[CSL board] thoughts strategic: selling services

[Paul Hansen]

On Oct 13, 2006, at 12:18 AM, Dan MacNeil wrote:

> For some time Paul has wisely been suggesting that we do more pay for
> service work generally and particularly around CMS like Drupel or  
> Plone.

Yes I think that getting paid to do things is good. My point has been  
that it makes sense to take on projects that compliment the core  
services that the Lab offers-- namely hosting services.

>
> Since the optional invoices have worked out well and I've noticed NPOs
> are able to pay plumbers and lawyers without collapsing, I've  
> relaxed my
> need for mortification of the flesh and generally think that getting
> paid for some services is a good idea.
>
> I still don't think that CMSes are the way to go at least to make  
> money.
> Of the 39 organizations we serve, 3 have expressed interest in a  
> CMS and
> with some small help from us, installed one. None of those three  
> showed
> any willingness to pay for help. From my small experience, I don't see
> the overhead of CMS as being enough easier to use than static pages to
> justify the effort.  There are people already offering 1-click install
> of various packages as part of $10 per month hosting services.

The overhead is minimal and the benefits go beyond offering a new and  
easier way to update web pages. The point is that something like  
Drupal can be expanded rather easily so that as organizations decide  
that they'd like to do new things with their web presence, this can  
be more easily achieved. And, the CSL can educate and encourage  
people to use additional services that will benefit them... and that  
the CSL may charge for. And, once CSL folks get good at modifying and  
expanding an existing CMS, it will make doing lots of web development  
projects easier...

>
> In another about-face, I do think LAN support is something that we can
> make money with and gain a lot of benefits from.
>
> Originally, I'd thought the CSL would exist to fill that niche between
> $10 month web packages and running your own server and that by  
> visiting
> people we would be encouraging people to run their own servers. Now I
> realize that unless we spend time talking to people, they won't  
> know our
> services exist and we won't know what they need.

So why not just give up the hosting altogether and focus on hand- 
holding (service) and development? What percentage of the current CSL  
workload would vanish if the hosting services were subcontracted?  
What other more valuable (something you can't get for $10/mo)  
services could be provided to CSL customers if this was done?


>
> Almost by accident, we discovered cbacre.org about to hire a  
> consultant
> to install exchange server so they could read email messages from
> multiple places. They were quite happy to switch to using IMAP instead
> of POP3 instead.
>
> One persistent problem with CSL morale, particularly VISTA morale  
> is the
> relative isolation of our work. We are a small number of people who
> spend most of our time in a basement staring at a computer screen  
> and work on hard problems. It is also hard for people to understand  
> that we do work for people who's work is important.
>

I hear that! computers suck.


> Doing LAN support gets us out of the office making new friends  and  
> working on doable problems.
>
> From the point of view of making money, LAN services like connecting
> people's printer are by their nature hard to make a commodity. People
> are used to either suffering or paying through the nose for this  
> kind of
> support.
>
> A possible downside is that LAN support is not particularly  
> original. That's ok, We're not academics, we aim for impact not  
> originality.

We don't need to be original but we want to make the best use of the  
people and resources that we have. Aside from the fact that VISTA  
requires that members provide capacity building service, I think it  
would be best to that the CSL be committed to focusing capacity  
building services. (OK, pluggin in printers does ad capacity to those  
who cannot print but you know what I mean.) Even so a certain minimal  
number of 'come when we call' service contracts wouldn't be too  
terrible if it means reliable cash flow.

>
> I've been thinking along these lines for a while, but there is a  
> 20,000 grant [1] out (due Oct 25) for engaging baby boomer (50 to  
> 68 year olds) as volunteers.
>
> 	[1] http://www.mass-service.org/funding_opportunities.shtml#boomers
>
> Basically, I figure to:
>
> 	1) Apply for the grant
>
> 	1a) Get the grant.
>
> 	2) Find 8 organizations that want 90 minutes of
> 	   LAN support per week.
>
> 	3) find 2-3 boomer volunteers. (elder services,
> 	   uml alums, newspaper ads)
>
> 	4) circuit ride for 7 months w/ the boomers
>
> The 20K will pay us. The baby boomers and NPOs will experience  
> something like weekly speed dating and possibly make a connection  
> after 6 months.
> People that want more than 90 minutes of support or support for  
> more than 6 months will have the chance to pay us close to market  
> rates.
>
> Potentially, 6 months of revenue and making support contract sales  
> for some of the 8 organizations will allow us to provide 6 months  
> of demo support for 8 more organizations.

This idea I like very much. Keep the VISTAs cookin the code and send  
out the old folks (no offense meant) to hold the hands.
-PH