication and strategic planning, as each coder must quickly understand and build upon their predecessor's work. Code sprint relay challenges would range from algorithm problems to debugging tasks, demanding various skills and swift adaptability. This event would be fast-paced and dynamic, with a lively atmosphere filled with the buzz of coding and quick exchanges of ideas. Success would be measured not only by the completion of challenges but also by the efficiency and quality of the code, making this event a test of teamwork and technical skill under pressure. Security capture the flag Capture the flag might seem more like a kids’ game than an Olympic event, but trust us, there’d be nothing childish about this event. The "security capture the flag" event would be an exciting cybersecurity competition in which participants would need to solve security-related challenges to capture hidden "flags." These challenges would range from web application exploits and reverse engineering, to cryptographic puzzles and network forensics. Working in teams, participants would race against the clock to uncover vulnerabilities, exploit them, and find the embedded flags within a controlled, simulated environment. At the end, a debriefing session would highlight the most innovative solutions and techniques used. Success would be measured by the number of flags captured and the ingenuity of the approaches, showcasing participants' technical skills and strategic thinking under pressure. Bug hunt Have you ever built out your code and then, upon running it, realized that you made a mistake? If you have, you’ll understand just how intense this next event could be! The "bug hunt challenge" would be a fast-paced competition in which participants are tasked with finding and fixing bugs within a complex codebase. Each individual would be given the same software project with numerous hidden bugs, ranging from simple syntax errors to intricate logical flaws. Participants must use their debugging skills and tools to identify and resolve as many issues as possible within a set time limit. The event would be marked by intense focus and strategic problem-solving as competitors meticulously comb through the code. An automated system would verify the fixes instantly, ensuring accuracy and efficiency. Success would be measured by the quantity and severity of bugs resolved, along with the quality of the fixes, making this event a test of attention to detail and technical proficiency. AI arena We’d be remiss not to include an AI event! The "AI arena" event would be a competitive showcase where participants create machine learning models using a provided dataset to solve a specified problem. Teams would have several hours to analyze the data, create features, and train their models. The objective would be to develop a model with the highest accuracy and performance, balancing technical innovation with practical application. In the end, teams would present their models to judges, explaining their methodologies and challenges faced. Judging criteria would include model accuracy, creativity, and clarity of the presentation, making this event a comprehensive test of technical and communication skills. Location Finally, you can’t have an Olympics without a city to host it. There are plenty of tech hubs to choose from—San Francisco, London, Beijing—but we thought it’d be more fun to pick a growing tech hub like Ha Noi, Vietnam, as our location. Vietnam had the highest digital economy growth in Southeast Asia in 2022 , putting it on the path to be named alongside other “tech giant” cities. Also, Vietnamese food is excellent! During the games, local startups and tech companies would showcase their work on the world stage, and visiting developers would see the innovations that Vietnamese companies are working on. Sadly, there won’t be an actual Tech Olympics this year, but maybe in the future, there will be. An event that will bring the world's best developers together to showcase their skills, foster friendly competition, and allow the world to see just how amazing developers are. If you have some ideas about other events you would want to see at a Tech Olympics, connect with us on X (Twitter) and let us know what your ideas are. Interested in learning more about or connecting more with MongoDB? Join our MongoDB Community to meet other community members, hear about inspiring topics, and receive the latest MongoDB news and events.

July 26, 2024

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Customer Service Expert Wati.io Scales Up on MongoDB

Wati.io is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that empowers businesses to develop conversation-driven strategies to boost growth. Founded by CEO Ken Yeung in 2019, Wati started as a chatbot solution for large enterprises, such as banks and insurance companies. However, over time, Yeung and his team noticed a growing need among small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to manage customer conversations more effectively. To address this need, Wati used MongoDB Atlas and built a solution based on the WhatsApp Business API. It enables businesses to manage and personalize conversations with customers, automate responses, improve commerce functions, and enhance customer engagement. Speaking at MongoDB.local Hong Kong in September 2024, Yeung said, “The current solutions on the market today are not good enough. Especially for SMBs [that] don’t have the same level of resources as enterprises to deal with the number of conversations and messages that need to be handled every day.” Supporting scale: From MongoDB Community Edition to MongoDB Atlas “From the beginning, we relied on MongoDB to handle high volumes of messaging data and enable businesses to manage and scale their customer interactions efficiently,” said Yeung. Wati originally used MongoDB Community Edition , as the company saw the benefits of a NoSQL model from the beginning. As the company grew, it realized it needed a scalable infrastructure, so Wati transitioned to MongoDB Atlas. “When we started reaching the 2 billion record threshold, we started having some issues. Our system slowed down, and we were not able to scale it,” said Yeung. Atlas has now become an essential part of Wati’s infrastructure, helping the company store and process millions of messages each month for over 10,000 customers in 165 countries. “Transitioning to a new platform—MongoDB Atlas—seamlessly was critical because our messaging system needs to be on 24/7,” said Yeung. Wati collaborated closely with the MongoDB Professional Services and MongoDB Support teams, and in a few months it was able to rearchitect the deployment and data model for future growth and demand. The work included optimizing Wati’s database by breaking it down into clusters. Wati then focused on extracting connections, such as conversations, and dividing and categorizing data within the clusters—for example, qualifying data as cold or hot based on the read and write frequencies. This architecture underpins the platform’s core features, including automated customer engagement, lead qualification, and sales management. Deepening search capabilities with MongoDB Atlas Search For Wati’s customers, the ability to search through conversation histories and company documents to retrieve valuable information is a key function. This often requires searching through millions of records to rapidly find answers so that they can respond to customers in real-time. By using MongoDB Atlas Search , Wati improved its search capabilities, ultimately helping its business customers perform more advanced analytics and improve their customer service agents’ efficiency and customer reporting. “[MongoDB] Atlas Search is really helpful because we don’t have to do a lot of technical integration, and minimal programming is required,” said Yeung. Looking ahead: Using AI and integrating more channels Wati expects to continue collaborating with MongoDB to add more features to its platform and keep innovating at speed. The company is currently exploring to build more AI capabilities of Wati KnowBot , as well as how it can expand its integration with other conversation platforms and channels such as Instagram and Facebook. To learn more about MongoDB Atlas, visit our product page . To get started with MongoDB Atlas Search, visit the Atlas Search product page .

November 25, 2024