diff --git a/drutopia-drupal-saas-make-client-work-more-fun/drutopia-drupal-saas-make-client-work-more-fun.md b/drutopia-drupal-saas-make-client-work-more-fun/drutopia-drupal-saas-make-client-work-more-fun.md index dea17c0..bc65341 100644 --- a/drutopia-drupal-saas-make-client-work-more-fun/drutopia-drupal-saas-make-client-work-more-fun.md +++ b/drutopia-drupal-saas-make-client-work-more-fun/drutopia-drupal-saas-make-client-work-more-fun.md @@ -1,5 +1,10 @@ # Drutopia: Building a Drupal SaaS Platform to Make Doing Client Work More Fun +## Speakers + +* mlncn +* cedewey + Skill level: All/Intermediate Presentation topics: business / big idea @@ -10,6 +15,37 @@ You will learn: Scale can abstract away some inefficiencies (if a thing is only done once to serve a million sites, does it matter that it's not the most efficient way to do it?) and enable a concentration of resources to reduce other inefficiencies (if a thing is inefficient on a million sites, there's a lot more justification for expending a lot of time and effort to improve it than if it's just affecting +## What + +The landscape is changing for web services. More and more organizations are moving to SaaS solutions such as NationBuilder, SquareSpace and Wix. Others are turning to Wordpress. Those with larger budgets and more specialized needs still turn to Drupal to build their customized tools. However, the gap between those who can afford and not afford a Drupal site widens. + +At Agaric we can do any of the following: + +1. Focus our efforts on being more competitive in the larger budget space for custom Drupal builds +2. Support an initiative like Drutopia, which provides a similar SaaS experience, but through Drupal +3. Expand our skillset to other free software solutions. + +I believe we could do any or all three. However, I believe pursuing the second best matches our expertise, market and values. + +Currently our clients are nonprofits (MASS Design, Portside), health institutions (NICHQ), and education (TWiG, Patient HM). + +## Why + +So far we have relied on larger budget clients in these spaces to generate revenue. This is less than ideal for a few reasons: depending too much on any single client is risky, being a smaller team scattered across different codebases brings down our efficiency, a geographically dispersed team working on separate projects breeds isolation and providing custom solutions to those with smaller budgets is challenging. + +If, however, we shift our business model to supporting a single (or series of related) platforms, we deepen our expertise with a single codebase, bring higher value to smaller budget clients and foster connections between one another since we are working on the same project. Finally, it means we can better generalize and share the solutions we build with the broader free software world. + +## How + +Our ideal situation would be to have several clients with mid-sized budgets, all on Drutopia, funding enhancements to the platform. + +These are organizations that need a more customized solution, but benefit from being part of a more generalized platform like Drutopia. When possible funded development is contributed back to the platform, but there will be times that customizations happen only on their site. + +The challenge in making that transition is that we do not have any of those ideal clients right now. So, as a transitional step, I propose we support a crowdfunding initiative that will build up a reserve of funds for us to use to fund our time improving Drutopia while also serving as a marketing campaign for us to find those ideal mid-sized clients. + + + + *** This is a companion to the following talks: diff --git a/libre-saas/abstract.md b/libre-saas/abstract.md index 7e94fee..7d9c21d 100644 --- a/libre-saas/abstract.md +++ b/libre-saas/abstract.md @@ -1,12 +1,16 @@ # How Drupal as a Service Can Save Our Livelihoods and our Lives -Drupal is better than ever, but as i and others have been warning for years, whether it is more successful is questionable. Drupal is threatened from two sides. On the one, we risk discouraging new users and contributors, who face too much of Drupal's complexity early on. On the other, proprietary platforms increasingly squeeze out custom web development through sheer economies of scale. Retreating into Drupal's new fortress, the enterprise, aside from leaving many of us behind, doesn't change these dynamics, which will continue until there's nowhere left to hide. +Drupal is better than ever, but whether it is more successful is questionable. A pincer threatens Drupal. One side, Drupal's own power and complexity, discourages new users and contributors. The other, proprietary platforms, increasingly squeeze out custom web development through sheer economies of scale. Retreating into Drupal's new fortress, the enterprise, leaves many of us on the outside— and it doesn't escape the pincer, which will continue until there's nowhere left to hide. -Adding a new economic model, that of software as a service, can make Drupal the best choice for small organizations that can drive innovation and contributions. Instead of waiting for proprietary SaaS companies to slowly add features and come eat our lunch, we can swoop in and eat theirs. At the same time, a well-designed Drupal SaaS provides many more people with the traditional entryway to web development and to Drupal (namely, hacking around with HTML and clicking together functionality). +Adding a new economic model, that of software as a service, can make Drupal the best choice for quick starts and for nimble organizations. This, in turn, can drive contributions and innovation. Instead of waiting for proprietary SaaS companies to slowly add features and come eat our lunch, we can swoop in and eat theirs. At the same time, a well-designed Drupal SaaS provides many more people with the traditional entryway to web development and to Drupal (namely, hacking around with HTML and clicking together functionality). -So long as we continue to adhere to the principles of Free Software, it's only going to make the Drupal software and community better. And if we organize SaaS-providing businesses as platform cooperatives, we'll be putting the people of the world in control of software that affects our lives, which, in an age of flying killer robots, may be almost as important as the health and happiness of the Drupal community. +Adhering to the principles of Free/Libre Software when our platforms will make the Drupal software and community better. Organizing SaaS-providing businesses as platform cooperatives will put people in control of software that affects our lives, which, in an age of flying killer robots, may be almost as important as the health and happiness of the Drupal community. -Come hear and talk about how Drupal LibreSaaS, like Open Social and the coming Drutopia, can save us all! +Come hear and talk about how Drupal LibreSaaS – like Open Social, Roomify, [RoundEarth](https://www.roundearth.io/), [Drutopia, and the platform you start – can save us all! + + + +*** Learning Objectives & Outcomes: @@ -14,10 +18,14 @@ Learning Objectives & Outcomes: * What Libre SaaS efforts exist in Drupal? * Identify some areas where making the leap from services to product may make sense for you, your sector, -*** +## Twitter Teaser / Pull Quote + +Instead of waiting for proprietary SaaS companies to slowly add features and come eat our lunch, we can swoop in and eat theirs. ## Metadata +Presentation topics: big ideas / business / Drupal community + Track: Drupal Means Business Experience Level: Intermediate @@ -29,3 +37,4 @@ Session Length: 60 minutes ### Submissions: * http://2017.tcdrupal.org/session/saas-how-drupal-service-can-save-us-all (accepted; presented moderately well; recorded) +* https://2018.badcamp.net/session/how-drupal-service-can-save-our-livelihoods-and-our-lives