Have ready-to-hand slides and data about potential users
Not via twitter
Who have we approached already? and what has been the response?
UK firm that already manages Koha LMS (software.coop), and another that does Ruby development. They wanted to understand what services were needed & the market/demand
(not about Hydra but a different OSS project) US a firm that does Kuali and one that offers Sakai support, one gave a fair amount of detail about their decision-making process around deciding who to support
What are potential services a vendor could offer?
Hosting
Consulting and providing services around getting installations up and running
Custom contracted development
Marketing and promotion*
Maintenance agreements
Training (aside: is this possible if the vendors haven't ever written code)
Technical writing and documentation (does this serve the project or individual users? Hydra doesn't have money, but what if it did?)*
Provide demo and sandbox environments for potential users
UI/UX work
DevOps planning and setup/consulting
Architectural and modeling expertise/consulting
How to attract potential firms?
A pitch. What should it contain?
Information sheet on Hydra, what it is
Technology/architecture profile so they know what the components are
Engagement stories: give them some specific information about what a typical institution would want to contract, typical length of engagement
Tell a compelling story about the market, what's the economic argument?
The scope of the market, including the growth curve: number of partners, number of commits
Growth projection
Demographic/geographic profile: who has adopted, where are they?
Community culture
Definition of the product they are being asked to support (what are the boundaries?)
Interview a vendor to find out what questions they'd ask, how they evaluate whether to take on a new technology
Identify list of possible candidates to approach
Project/partnership questions
Hydra doesn't have money, but if it did, what services would be worth investing in?
Those marked with an asterisk above may be options for Hydra commissioning directly with a vendor, as opposed to inviting vendors to support partners and users of Hydra
What should be the role of vendors in the core business of/governance of the partnership?
What's desirable in terms of number and distribution? Do we need more than 2? Should we try to recruit with an eye towards geographic distribution?
How to learn from the troubles of other OS projects re: vendors developing proprietary customizations, attempting to trademark the product? We are Apache-licensed, so we are limited in how we can deal with this in the software license. To a certain degree, it will be possible to address in contracts with partner institutions (to make sure that any new features are contributed back).
Should we develop a registered or preferred vendor program? See DuraSpace vendor program – note Hydra is not an incubated project at present so not specifically eligible for this
What is or could be the link with DuraSpace's incubator program?
Is there a link between work needed to pitch to vendors and work to 'pitch' to managers?