Exactly. Gaap doesn't necessarily perfectly reflect economics of the company's business. So, the non gaap measures are there to be used in conjunction with, not instead of, gaap
As a side note, GAAP definitely isn't industry agnostic. For example, FASB (the financial accounting standards boards) issues guidance on revenue recognition for all sorts of companies and the guidance for a software company is very different than the guidance for your generic widget manufacturer.