>> Take CF Standard, trim it down some more (no CFX, only >> Access and MySQL, maybe even single-threaded) and give it away.
FWIW, we did that back in the CF4 era, it was called ColdFusion Express, and it did not really make a whole lot of difference in the grand scheme of things. The free developer's edition was a far more successful offering, and one that I wish we'd have had ever since day one. --- Ben -----Original Message----- From: Barney Boisvert [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 11:51 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: Re: CF developer numbers > What do you think would make a difference? Or put even more bluntly, > if you were my boss and could dictate how I spent my time, what would > you want me doing to spread the gospel according to Saint CF? What ever's going to keep MM going strong and CF becoming a better product is what you ought to be doing. I'm convinced that's the large company market based on events of the past year or so, and your comments back that up 100%. However, there's still a lot of little guys around in the world, most of which aren't going to be affecting CF's overall revenue in any significant way (what's $1300 every few years next to $50,000 for 10 clustered CF enterprises), but it still represents a significant portion of the developer base. That developer base is a very valuable asset to MM's overall marketing of CF, more voices translates to more converts translates to more sales. If the little guys start petering out for PHP, ASP, or whatever, suddenly there's a lot less noise being made about CF, except withing the tight circles of corporate IT departments. This hasn't hurt Java or .NET in any way, of course, but it's going to piss off a LOT of CF developers who've invested heavily but have been swept by the wayside by MM, because they don't contribute to the bottom line enough to matter. Java and .NET have a certain barrier to entry. You just can't go that route without some real resources. PHP takes nothing but hardware. CF floats somewhere in the middle. So along with provding for the future development of CF and MM as a whole, a nod to the existing user base would be nice. How much do CF Standard sales account for? Would dropping that price down by 50% have a huge effect on the overall bottom line? I bet you'd get more sales if you did. (Chalk me up for at least one, but for now, it's JSPs for me). Hell, maybe even consider New Atlanta's route. Take CF Standard, trim it down some more (no CFX, only Access and MySQL, maybe even single-threaded) and give it away. With the unified codebase, you just change a serial to upgrade, and that's it. I have no idea if any of that is feasible, or even reasonable, you'll have to tell us that. But it some thoughts from a "little guy" that's seen MM ignore us more and more in favor of the "big guy". cheers, barneyb On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 22:51:30 -0400, Ben Forta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Interesting thread, on a whole bunch of levels. > > A few comments, and then an open question ... > > 1) Lots of messages imply that MM is not working on getting the word > out there. And I know for a fact that that is not true, it is what I > do almost full-time, and others work at it too. Maybe many are not > seeing it, I'll get back to that in a moment. > > 2) We are selling lots of CF. I can't disclose numbers and financials > and stuff without getting into all sorts of trouble, but I don't think > I'll get fired for saying that CF is indeed selling, and selling well. > > 3) What I have noticed is a dramatic change in who I am speaking to, > and the types of conversations. A few years ago I was talking to lots > of .com start-ups and developments shops and consultants and > departmental decision makers. I honestly don't bump into many of these > anymore. But I do spend lots of time talking to corporate decision > makers, in the past few weeks I have met with no less than a dozen > well known very high profile corporations, all using CF and lots of > it. And this is reflected in the types of sales we are making, and who > we are selling to. With the changes in CFMX, the maturation of the > market in general, the tightening of the purse strings and the > subsequent trend towards consolidation and bringing projects back in > house, we are finding ourselves selling CF differently. Even pricing, > which some of you pointed out as an obstacle to CF growth, is in > reality not much of an obstacle. We rarely finds ourselves talking to > those for whom the cost of CF Standard is a deal-breaker, those who > want to only look at the initial cost. I can state quite emphatically > that I have not heard price as an objection in a long time now, not where we are finding ourselves playing. The market has changed and space has changed. > > 4) Which brings me back to point #1. We are blowing the CF horn loud > and clear, but ads in trade rags and banners on coding sites and > blurbs in tech journals don't cut it anymore. We've ran ad campaigns, > we know what they cost and know how effective they are (or are not), > and this has necessitated a change in how we blow that horn (and where we blow it). > > And so my question to you is this ... > > What do you think would make a difference? Or put even more bluntly, > if you were my boss and could dictate how I spent my time, what would > you want me doing to spread the gospel according to Saint CF? > > --- Ben > -- Barney Boisvert [EMAIL PROTECTED] 360.319.6145 http://www.barneyb.com/blog/ I currently have 2 GMail invites for the taking ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Purchase from House of Fusion, a Macromedia Authorized Affiliate and support the CF community. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=37 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:182170 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
