Jarrid Magalich, a senior enterprise architect at Sheetz Inc. in Altoona, Pa., said the loss of his customer advocate "is a black mark in my book." He said the advocate was in his offices "every other week ... knew all the projects and acted like the commission-less sales rep. ... It was a great working relationship."

Magalich also said he was told the customer advocate would be replaced by CA phone support. " I wouldn't take advantage of that," he said.

Several customers expressed concern about how CA will treat its massive portfolio of products in coming years, since a focus on key areas will likely lead to consolidation and the elimination of some products. Three IT workers at a Midwest insurance company were visiting the show to see what CA plans for its mainframe job-scheduling software products. One of them described CA as a "trend-setter" in product innovation, but said he is still concerned about the life of the company's products.

Another attendee who also asked not to be named said user-group leaders had pushed company executives for details about the road map for many products, especially mainframe products that are not within the four new areas the company is focusing on. But CA executives "skated around" those concerns, he said, adding that he hopes CA has more definitive answers next year.

Swainson and other CA executives said some of the company's product road maps are available online, while others will be spelled out in more detail in coming months. Mark Barrenechea, chief software architect at CA, said the company's four areas of concentration include 15 major product groups.