exploring wider collaboration mechanisms in the drupal space

Compete to Collaborate - Exploring wider collaboration mechanisms in the drupal space

Anoop JohnFounder Director & CTO, Zyxware Technologies

Compete to Collaborate

How big is the pie?Global IT Industry - Approx USD 1 trillion. 42% in the US alone.http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/2186517/global_it_services_industry_20122017_trends

Web Design Industry - USD 20 billion in the US alone. Extrapolate to approx USD 47 billion globally.http://www.ibisworld.com/industry/web-design-services.html

CMS Market Share - 38% of websites use CMSes. 5.1% of websites using CMSes use Drupalhttp://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_management/all

CMS Industry - Approximately USD 7 billionhttp://finance.yahoo.com/news/enterprise-content-management-market-worth-153000850.html


Who are we sharing the pie with?

Proprietary custom solutionsProprietary CMSesOpen source CMSes


Who are we?Exclusive Drupal companiesCompanies which work with Drupal as wellDrupal freelancersPHP freelancers who dabble with Drupal


What brings us together?We work on DrupalWe contribute to DrupalWe would like to see Drupal growWe would like to see our clients grow with DrupalWe would like to see our businesses grow with Drupal


What really defines 'us'?We love DrupalWe love to contribute to DrupalWe love to collaborate as a community to build DrupalWe would love to see the capabilities of Drupal growWe would love to see Drupal grow in its market shareWe would love to see the Drupal community grow


How big are we?Large number of freelancers or companies less than 10 people strongMost Drupal companies are less than 30 people strongVery few companies in the 30 - 100 size rangeHandful in the 100+ size rangeIn general Drupal companies can be classified as small companies


How big are the large players?IBM - 430,000+TCS - 310,000+Accenture - 310,000+Cognizant - 200,000+Infosys - 160,000+Wipro - 150,000+


Where do we really stand?Drupal is still a small piece of the larger web pieThe competition is still about getting a small piece of this small pieceCompanies could instead focus on growing the share of Drupal in the web marketDrupal companies are still mostly small companiesThere are inherent challenges in Drupal as a technology that tends to keep companies smallThere is still huge scope for penetration of Drupal into the web space and growth of the total market size

Solution to the growth challenge - Collaboration


Why collaborate? Because it is a tough world for small companiesCompetition among Drupal companies for projectsCompetition among Drupal companies for man powerPoaching of Drupal developers by large companies who do not necessarily care about Drupal or contribute back to DrupalInefficiencies of small size

It is even more difficult because

Shortage of competent developers in the marketSteep learning curve and hence high cost of training new developers in Drupal


Why collaborate? Because it makes good business senseOvercome size related challenges Use competencies of wider range of peopleLower the cost of marketing and salesTake on larger projects with better marginsLeverage on distributed presence in the market and offer better value proposition to clientsLeverage on lower cost models and generate better margins and also better pricing for clients


Why collaborate? Because it is good for DrupalMore successful Drupal companies will drive growth of the Drupal support ecosystem More successful Drupal companies would drive the growth in the number of trained Drupal developers in the marketBetter margins and profits for companies who love Drupal would drive better contributions to DrupalMore successful Drupal companies will mean more clients and growth of the Drupal market


Who should collaborate?Companies which love DrupalCompanies which contribute financially, through code and activitiesCompanies which would like to see Drupal and its community grow


How can we collaborate?Partnerships & Joint VenturesConsortiumsSharing of resourcesSharing of information, leads, collateralsJoint effort towards contributionsJoint effort towards productization


Partnerships and Joint VenturesSeparate entities created in partnership between companies to take on large projectsSharing of lead informationJoint pursuit of leadsPooling together of resourcesJoint execution of projectsSharing of revenue based on defined costing structures / revenue sharing structures


ConsortiumsNeed based association of multiple companiesCreated for specific opportunitiesJoint pursuit of large / complex projects Shared effort towards sales closureShared resource poolJoint executionRevenue sharing


Sharing of resourcesCollaborate to make resources available for sharing between organizationsSupply / demand based relationshipRelationship around specific projects or set of projectsAllows scaling of operations without taking on fixed costsFlexibility to scale up or down based on project pipelineAbility to utilize resources with wider range of capabilitiesMatch the right kind of capability for a given requirement and take on only such costs


Sharing of information, leads, collateralWork together on the marketing frontIndependent closure of generated leadsIndependent execution of converted leadsAccess to larger pool of leadsAccess to more efficient marketing mechanismsAbility to take or pass on leads based on organizational capabilitiesShared creation of generic marketing collateral around capabilities of Drupal, fit of Drupal, case studies etc.Feedback about effectives of larger number of choices implemented as part of marketing strategy


Joint effort towards contributionsWork together for building supporting modules, themes, distributionsConsolidation of requirements from larger group of clientsSharing responsibilities to maintain modules and themesJoint mentoring of developers towards contributions


Joint effort towards productizing requirementsConsolidation of requirements from larger pool of clientsLarger client base for trying out piloting / prototypingSharing costs involved in productizing requirementsTap into wider range of capability sets Opportunity to reach out to a larger pool of investors


All looks simple but why don't we see much collaborationChallenges in identifying whom to collaborate withThe risk of putting ones brand and reputation at stakeUnknowns in terms of working modelsLoss of absolute control over executionBad experiences by people who have attempted


So what is the answer?Identify companies who stand for the same values and vision and who have proved intent with actionsDe-risk reputation / brand by engaging on less risky projects / models to start relationshipsLearn as you go in terms of models, learn from others who are trying out similar modelsDistributed delivery model is here to stayAs long as fundamental are alright, problems should be addressed through processes and systems to facilitate better collaboration


Final notesCompetition should really be with the rest of the web solutions market in trying to grow the Drupal marketCollaboration is good for the companies as well as the Drupal communityCollaboration will ultimately help companies to grow even though operationalizing will take effortCollaboration is good for everybody and companies should learn to leverage on collaboration by investing into building successful models and relationships The ultimate outcome would be to build the Drupal market both in terms of clients and vendors and the Drupal community at large


About Zyxware TechnologiesWe are a 9 year old exclusive Drupal service providerOne of the few Featured Service Providers listed on Drupal.orgContributes to Drupal extensively. 30+ modules and themes used by more than 40000 sites.Over 130 Drupal projects delivered across US, UK, Europe and Australia


Contact UsCheck us out at http://www.zyxware.com.auMail us at [email protected] us at http://www.facebook.com/zyxwareFollow us at http://www.twitter.com/zyxwareConnect with us at http://www.linkedin.com/companies/zyxware-technologiesTalk to us at +61-426-275-573


THANK YOU Anoop John, Founder Director & CTO

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