[Asterisk-biz] Asterisk for small businesses.

[Michael Giagnocavo]

OK, I see we agree completely :)

-Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com
[mailto:asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Jim Van Meggelen
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 9:35 PM
To: 'Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion'
Subject: RE: [Asterisk-biz] Asterisk for small businesses.

asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Van Meggelen
>> asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com wrote:
>>> Jim,
>>> 
>>> Is "tool kit" a product? Is "raw material" a product? I think so,
>>> and they all need to look for a place in market to fit, this is
>>> called market positioning, this is a process of productization, and
>>> that is my point.
>> 
>> I understand your point, I just don't think Asterisk itself is a
>> product. You can use it to build products, but in and of itself, it
>> just doesn't fit that model. 
>> 
>> If it is a product, it is in the same way that any other software
>> toolkit is. Microsoft Visual Studio is a product, because you have to
>> pay for it. Perl, C++ and such are also used by developers, but they
>> are not sold. Can't see how they are products.
> 
> So if someone starts charging for Asterisk, then it magically
> turns into a product? 

Not much magic to it. If you download and compile the source code, I,
myself, personally, my opionion only, wouldn't see that as a product.
Depending on your point of view, and the dictionary you use, it is also
arguable that it *is* a product. 

I'm finding that Asterisk solutions share a lot with website
development. It's my opinion only, but I say the "product" is the
website, not the HTML editor the designer used to code it, nor the CGI
language used to present it. The website is what was produced.

> Perl, C++ aren't products? GCC is a
> product. The C++ specification is a product. Emacs is a product.
>
> MS sends me MSDN Universal for free. Does that mean it's not
> a product?

Myself, I would think of those as tools, since they are not sold to the
customer, but rather used to create solutions. I'm not telling you
you're wrong, merely that in a business context I don't see the term
"product" applying to those things.

> Money doesn't have anything to do with the definition of products.

I agree. I'd say it all depends on the context in which the term is
used. I think at this point it's more a matter of semantics.

Let me run this one by you:

If a business sells, say tires, I should say they consider tires to be
their product. If they hand out a brochure at a car show, I doubt they
would consider the brochure to be a product. If you were to start a
debate with them on the topic, I suspect thay would be adamant that that
brochure was not a product.

Now *is* that brochure a product? Well, how about we ask the company
that printed it? They'll tell you quite proudly that "of course it's a
product". "What about the ink or the paper?" "Naw, those are just raw
materials".

OK, so you ask the paper supplier - they'll tell you "Sure, paper is a
product - it's our business!".

Is a tree a product? It's usually not considered that until you cut it
down and make something with it.

OK, so back to Asterisk. The impression I've been getting is that people
who look at Asterisk as a product tend to find it very limited,
complicated and expensive. People who look at it as a toolkit are in
heaven. I don't know if this is an absolute fact, but those are the
conclusions I have drawn from the evidence I've seen.

> Now, if you mean to say Asterisk isn't a boxed retail SKU
> type of product that a business manager might grab while at
> Walmart to install at his office on Monday, I think everyone would
> agree with you. 

In the context of this thread, that's exactly what I felt was being
meant by the use of the term product. The term "productization" was
specifially used, which, while not yet a dictionary term (at least not
on m-w) is generally considered to mean the process of taking a
technology, invention, idea or whatever, and turning it into an item
that can be sold.

As for the Wal-Mart thing, somebody will build such a thing with
Asterisk in short order, I've no doubt. 


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