Neil Patel has a great set of 10 tips to make that killer presentation. My best:

” Make them laugh – Although you want to educate your audience, you need to make them laugh as well. I learned this from Guy Kawasaki
and if you ever hear any of his speeches you’ll understand why. In
essence, it keeps the audience alert and they’ll learn more from you
than someone who just educates.”

Anshu (who I also met at BarCampBlock talks about SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions.

“So here is my point – either go with a “purist” SaaS definition and
accept SaaS as a relatively small niche market today with limited
adoption or expand your definition to include different SaaS models.
Don’t mix and match.”

I have talked with several vendors (Leverage, Ning) who offer SaaS and others who are pure software plus ASP (Jive Software) and customers doing it either way (Webex, VMWare, Symantec).

Here are the top considerations why for a pure play SaaS:

1. Multi hosting and multi tenancy: Architecturally this “should” lower your total cost of management. For example if you as a vendor are hosting more than one customer at a server, the total cost of ownership should be lower.
2. SaaS (technically) will allow you to scale linearly (so will costs). Primarily because you can keep adding into a cloud of computing power, as opposed to scale by the box that ASP services offer.
3. The only negative I have heard is the perception of lack of privacy/ security. If you are in the same namespace as other customers in the same box, there might be a chance data integrity might be compromised.

Here are the top reasons someone chooses ASP:

1. They like a particular software offering the best, and believe the option offered by the vendor is functionally superior to other SaaS providers. Given all things same, most customers seem to prefer SaaS solutions though over ASP.
2. The ASP solution has most likely been around for longer providing a more “stable” platform. E.g. in the community space the software / ASP vendors have been around for 3+ years where as pure play SaaS have been around for less than that.
3. The functionality of a pure play software solution is percieved to be more comprehensive since most of the engineering effort goes towards developing functionality versus architecting the offering for multi tenancy.

Here is why I have heard customers software and host internally:

1. They have very high internal security and privacy policies. They believe since customer data and information will be hosted on the community, it is important they be reponsible completely for it
2. That’s the only way they do business. Due to financial and amortization reasons, they purchase the software outright and then “own” it. After 4+ years (typical amortization schedule),Inte the software ROI goes directly to the bottom line. This is a little old way of thinking in my view, but its the widely held view.
3. Integration with their CRM and other systems. This is by far the biggest reason I have heard. SaaS and ASP vendors offer little in means of integration to existing systems for customer identity, internal rewards systems and CRM solutions.

For most customers, this is not an either / or option. There are clear reasons why you would choose one versus the other.

What do you think?

I had a discussion with Ian Kennedy, product manager of MyBlogLog on Thursday. For those that dont know, MyBlogLog is a pretty nifty site that connects you (As a blogger) to your visitors. Users register at MyBlogLog and when they visit blogs (or websites), thanks to cookies, tracking and other technology they can be tracked so people know who visited your site. Its be great for me to meet my readers and personally I have made quite a few friends because of it.

Ian and I met at BarCampBlock a couple of weeks ago during a discussion around Mobile Social Networks. Ian’s been with Yahoo! with over 2 years so I was keen to understand the community building that MyBlogLog went through. They have a strong and vibrant community. We will continue the conversation in a seperate post on the interview.

If you use MyBlogLog, what key questions do you have that I can help get answered?

Back from a good long break from blogging. It was relaxing. Just trying to figure out where this was going. Will post more regularly. For all the RSS feed readers. Thanks.

Here’s a brief writeup about NVidia:

NVidia Developer Community

http://blogs.nvidia.com/developers

Top 3 good things:

• NVidia is planning to have a public developer forum where the developer community makes it possible to make PC games that give the users a differentiated and improved experience over the console. Current forums are private and a public forum would make it possible for the community to help itself and others by making it open to anyone
  
• NVidia‘s community site provides links to documentation and performance information for its products and technologies. This is important for developers who can get a feel for the company’s products before using them
  
• NVidia‘s community site has a link to its job postings where job openings are featured and instructions are provided for members to check out its employment site talent.nvidia.com. This site makes it possible for job seekers to search for jobs, view job listings, create an account and apply online
  

Top 3 things to improve:

• NVidia‘s community site has only 1 job posting. More job postings from its employment site can be listed on its community page so that it becomes easy to access for developer member job seekers
  
• NVidia‘s online store link could have been provided on the developer community main page as this can provide developers an easy way to browse through and purchase NVidia products
  
• The link to NVidia‘s forums at http://developer.nvidia.com/forums does not work. Forums are a great way to communicate and share information. It would be great if NVidia fixed this bug and made forums available
  

Here’s a writeup on SAP Community Network

SAP Developer Network
https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn
Business Process Expert Community
https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/bpx

Top 3 good things:

• SAP Developer Network (SDN) and Business Process Expert (BPX) communities have a unique Points program that offers many benefits:
  a)The top 50 contributors receive special recognition on the homepage
  b) Each forum page lists the top 3 forum contributors with their point totals, giving members a chance to establish themselves as experts
  c) Top contributing companies are recognized on the contributors’ corner, giving them added credibility with their customers & prospects
  d) The most active members receive generous, non-financial rewards: praise, recognition, fame, even the occasional T-shirt
  e) Being a top contributor on SDN or BPX helps members build their reputations. Experts are sometimes tapped for special assignments or professional opportunities


• SDN offers a Premium Access Zone, where you can access premium content: including best practices, tips and techniques directly from the experts. This is a great way for developers to get information & learn from SAP experts


• SDN has a concept called online meetups which is like a webinar, only a lot more interactive. This should encourage developers to meetup with their peers to get  exposure to the latest products and technologies
  

Top 3 things to improve:

• The content in the Premium Access Zone is not available for free. Making this content available for free would encourage more developers to hear from SAP experts and use/accept SAP products in the marketplace


• Community sites are available in only 3 languages: Chinese, Japanese and Korean. More languages can be covered to encourage developers from around the world to contribute to the communities


• A SAP Business expert has the business knowledge and IT savvy to make business process innovation happen in real-time by adapting, composing and executing end-to-end business processes using composition tools and enterprise services. SAP can tap this talent and use this community’s services to train developers (for a fee if required)
  
  

Intel developer community

Statistics:
Site: http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/isn/home/
Users: 16174
Threads: 26236
Posts: 62127
Per 24 hours: 14 new threads, 51 new posts, 18 new users

Top 3 good things:

• Whitepapers & case studies are located on Intel‘s OpenSource software page www.intel.com/opensource
  These articles cover topics from high level overviews to technical explanations to code samples and make it possible to learn more about the merits and techniques of developing OpenSource software on Intel platforms


• Cash and prizes are given to Game developers. Prize money of over $95000 is up for grabs in Intel‘s Game demo contest. This encourages developers to build games that showcase Intel‘s platforms


• Intel’s community site has a pointer to its online store at http://www.intel.com/buy where you can find a comprehensive list of Intel products. This makes it easy for developers to purchase and use Intel products

Top 3 things to improve:

• Intel lists whitepapers and case studies for its OpenSource products. It would be great if similar publications for more of its products were posted on its community area. This would make it possible for developers to look at other products & find ways to achieve similar success with their products


• Blogs and discussion forums are provided only in the US site. I could not find discussion forums or blogs at other locations (example Australia, Europe)


• A suggestion box or some other mode of feedback could have been provided in the community pages. Moreover, if this feedback is rated by the community’s users, it would provide everyone with an idea of the suggestion’s usefulness and the member’s standing in the community
  

Adobe developer community

Site: http://www.adobe.com/devnet

Top 3 good things:
- The Adobe Community Experts program is a community 
based program made up of Adobe customers who share
their product expertise with the world-wide Adobe
community. Adobe community experts agree to be active
contributors to the Adobe world-wide community by:
a) Engaging in peer-to-peer support in the Adobe forums
b) Posting information and technical support in their 
favorite online community
c) Writing articles for professional publications
d) Presenting Adobe product presentations at conferences 
and user groups
This is a great program to have and provides high
caliber peer-to-peer communication educating and
improving the product skills of Adobe customers
world-wide

- Adobe's Developer Center has samples and tutorials
that contain code and downloadable projects. This is a
great resource for a developer and can be used to
learn how to build complex projects and applications.
For example, in the Adobe Tour Tracker application,
the Adobe Experience Design (XD) team gives race fans
a way to sit back & experience every sprint and turn
throughout the event without having to leave their
chairs. Sports enthusiasts can watch their favorite
events from the comfort of their living rooms

- Adobe's community site has a link to an online store
which makes it easy to shop online for a variety of
products. Moreover, the stores are classified based on
location. So if you're in Italy, you can shop through
an online store tailormade for the Italian market

Top 3 things to improve:
- Adobe's bloggers can be rated based on the quality
of their discussions. This would be a great way to
know the reputation of a blogger before delving into
his/her blogs

- Adobe labs provides the developer community with
access to pre-release versions of products and
technology in development. It would be great if
developers are invited to test these products. For
example, developers can act as beta testers and
provide valuable feedback that Adobe can use to fix
bugs and improve the quality of these products

- Adobe's community for educators lists case studies.
It would be great if such case studies are provided
for all of Adobe's communities thus providing valuable
reference points for new developers, customers and
partners

Cisco developer community

Sites:
http://forum.cisco.com
http://www.cisco.com/go/netpro

Top 3 good things:

• Cisco‘s site has a section called “Ask the experts” where Cisco experts engage in discussions with members on specific networking issues. The experts also answer questions related to small & medium sized businesses. These discussions are broadcast/podcast to users and are helpful in resolving any questions they may have


• Cisco‘s site has a section called “member product reviews” where member’s perspectives on Cisco products are found. These reviews are rated on a 5 point scale. This is a great way to encourage members to use and review Cisco‘s products. The rating system helps members find quality information faster & acknowledges those members who contribute significantly to the community


• Cisco Systems Capital Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems where Cisco‘s expert financial consultants help meet a customer/partner’s financial needs. The company provides innovative, flexible financial programs to Cisco‘s customers & channel partners worldwide. Providing such capital financial guidance is a great way to encourage more customers to buy Cisco‘s products
  

Top 3 things to improve:

• No blogs on Cisco‘s community site. Blogging is a powerful medium for companies to talk to developers and/or customers and is a great way of sharing info. It would be good for Cisco to showcase this


• Cisco‘s site provides a list of members with the highest point totals across all discussion forums. It would be great if there was a way to obtain the point score of any Cisco member. This could be useful when one member engages in conversation with another member


• No job postings on Cisco‘s community. Employers can benefit by posting job openings for suitable well-qualified people and member job seekers can benefit by posting resumes, searching job postings and applying online for positions they’re interested in
  

HP developer community

Community Statistics
Membership chairman: Rocky Pisto
Site: http://www.vivit-worldwide.org/portal.cfm
Forums: http://devresource.hp.com
Blogs: http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/blogs

Background: Vivit is an independent, HP Software sanctioned users group & facilitates the free exchange of information among members, HP & software solution partners. The organization provides ongoing education, programs & services for HP software customers/partners worldwide

Top 3 good things:

• HP has local chapters in regions & countries across the world. A local chapter is a group of members that come together to leverage their experience & expertise by forming a local group. This local group is either a geographically-based regional chapter or a special interest group (SIG), a virtual community organized around a specific technology/application. There are many benefits of participating in local chapters:
  a) Presentations and information exchange about new products & services
  b) Access to HP software product engineers/developers
  c) Expanded contacts
  d) Increased visibility to HP
  e) Direct communication with other members of the local chapter
  
• HP‘s site has a link to its career center. This site offers various benefits to the employer & job seeker.
  a) Benefits to the employer: Through career central, industry employers can streamline their hiring process by posting openings & searching for candidates from a targetted pool of enterprise management professionals. To advertise career opportunities and gain access to resume searching features, employers can purchase 30, 60 & 90 day job postings and take advantage of package pricing & other incentives
  b) Benefits to the job seeker: Career central is free to all member job seekers looking to find a job using their HP software skills. The site allows job seekers to post their resumes, setup job search agents, search job postings & apply online for positions of interest
  
• HP‘s members can earn points through its member point system. Member status is established using a points-based feedback mechanism. Authors of original questions “grade” (on a scale from 1-10) other members who reply to their questions. The higher the grade the more effective the response was in solving the question. Each response to a question is eligible to receive feedback for its success in solving the user’s problems. The more questions a member answers, the more points he is eligible to earn & the higher status he holds amongst his peers in the community. This system is HP‘s way of turning the reward mechanism over to the community
  

Top 3 things to improve:

• HP-TV provides online videos and downloadable videocasts/podcasts covering research & development, company history, customer success stories and product & services. To encourage these, HP could offer prizes to developers coming up with interesting and relevant videos. A forum could also be provided to members who would like to provide feedback & criticism
  
• HP‘s developer experts can be useful in hiring new employees through its career central site. These new recruits can be taken through a training program where the experts can train them. This way, employees can find able mentors from within HP and the company can find great new employees
  
• Today, HP‘s blogs, forums and community areas are scattered around various locations on HP’s corporate websites. Developers can be more productive if these are located in one place