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From: David Nalley <david@gnsa.us>
Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2013 11:13:26 -0500
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 <CAKprHVbJ9vLDJtN7UTVGuzSw+jH0soaTZwt811HFQMXhufBoSA@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: ACS - Better Marketing - YOUR HELP IS NEEDED
To: cloudstack-dev@incubator.apache.org, cloudstack-users@incubator.apache.org
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On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 5:47 PM, Musayev, Ilya <imusayev@webmd.net> wrote:
> To be completely honest, CloudStack is an awesome product, with one major=
 flow - it's a "best kept secret" not too many know about. The last thing w=
e want to see is for CS to become like BSD (awesome and stable) but barely =
used.
>
> I'm not  Citrix employee, I will speak freely - so pardon my honesty.
>
> We lose the market to a peer pressure phenomenon known as OpenStack, I'm =
not saying OS is bad by any means, but realistically, many companies go for=
 OS - because thats what everyone talks about, they don't use the approach =
of what is right for my environment, instead they go for the buzzword. Not =
many can actually get OS to work - in true open source way - and end up pay=
ing for various companies to make it work for them and maintain as well. We=
 need to get the word out there for CS - we can do better.
>
> For the most part, (my strong opinion based on where I worked in past) I =
can say that in most use cases for small, mid and large size companies, CS =
is a better fit.
>
> Bad marketing, works against everyone's interest. Anything from future jo=
b opportunity - to actually working with a product that is simply great, st=
able and feature rich.
>
> Here is how I propose we fix this:
>
> For each of the bullet points below - we assign leads that work with cont=
ributors.
>
>
> 1)      Create an ACS social media marketing team - We NEED social media =
attention
>
> a.       Gather list of ideas
>
> b.      Meet regularly on IRC to follow up on progress and discuss what c=
an be done better
>
> c.       Pick the best voted ideas
>
> d.      Assign the duties and roles
>
> e.      Conquer - one at a time
>
> f.        Create Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube Channels or use =
existing means and other social media
>
> g.       Blog with SEO in mind
>
>
>
> 2)      Show the world how you can get ACS to work in your environment on=
 youtube and other video sites
>
> a.       Create a set of step by step tutorial (video preferred)
>
>                                                                i.      Ba=
sic ACS POC setup
>
>                                                              ii.      Set=
ting up ACS  in corporate environment with strict compliance
>
>                                                             iii.      Hos=
ting environment
>
>                                                            iv.      Devel=
opment Environment - educate new developers on how to troubleshoot issues a=
nd how to address them - actual basic examples would be really good on how =
bug X was fixed
>
>
>
> b.      Take it a step further and show how you can bolt on CS with other=
 offerings - again video preferred but text will do
>
>                                                                i.      Sh=
ow how to bolt on OpenSwift for block storage, OpenShift (linux PaaS) and I=
ronFoundry (windows PaaS),  Chef and SpaceWalk and others
>
>
>
> 3)      Create support groups based on area of expertise, for example I c=
an help with VmWare and CS setups, but I'm not good with XEN or KVM at the =
moment
>
> a.       We need support groups for different hypervisors, storage and ne=
tworks that can help newcomers
>
> b.      Each issue resolved must be documented preferable on wiki  - any =
 documentation (including copy and paste from mailing list) is better than =
none
>
>
>
>
> 4)      Host local user group meetups
>
> a.       Show CS and help others
>
>
>
> 5)      Reach out to other open source (and not) players and work with th=
em to have easy integration and cross functionality
>
> a.       RedHat with OpenShift PaaS
>
> b.      IronFondry
>
> c.       Cisco, Microsoft, VMWare, etc...
>
> d.      Become part of major distributions
>
> e.      Others will join as soon as they see the momentum
>
>
>
> *         Next Steps to make this happen:
>
> o   Gather list of people willing to contribute their time with skills an=
d desired areas of involvement, even if you are a new comer or don't have e=
nough experience with CS, we can use your help!
>
> o   Set the time for regular IRC meeting
>
> o   Help lead this effort as well as participate
>
>
> Together we can make ACS better for everyone and we can beat the buzzword=
 players - because we are truly better.
>
> Your input is welcome, if you want to reach out to me off the list, pleas=
e feel free, I'm on irc.freenode.net nick "serverchief", or email me direct=
ly.
>
> Thanks
> ilya

This is indeed great initiative, and I am happy to join in and help.
Let us know when the first meeting will be and lets start tackling
some of this stuff.

--David