Deployment

Deployments for software-as-a-service have many challenges, like every other field. I will be sharing some of my experiences on deployments in Prolifiq. So for my first post, I wanted to discuss a couple topics: impact of business priorities on deployment, last minute additions to deployment items, selection of items for deployment, treating every deployment item on its own merit and how it good it fits in the environment, risk analysis, rollback plan, roll out of deployed features in phases and a unique team.

Deploying a replacement for an existing application with additional features
Recently we deployed a new application from a different software vendor that replaced an existing component of our service. We evaluated choices from several vendors and selected one. The one we did not select needed integration of applications from more than one provider. The response time of pre-sales team from another vendor did not suit our time frame and our team’s capability to move faster.

My recommendation to technology pre-sales and sales teams: do not take three weeks to send evaluation versions. Especially when the buyer says the evaluation will be done in four weeks and a decision will be taken at the end of fourth week! Our business priorities needed all the pieces and within a specified time frame. After couple of weeks we selected the new application from vendor 1. We are happy today that we made this choice.

During this deployment we got reminders from nature about bones, streets and homes. It was Christmas/New Year holiday period. The Prolifiq team is all over the world including Beaverton, Bellevue, Chennai and Singapore. Record snow fell in Oregon and Washington, disturbing everyone’s schedule during the deployment weekends. Our deployment team members in Bellevue were excited to see a foot of snow and ice, so decided to become explorers like Lewis and Clark. Unfortunately, they got trapped on the street on their way to the office. My recommendation to deployment teams: Lewis and Clark-types are great to have on a team, but encourage their exploring to the indoors on deployment day!

Our team members in Chennai and Singapore helped us in faster turnaround of feedback loops on features, development and quality assurance. When it was late night in Pacific Standard Time during deployment, our team in Singapore was fresh with morning coffee and provided the energy that kept the team going.

Since this new application runs on a different platform compared to other pieces of our system, we deployed this application in four phases. First phase deployed the backend piece that had just the engine. Second phase deployed the database piece that processed the data from this engine. Third phase moved our internal customers to validate both. Only when we confirmed that these pieces worked well with the rest of the system, did we roll out the new application and its features in the fourth phase to our customers. In all, we learned a lot in the four phases about this new application and how to make it fit into our service. We have also deployed other items during these phases. Some of these are directly related to this application and a few others are different parts of our system.

Our rollback plan was a) the old application is still running as before and we can switch customers back to this old application anytime. b) deployed in phases to limit roll backs. This varies. We needed this approach for this deployment. c) dog food, what I call eat the food we are serving before rolling it to customers. We did this. If there was a rollback or problem, only internal customers would have experienced it. d) we rolled it out to one set of customers first. This is one of my all time favorites: there will always be something new in the usage pattern of features by customers. There will be things to learn as we go. We adjusted a few things after studying the usage pattern of the first set of customers before rolling it out to the next set of customers. We are still learning with the latest set of rollback to another set of customers.

I welcome your comments on the above and look forward to hearing about some of your experiences on deployments.

As the excitement of Lotusphere dies down, and we return to daily business, I am compelled to write (okay, pressured by our CEO Jeff to blog) about what a positive experience the event was for me.

I will admit that I am not the world’s biggest tradeshow fan. Past experiences at large tradeshows have left a bad taste in my mouth, and honestly I try to avoid them at all cost. I have made my sentiments known to the rest of the management team, so when I was asked to attend Lotusphere at the last minute, I hesitantly committed.

As it turns out, Lotusphere exceeded all my expectations and was an extremely positive experience for me, both professionally and personally. Not only was I impressed with the event itself, but the caliber and friendliness of the IBM folks that I met and interacted with was amazing. As I spoke with the many people who came by the booth and were interested in learning about Prolifiq/LotusLive, it hit me. I am having fun!!  I came away reinvigorated and optimistic about our partnership with IBM/LotusLive and excited to see what the future holds for this partnership. I am confident that jointly, we have a very successful future ahead of us.

Lesson learned: the past is not necessarily indicative of the future, or at least it doesn’t have to be if you approach the future with a positive attitude.

Last night I was at a CEO forum where we were discussing the economy and how we were coping with it. On Monday I was in NYC speaking at the SIIA Previews event. The mood was rather somber at both events with almost all CEOs focused on the availability and cost of capital, their cost structures, and when this will all end.

I asked my peers last night: "How many of you are planning a bold move for 2009?" With the exception of one other person than me, it appears that everyone is hunkering down. And this is coming from a group of companies who are all experiencing revenue growth.

My question is why not? Are we all so jaundiced by the media negativity surrounding the economy that we are afraid to act?

What has happened to the unbridled optimism that made America great? Who is the next Gates, Jobs, Ellison, Brin, etc?

Moods such as pessimism and optimism are contagious. What I believe happens is CEO retrenchment or trepidation causes employee trepidation. What happens when the sales guy is afraid to make the next call, or is afraid to chase the bold deal?

Where have all the heroes gone, and what is it going to take for them to show their faces?

I'd love to hear from each of you what bold action you are taking in your own world to move from pessimism to optimism. It's up to us, individually and collectively, to lead the way out of this mess.

Let's get to work.

As I wind down this 11 day road trip, I am reflecting on the discovery and renewal that has taken place on this trip.

In addition to the great progress Prolifiq made this week, I had the opportunity to break bread with two of the most influential people in my life: I had breakfast with Joe (my father) and dinner with Kimberly (Joe's great niece and my god-daughter).

My father has been with me all my life; Kim came into my life 25 years ago when her mother (my first cousin) asked me to be her god-father. I was very saddened eating breakfast, as I am watching my father wither from the ravages of Parkinson's and become a shell of his former self. My father is/was a very black/white man -- there were no gray areas with him; he possesses one of the strongest moral compasses of anyone I've ever met or known. I hope and pray that I've learned the lessons at his knee so that I can uphold the "Gaus code of honor".

Kimberly and I have talked about this in the past because of the role I play in her life -- I serve as a male role model for her, helping with career advice and helping support her in her moral choices. I am honored to serve her in this way.

Kim concluded the dinner with a warm embrace and this observation: "He provided you with wisdom; I keep you young." How blessed I am to have her in my life.

Between the breakfast in Florida and dinner in NYC, I was moved to pick up and read the book: The Power of a Man, by Rick Johnson. The book is spiritual in nature and is not my normal reading material, but it is obvious why it is in my hands at this time.

The book discusses and explores the role of men in other people's lives: our wives, our mothers, our sons and daughters, and all of the people around us. Reading it has given me a renewed sense of purpose in my personal and professional life.

There are many around me who have not had "Joe" in their lives, many who can benefit from the wisdom he has shared with me. It is my purpose to pass this on--that began mid-week. I hope and pray I can have the same impact Joe has had on the world and that I am able to uphold the "code".

Thank you Joe.  Thank you Kim.

Yesterday morning, Sean Poulley of IBM/Lotus formally introduced LotusLive Engage (formerly Bluehouse) to a standing room only crowd at Lotusphere.

Prolifiq customer Maureen Shaffer of InSet Technologies (a NJ based manufacturer of implantable infusion pumps for the treatment of chronic pain) was showcased as she told the story of why InSet chose Prolifiq and LotusLive Engage. Maureen wowed the audience, not only because she is poised and captivating as a speaker, but here was a VP of marketing telling 1,000 IT professionals why SHE made the architectural decision for her company's IT strategy. She blew them away with her story.

Additionally, Prolifiq was honored to be showcased as the first LotusLive Engage ISV partner. We were joined by our fellow partners: Skype, LinkedIn and Salesforce.com. Based on the partner ecosystem they are building, it is clear that IBM/Lotus has a very clear SaaS strategy, and has the market clout to dominate the space. I am proud that we had the prescience to recognize the potential of the platform and to help IBM bring this to market. This should tell you something about our team.

Speaking of the Prolifiq team, this being our first Lotusphere (and not knowing what to expect) we chose to control our expenses and rent a house rather than stay at the event hotel. Because of some last minute personnel changes, I ended up sharing the house with 4 of my female coworkers: Isabella our Director of development, Lisa our Director of Marketing, Bridgett our Director of Account Services and Lisa, the President of our PR firm.

This is an interesting way to bond with your peers and get to know them in a whole new light. Bridgett is a demo goddess and her navigation skills are better than a Garmin; Lisa M is a gourmet chef and Twitter fiend; Isabella has a great sense of humor and possesses hidden skills; and Lisa P sweats the small stuff and handles logistics better than FedEx.

The best part of living with 4 women for a week: I now know that for pulling booth duty, flats are better than pumps.

This morning, IBM/Lotus formally announced the commercial availability of LotusLive -- formerly known as "Bluehouse" -- IBM's cloud-based collaboration and social networking application.

In conjunction with this announcement, Prolifiq announced the commercial launch of the Prolifiq--LotusLive integrated solution with medical device manufacturer InSet Technologies. (see Prolifiq press release)

InSet Technologies is the first customer shipment of this joint Prolifiq/IBM solution and is transforming how the company does business. Maureen Shaffer is a visionary marketer; Lotus is interviewing her onstage on Tuesday morning so that she can share her experience with the 8000 attendees of Lotusphere.

Maureen has established a truly virtual work environment and has woven social networking into the culture and operations of the company. Maureen believes this joint implementation saves 20% of each of her employees' time.

This deployment is the result of a 17 month engagement with Lotus. Prolifiq was invited into this relationship just as Lotus was beginning to plan its partner and integration strategy. As a result, Prolifiq helped craft, and was the first ISV to develop against, the web services APIs of LotusLive.

When we first contemplated the project, we were intimidated--IBM has roughly 400,000 employees and does over $100 billion in revenue--what could they possibly gain by working with Prolifiq? I asked them exactly that question when we first met.

Robert, LotusLive Chief Architect, said it was quite simple: Prolifiq has 7+ years of cloud computing experience, and IBM could learn from us how to integrate and deploy hybrid-SaaS solutions.

Prolifiq gains visibility within the Lotus ecosystem and gains new customers. While our official color palette is red, black, white and grey--this week, we're bleeding yellow.

I have a niece who just graduated from college and has begun her job search (never easy; exacerbated by the current economic times), hoping to begin what will be her lifelong career.

What Jolene faces is the age-old dilemma of: “…tell me about your work experience…” when she hasn’t been part of the professional work force. How is she to gain experience when no one will hire her until she has experience?

This is often the dilemma of innovators – they have a great idea or product; but, who will buy it from them until they can cite 3 or more references? My experience with human nature is that everyone likes to be first at being second. Think back to your childhood. If you have ever gone swimming in an abandoned rock quarry, you never wanted to be the first to jump in. But, everyone wants to be the first to jump—after the first jumper surfaces in the water.

So when entering a new market, or starting a new company, one of the most important things is to secure first-mover marquee customers. This is very difficult to do and is as much art as science, because you are looking for one or two people who are truly innovators (on the adoption curve of: innovators, early adopters, late adopters or laggards). These people are very difficult to identify because there is no mailing list that you can purchase, there is no club these people belong to, and they don’t have tattoos. True innovators are generally not joiners, so you won’t find them through membership in almost anything.

So, how does one overcome the dual issues of: 1) no experience and 2) who is buying?

It really is pretty straightforward. First: become the customer. Read, read, read─everything you can get your hands on that they read. Understand their life; and as much as possible, live their life. If there are trade groups – join them. If there are classes—sign up, attend, and attempt to get the best grades. Most importantly, learn the lingo. When you start talking like your customer and are fluent in the issues they are facing, you develop credibility.

Secondly, contact as many suspect companies as possible and believe that you will find the ONE person who will give you a chance. I have found that remaining focused and willing it to happen will make it happen—you will find the person. Then, be as transparent as possible, letting them know what you don’t know. Your candor will be refreshing to an innovator; because, they often share a trait of wanting to educate. If in their education of you, they can get their needs met, you will gain a customer and most likely develop a lifelong friendship.

Do all of this, and Jack will know you—as the expert.

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell, tells the story of success. As a result of reading Outliers, I went back and mapped my own path to better understand the pivot points in my career, the influences, and the people who have led me to where I am.

Dan is one of these people. As the CEO of a family-owned department store, Dan flew in the face of convention and took a chance by buying a non-AT&T telephone system from a 20-year old student intern--me. 30 years later, Dan is an investor in Prolifiq and is one of my closest advisers. Dan is the person who gave us the insight that led to our partnership with IBM and who introduced us to Jonathan.

During one of our periodic business reviews, Dan saw what we are doing with Medical Device companies programmatically ensuring compliance with FDA regulations regarding salesperson to caregiver communications; and, my guess is he believes this function has real business legs.  Two weeks later, Dan sent me an email introducing me to Jonathan, and now we are off and running.

Prolifiq got into the Medical Device business because of Stacey and Maureen. Stacey and Maureen worked for a Medical Device company and read about Prolifiq in a 3 year old trade show management publication, called us and asked us to respond to their RFP for trade show lead capture. During a web conference, it was very clear they knew what they are doing and they completely GOT Prolifiq. We got them as customers and the rest is history; almost.

About 4 months into the deployment, Stacey called Linda, her Prolifiq Account Manager, and asked: “It would be really cool if….” Because Linda has the Seven Words mastered, we learned exactly what Stacey had in mind and how important it was to them. The Message Approval Module has been operational for 8 months and the complete Prolifiq deployment has transformed how Stacey’s salespeople do their jobs.
So, where does Jonathan come in? Not yet.

Maureen has since moved on to another Medical Device startup (that just received $25 million in VC funding) and called to say: “I need you to work your Prolifiq magic again.” Additionally, Maureen wants to be a fully digital company and wants to use social networking software within the company. Hence, Maureen is the first commercial deployment of BOTH Prolifiq and IBM/Bluehouse (watch here next week for a formal announcement).

So, with these data points, Neil, Hem, Jim, Lisa, Bridgett, Isabella and Rock (the Prolifiq management team) sat back and said “…we’ve got something here…” and began to study the Medical Device industry. Neil and I traveled to San Francisco to meet Jonathan as he stepped off of a Virgin flight.

Jonathan is my kind of guy – highly sarcastic, irreverent, and smart as hell. Jonathan is a ROCK STAR in the Medical Device industry and has agreed to advise us about the “Unknown – Unknowns”. With his help, we will dominate the sales messaging and enterprise content syndication space in Medical Devices. The moral of this story is: be aware enough to recognize opportunities when they present themselves; gracious enough to accept help and guidance when it is offered.

Next up: You don’t know Jack!

I was in high school between 1973 and 1977 and I clearly remember the economic and political malaise that gripped the United States: the first oil shock had rocked the nation, we had a disgraced president resign, and our international standing was being questioned and challenged at every turn. My father was a financial officer for a privately-held consumer products company, so family dinners often included discussions linking Walter Cronkite’s commentary with what my father was seeing at work -- soaring energy prices, supplier bankruptcies, weakening demand, credit availability, hyperinflation, etc. These experiences had a very formative impact on me and my career.

Today’s economic and political climate reminds me of this earlier period; however, the circumstances are quite different. Today, there is an abundance of energy and prices are falling, and we run the risk of deflation. But, other than that, consumer confidence and the credit crunch have caused the recession to accelerate and are causing many companies to retrench and, in my opinion, stagnate.
However, looking back on the period 1973 to 1977, one can find many bright spots – this is the time frame in which Microsoft, Apple, and Oracle were formed. The founders of these firms had little to lose and everything to gain by taking risks during this time period.

From 2003 through the present, Prolifiq has successfully developed and deployed our application with some of the largest and most respected companies in the world. We have successfully tackled the technology and digital media vertical markets. And, during this time, we have discovered (by working very closely with two of our customers) that our application has very specific appeal in the Medical Device industry here in the US and abroad, and that this industry offers us huge potential moving forward. It is the first step in taking the Prolifiq application to the Healthcare market in general.

So, without trepidation, we have chosen to tackle the Medical Device industry with our application suite and we have chosen to follow what Don Tapscott promulgates in Wikinomics. We are embracing the transparency he recommends and will make the process open to the world.

In this space, you will read about our process. We have a vision, a dream if you will, of what we can do for this industry, a couple of data points, and some market research. For Prolifiq, this is about all we need to get started. There are many (to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld) unknown unknowns we have yet to encounter; and, we plan to share all of them with you. It is Prolifiq company policy that all employees are expected to blog about our experience.

When I announced this plan and approach to the company, there were many “You’re doing what comments?” Many of these are based on the notion of proprietary processes, intellectual property and trade secrets; and, they are completely understandable. But, the web and mass collaboration has changed all of that.

We believe that by sharing our experience with the world, we may spark in someone the initiative to transform or start their own company. In the process, we may incite some company to decide to compete with us – so be it. May the best company win. But, in the end we expect to gain more than we lose as our customers, prospects, partners and interested bystanders offer us insight and perspectives we would not have gotten (the unknown unknowns) had we not been open about the process.

I look forward to hearing from you as we share our experiences. So, without further ado, let the journey begin.

Next up: Virgin Atlantic and Jonathan.

From a macro-economic perspective, recessions are all about a decline in top line revenue growth. The 2008/2009 recession means the United States (and most other countries) are experiencing a decline in sales revenue (economic activity) across the board.  The media has done an exceptional job ensuring that everyone is acutely aware of the recession, and this, in and of itself, has helped to fuel the recession by dampening business and consumer confidence.

Businesses have responded to this, quite rapidly I might add, by drastically adjusting their budgets. The last 90 days have brought a constant stream of bad revenue, earnings announcements and hundreds of thousands of layoff announcements. And budget cuts across all departments.

So, if a recession is all about “top line” revenue, how do companies expect to increase sales by cutting the budgets of sales and marketing departments? During every recession, there are still customers who buy goods and services; and, they become better negotiators. Being absent in their decision processes will not help sales. While budget cutting is crucial to preserving cash, slashing sales and marketing budgets will not solve top line issues.

Recessions offer unique opportunities for bold and prudent firms that can conceive of “life after the recession”. Recessions offer opportunities to execute “land grabs”, to push weak competitors out of market sectors and to introduce disruptive products and services that provide true cost savings or revenue enhancement to customers.

This is what Prolifiq is doing in CY 2009. We have chosen to dramatically expand into a new market sector, and we are going to be completely transparent about it. The management team of the company will share with you the trials, tribulations and successes as we navigate these choppy waters, and you will be able to interact with the whole Prolifiq team and learn from us as we learn from you.

In my next post: You’re doing what?