[Asterisk-biz] Asterisk for small businesses.

[Jim Van Meggelen]

asterisk-biz-bounces at lists.digium.com wrote:
> Jim Van Meggelen wrote:
>
>> products of Cisco, Nortel, Avaya (all at the platinum level). I have
>> NEVER seen anything like the quality of support that comes from an
>> open source community, including Asterisk's. You are not on your
>> own, but you are also expected to either have, or know how to
>> obtain, the skills required.
>>
> "...or know how to obtain, the skills required." How do we do that?

At the beginning (well, ideally always), only hire people who are
personally passionate about this stuff. If they have a boatload of
certifications, that only means they're good at passing tests (it might
mean more, but all you can be sure of is that). They've got to be
über-geeks: people who go home from work and spend their evenings
hacking.

You need problem-solvers, not people who have to phone for support at
the first sign of trouble. I would argue that the skills are not as
important as the attitude. Skills can be learnt - attitude requires
therapy.

You need a champion. Someone who is not just an über-geek, but is also a
good communicator. They will be the ones that inspire others to learn
and advance.  

You need team players - people who love to work with other people. I've
seen shops that orbited around some genius -- but otherwise miserable --
alpha geek. They were like a rusty watch. Then I've seen shops where
nobody was particularly brilliant, but they loved working together, and
stood by each other. Awe-inspiring.

There's a whole wealth of talent out there. I've shown Asterisk to guys
that have been working on SL1 PBXs since forever. They've never seen
Linux and just barely know how to use a PC. All this time they figured
they were computer illiterate. Then they see the Asterisk dialplan. They
can't believe how easy it is. And Linux? It's actually friendly?!?
Somebody needs to tell them that they've actually been working on
extremely complicated (and very poorly documented) computers for the
past 20 years. Makes them feel very smart, that does - and so it should.
But the talent needs to be fuelled by a burning desire. Right now, this
is art, and it's tough to make a business out of art.

All that said, I imagine that what I believe today will make me laugh
ten years from now. There's a lot to learn!

> There is quite a mix of people on this list. I do see 2 definite
> categories so far:
>
> 1) Those who understand what asterisk is and how it is best
> used. They
> are the ones who will go on to create a new breed of products and
> services. It is likely that some of them will join together
> in doing so.

More important is the commitment to evolve with it, even though the task
is daunting. These are the folks who will reap the rewards.

> 2) Those who will beome resellers/dealers for that new breed
> of products
> and services.

This group is going to find the next few years frustrating. Much of what
you want is still being conceived of. The argument that this proves that
Asterisk is not "ready", however, is false. What if this Asterisk
"product" never arrives? For example, I can't think of a company that
sells a pre-packaged website, complete with resellers. Websites are
custom-designed, for the most part.

> I would respectfully suggest that those who are not content
> to be part
> of category 2 need to consider sharing the wealth in order to build a
> category 1 team. This is more like NASCAR than the Boston
> marathon. 

More like F1 than NASCAR. Both the good and the bad ;-)

> It will require teamwork.

As does any successful venture. But it's also business, which is
competitive. What I think you are saying (and I agree with) is that if
we don't hang together, we will surely hang separately. Still, that
doesn't mean we need to prop each other up. There is a rite of passage
that is expected in this community, and part of that process includes
determining who has the drive - no matter the obstacles - and who will
run at the first sign of trouble.

> You can't just throw a PC together, install free software and
> then use
> $10/hour technicians(fuse changers) for all your customer support.

This is generally true, however this is art. Like professional racing,
the entertainment industry and the like, it will be necessary to find
talent that not only have the skills, but also the passion. Perhaps this
cannot be done. In that case Asterisk will end up being just another
telephony product, trying to find a niche. But from what I've seen,
there's plenty of talent, and plenty of enthusiasm. I can pay ten guys
$10/hr, and not get anywhere near the volume of production that one guy
paid $50 can give me - if he's got the right stuff. Do I know what this
right stuff is? Well, I can only say that I'd better, or my business is
in deep trouble. That holds true for all of us, I suppose.

Successful businesses are built by people, not products. Great products
fail because of people, and horrible products succeeded because of
people.

Asterisk is exciting because it is neither good not bad (well, actually
it's GREAT, but I digress). What Asterisk is, mostly, is potential. All
the rest (finally!) is up to the people.

> Either you build the right organization or you buy your products from
> somebody that provides that support.

There are Asterisk-based products, and some of them seem to be really
quite good (and possibly well-supported, although I have no experience
to be able to say). For me, I see them as just another PBX in a sea of
PBXs. The act of productizing them erased the tactical advantage that
Asterisk enjoys - now they're just like any other PBX - they'll do some
things well, other things not so well. That doesn't mean they are bad
products, I just think they have a limited future. That might actually
be a great way to make money for a few years (selling VoIP-based long
distance is keeping folks busy, too). I just don't think a long-term
business plan should count on such things for too long. Three to five
years, and you'd better have something better than that.

Regards,

Jim.


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