Re: [aperi-dev] what defines success for Aperi?

[Todd Singleton <toddsing@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for your response Khan.  I
agree with your assertions.  However, if we decided that we needed
some end-user feedback, it would take some out-of-box thinking.  I'm
not sure the notion of required support ("you can pick-up the phone
and yell at customer support") warrants a dismissal of the notion.
 Because of such requirements, creativity would be needed.  What
kind of feedback did you get when you installed Aperi at the SNIA labs?
 Did the lab employees express how good it would be to have a tool
that they could use ?  Do tell... 

Todd Singleton
Software Engineer, Tivoli, IBM
Bldg. 50, A152
5600 Cottle Road
San Jose, CA
email: toddsing@xxxxxxxxxx

Khan M Tasinga/San Jose/IBM@IBMUS
Sent by: aperi-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx

02/19/2007 12:21 AM

Please respond to
Aperi Development <aperi-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx>

To	Aperi Development <aperi-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx>
cc
Subject	Re: [aperi-dev] what defines success for Aperi?

Todd, You posed several interesting questions. My thoughts / opinions...

On adoption... When you purchase a subsystem from EMC, you get ControlCenter.
IBM? TPC. With other hardware vendors, it's a similar situation. My sense
is that the functionality provided by those offerings exceeds what you
can do with Aperi. And if something happens to go wrong, you can pick-up
the phone and yell at customer support. So if you're a company (large or
small) in search of a storage management solution, why should you take
the time to look at Aperi? Personally, I don't know that you should.

On development... I think one key thing that separates Aperi from other
open source projects is its accessibility. Or rather, what I believe to
be its lack of such. When I look at Linux and Eclipse, I see projects that
basically anyone with a computer can grab and try out. But Aperi? Hmmm...
how many people have a spare subsystem laying around, or a SAN hooked-up
in their basement? Even with the development of tools like the SMI-S Simulator
(http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/smis_simulator), there seem to be significant
barriers to entry for the development of storage management software.

What does it all mean? I agree that money is indeed the magic metric. The
eventual success of Aperi will depend upon the development of strong business
cases and the definition of clear business goals. Given what I believe
to be the limited accessibility associated with the development of storage
management software, community members will need to contribute to not only
defining technical requirements, but also developing associated implementations.
And with, as far as I can see, no compelling reason for the direct use
of Aperi, member companies will need to push end-user adoption by shipping
products built on top of the platform. I don't think the Aperi community
will see the marketplace feedback it desires until that happens.

How do we measure our progress? I feel like everything I said above points
to participation. The more we get from member companies, the better off
I believe we will be. Given some of the recent activity in our development
calls and on the mailing list, it seems like we're moving in the right
direction. 

Regards, 
Khan Tasinga
IBM Tivoli Software Engineer (Storage Development - TPC / Aperi)
Phone: (408) 284-5142 | T/L: 8-953-5142
Email: kmtasing@xxxxxxxxxx

Todd Singleton/San Jose/IBM@IBMUS
Sent by: aperi-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx

02/15/2007 05:21 PM

Please respond to
Aperi Development <aperi-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx>

To	aperi-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx
cc
Subject	[aperi-dev] what defines success for Aperi?

Fellow Aperi members, 
A few questions to ponder and ideas to explore for the sake of discussion
(or perhaps more)... 

Release 3 is coming to a close.  Release 4 will kick off shortly after.
 Planning for release 5 will begin soon as well.  How do we know
if Aperi is headed in the right direction?  How do we know what to
do next, what product goals to shoot for in the upcoming release?  How
can we accurately measure our progress and validate our plans?  What
metrics should we use to measure success from one release to the next?
  

For most commercial products, the metric of success is generally summed
up by one word - money.  The amount of money generated, revenue, or
the amount of money gained, profit, normally dictates the legacy of a product.
 But what about open source products?  What about Aperi...  can
we be measured monetarily or should we use a different metric?  

One could argue that we don't have a choice - no matter how you look at
it,  money is still the magic metric.   Whether Aperi
components are adopted and integrated into commercial offerings, or used
directly by end users, money must be gained somewhere in the value chain.
 So however Aperi is packaged, its validation is directly linked to
its monetary impact on the marketplace.  Does this mean that in
order for Aperi to accurately measure progress and validate plans, feedback
must be obtained from the marketplace?  If so, Aperi needs successful
adopters or happy end users.   

Aperi is coming up on its 18-month birthday.  The early adopters plan
to carry Aperi components into the marketplace in the next 12 to 18 months.
 Can Aperi wait this long to get much-needed validation?  Should
Aperi also focus on reaching end users?  Which ones (SMB's, non-profits,
etc)?  Do the two approaches go hand-in-hand?  Would more end
users create a business case and stimulate greater adoption by Aperi members?
  

Many would argue that Linux survived and thrived simply because companies
like IBM developed a strong business case for it.  The same with Java.
 But did this business case motivate Linux or did Linux motivate the
business case?  Which came first: the grassroots user base or the
corporate revenue model & market strategy?  Or in the case of
the Eclipse IDE, was the end-user base a creation of the corporate business
case?  Is the lack of member participation and adoption a result of
uncompelling business cases.  Perhaps, then, encouraging the development
of such business cases (one per partner) is the best way to promote community
adoption.  Adoption requires incentive.  Money is the ultimate
incentive in any business.  If we can articulate value, we can bet
on adoption.  This is no easy task and requires help from the entire
community. 

With definite business goals translated into clear technical requirements,
we can have greater confidence in plans and our deliverables.   Thoughts?

Todd Singleton
Software Engineer, Tivoli, IBM
Bldg. 50, A152
5600 Cottle Road
San Jose, CA
email: toddsing@xxxxxxxxxx

_______________________________________________
aperi-dev mailing list
aperi-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx
https://dev.eclipse.org/mailman/listinfo/aperi-dev