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If there is nothing gained by having the software, then why are you so against opening up the beta process to all teams?
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It is much easier to manage a limited number of teams beta testing a new system than opening it up to the whole community.
The goal is to shake out problems in a manageable way with a limited number of resources. Some resources have to manage the beta process (deliver updates, answer questions, feed information back to the developers, etc) and other resources are trying to finalize the product (finish promised features, internal QA, roll in beta feedback). If resources are limited, which I assume is the case especially in this economy, then a limited managed beta is more productive than an open sourced test.
If new hardware is required, that is another resource that can constrain the size of the beta test.