Domino Ultrabase
Through this site I've released quite a few downloadable databases, each of which demonstrates an individual technique. In order to keep each one simple and easy to digest I've always tried to make sure that there's nothing in it that isn't needed to demo said technique.
This is all very well until you want to combine methods from several databases or even just remember which database you saw a certain technique in. This is where I came up with the idea of a kind of "ultrabase" from. The idea being to combine all these solutions in one place.
The idea has been knocking round my head for years now. Originally the idea was that I'd sell it and make some money. Whether or not that's still a viable route I don't know, but I still want to do something with the idea. At first I'd thought about simply having multiples pairings of forms/views — one for each technique being demoed. Now I'm not sure how useful this would be. My idea now is to combine all the techniques in to a "real world" solution.
The trouble is I can't think what a suitable solution would be. An online book shop? A support ticket tracking system? Ideally I want it to be something that could be used in the real world. In fact what I really want to do is create something I can market and sell as a product — either hosted or as a download. Any ideas? How about a really amazing CMS system!?
Why now? Well, I feel like I've got all this knowledge locked up inside my head. I spend all this time learning about "Web 2.0" but rarely get the chance to do anything with what I learn. Sometimes this leaves me feeling like an artist who is only ever commissioned to sketch tourists on holiday. The creativity is left bubbling up inside.
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How about a Content Management System ? it would play to Domino's strengths, document level security etc. and you would get the chance to do some clever interacitive things moving documents from one folder to another, search screens, dialogs for giving access to documents etc.
I'm not so sure about the market / sell idea though - one of the insights of the Open Source movement is that it actually takes much more time to market / sell / support software than it does to write it in the first place.
Patrick
CMS or CRM probably the best bet I guess.
Would anybody have a typical spec or requirement document for either?
What about !!HELP!! ....
I vote for CRM: you had problems finding a good one yourself I remember.
Indeed Larry. In fact I ended up writing my own. However it's quite basic and was only ever intended to meet my own needs - which it does quite well. It could probably be extended and improved on but I would really need to understand what a CRM *should* be/do first.
Hi Jake,
What about a web 2.0 framework for domino. Maybe a bit like RoR e.g
scaffold around forms, scaffold views into ajaxy sortables etc..Do the stuff IBM Should be doing and sell it them 8-)
The web rendering is sooo out of date..
Brett.
Whatever app you will pick (CRM does indeed make a lot of sense to me), wouldn't it be a good idea to take it two steps further, right from the beginning?
1. Design for multiple languages. I've never really tried, how far current native Notes tools take you here. We always made up our own solution.
2. Design for easy data exchange. Be it via Web services or anything else, as long as it's cool. And works.
What about selling CodeStore? No better Ultrabase than that! The definitive Domino-based blogging system.
Brett. I'd rather keep it in the realms of the possible ;o)
Thomas has been in touch about !!HELP!! which is an OpenNTF support ticket project with no web frnt end. While not what I was looking to do (work on somebody else's project) it's at least an outlet for my creativity. Might do some work there.
carcomaidon. There's nothing much to Codestore really. There are better blogging templates for Domino than this! I'm flattered that you thnk that though.
If you saw my comment in you blog 'What's your backup plan?', the idea of a marketable product which you can sell repeatedly is a very sound one.
Have you had a look at the clients you've worked for to see whether there's a common theme, a requirement that you've partially fulfilled, or similar? Something you could take to them (i.e. market) and show how it works, then charge X hundred pounds a month/year to use?
Once you've sold it to a dozen or so clients your development time becomes more productive, i.e. improving the product for all of your clients who use it!
Hi Jake,
- Depends on what market you are trying to sell to? (Small, Medium or Large Business).
- Will you need one product or a group of them?
- Is there an opening in the market? (i.e. what research have you done, etc...)
etc...
Here's a mad idea.... Basic point's, etc....
I think a great idea would be to create a group of products that you could host and maintain for small businesses. Give them a group of products (e.g. email, document library, crm, website, blog, rss, etc...).
Don't sell it to them as domino, but as a whole packet that run's on a secure server.
Basically, a great selling point to the small business, is that for a basic fee, you can supply them with all these applications, grouped together, accessible from the web.
Make is soo easy, they can't resist!
Later
Patrick
Jake.... How about throwing it all in a book (reasonably priced) with code/content download happening in some sort of subscription model or whatever you choose.
In short, the book would be how you approach the eval/design/code process in the context of a 'Domino Extreme Makeover'. Take 2-3 functional (or non-functional) sites that have different needs. Point out what's not working and then how you fix it all up. A total redo is up to you.
I think the draw would be the process that you follow and the way that you approach the problem vs. the finished product itself. If I'm not mistaken Jake, one of the best things about your blog is how you cut to the chase and fix things up. So you leverage your name, reputation and demonstrate what you do best in real scenarios.
You could solicit the blog readership (or a client) for applications or websites that you would use for the 'Domino Extreme Makeovers' and go from there. It would be an entertaining read and of course the finished product(s) (apps/websites) comparison for the before and after would be dramatic.
So you get your 'branding', narrative, techniques/solutions and a happy Domino developer not only with the app owner, but with the readers as well. Producing an app for sale is too dry. Spice it up a bit and write about the entire process and add in the little bits about you that we've come to know as faithful readers of your blog.
I know that I would buy it.
Jake,
I would suggest talking to Chris Toohey (ctoohey@clearframe.com). I know for a fact that him and a friend of ours went through this whole process of deciding what type of application to write (CRM in there case) and marketing it to company's.
I think he could give you some valuable practical information on what you will be getting into.
Erskine
@Patrick - I had similar thoughts about three years ago. I had mapped out a suite of apps, even hired Jake for a pinch of his time for feedback and help and found a couple of detractors along the way (not meant as discouragement but as obstacles to be negotiated).
- Selling is a full time job. Once you have an investment of time into an application, you have to recoup or at least become profitable for it to be worth it. Gearing yourself up to sell isn't easy unless you do it as part of you job already. If you put a lot of time into a product, then go out and try for a year to sell it, your product lags behind innovation as you are pounding the pavement. Strategy here is: hook up with someone who will be a good promoter for you so you can keep focussing on your strengths.
- product class stagnation. Product ideas come and go. One of mine that Mark Barton joined me on and we got 90% done was an online store. In that instance, while we were working on it, Amazon patented several of the meme's we had incorporated, the state of the art advanced faster than we could keep up, and cheaper (and free) solutions that had more functionality became available. Strategy here is to pick a tool to build, not a trend to emulate. And even then, try to evaluate whether the tool is well established as a need, an emerging need, or a passing need that has matured and is now met by other means or technologies.
- one man can't do it all and still make a living. Going into seriously designing a package of application with a clearly set out architecture and product offering from the start is the mark of an excellent business person and architect. Most developers are fair to good at these rolls. To have a suit of products in development with a good design behind them takes more expertise and man hours than one person can reasonably account for (no disrespect meant, Jake).
The overall strategy then, from having gone through this, is to start with a great design, a useful purpose with longevity, ample resources and resources appropriate to the task at hand. Jake already discussed the great benefit of hiring a graphic designer. Picking good help for the role of sales and master architect would likewise be a sound decision. Further signing on a helper (Jr.) developer familiar with his work would be good too. Which brings us to the natural conclusion that you either need to find independently wealthy people for these roles, or get some funding.
Net result - to do this right (software for profit) needs a team and money. I think, Jake, the best thing you can do is apply your knowledge to Open source projects and make your money on your reputation, not a single product. You'll get more consulting work (and can command more money with more fame) through more exposure and demonstration of you ability than through something as perishable as software.
That said, best of luck whatever you decide!
I think Jerry is right.
One example of the perishable nature of software - we built a Help Desk application in Notes (client only) and used it for years. New CIO outsourced our Help Desk and we no longer use the one we built. (shrug)
How about starting an aerial photography company using some form of remote control helicopter with a digital camera slung underneath it.
Nothing to do with Domino or IT at all but I bet there would be some demand from homeowners / estate agents etc and allot more fun than sitting in front of a PC.
Seriously you should consider a niche market - look at your interests & hobbies and see if there is a demand there for an IT based service. Heres a couple of examples:
Buying & Selling houses - some way of automatically building a site for DIY selling, a way to communicate chain progress, an electronic store of documentation for everyone in the chain etc.
Bird spotting - My wife's into this and it seems theirs allot of keen spotters willing to spend money on bird sites. One area that seems to be missing is a way to record locations on a map (GMaps mashup) with a x ref to RSPB site etc
I vote for a simple and elegant team issue/task tracker. Although there are a number of solutions I find that all of them are too specific and get too complicated. Something along the lines of RemebertheMilk.com but aimed at a team of developers (a small team preferably).
This app is one that everyone can use and has all kinds of opportunities to show cool techniques. For instance drap and drop task prioritization/assignment and RSS feeds of team assignments.
@Mark - I read that there's a guy who does this with a paraglider around my area.
Jake - You partner up with some other Domno developers a cruise ship company and offer a Web 2.0 cruise with Domino as your specialty and see how many seats you sell.
Heck, there are celebrities who do that. You could do high-difficulty geo-caching taking into account the the ships direction and waypoints.
Evening drink fests after a day of a good sampling of programming techniques and solutions. Just make sure that I can write it off with my company! :)
Think outside the tent Jake.... you'll come up with something
Jake,
I was looking at doing something similar and I was leaning towards a model similar to 37Signals. Your application does not need to be complex. Why couldn't you create something like Basecamp but something that leverages Domino's strengths. All contained in a secure NSF file for each customer. You can host it for them if they are not Lotus customers, or ship it to them over the internet if they are.
I have to disagree with Jerry Carter. I believe 1 person can run a software for profit company. The internet really lightens the load of the effort once needed for traditional marketing, distribution, user-testing, expertise, etc. etc. You will be busy, but it is more than possible. Ian Landsman, the creator of Helpspot is a perfect example. The Business Of Software Forum on JoelOnSoftware are chock full of inspiration for this kind of thinking.
There are a ton of possible applications you could build. The advantage here is that you can carve out a niche by marketing to strictly Notes shops. 120 Millions Users are begging for some cool applications. I challenge you to find a really good ( looks good + works good ) Helpdesk application that works right out of the Domino box.
I know! Something where everyone could post their own videos for free, and then everyone could watch them and leave comments. And then, in about two years, you could sell it to Google for over a billion dollars.
Oh... wait...
Maybe upgrade the Lotus Mail Template web inteface? Ajax, remove the java, etc..
Hmmmm... Ya I know the feeling. Kid on the way, lot's of good blog entries and techniques. Looking for an easier way to bring in the poundage. Slap a Paypal Donate button below each article with a 'If you found this article useful -->' label beside it and your wishlist. I know that's not your style but if it's a return that you're looking for, why not?
Baby needs a new pair of shoes!! :)
Great idea! I'd vote for a CRM or Helpdesk tool myself.
Improve codestore with some UI stuff like Jack Slocum's blog ({Link} and sell it to IBM as the new "Hannover Blogging Template"
CRM definitely a good go. But the scope of CRM is so vast. Have to really define a scope of requirement if going for a CRM solution. If looking at a smaller scope, I think a Domino Web 2/Ajax CMS system should be really good.
@Jason - definitely take my pessimism with a grain of salt as I feel I've more been run over by that particlar truck than taken it for a drive.
Nick Bradbury (Topstyle, FeedDemon) is another good example of one man against the world. He even met with the brand (if not grade) of success the Youtube guys have, essentially getting acquired by Newsgator.
It can happen, and you make a salient point about leveraging the web for business. I guess more so speaking for myself, doing sales while being up to your elbows in making a great product is super human in my mind. Then again, we are talking about SUPER.HUMAN.SOFTWARE.
Go with the domino strength...
WorkFlow Process System
IT Help Desk System
CRM
Content Management
Document Management System
Resource Management System (e-library or asset management)
Lets develop it together...
If you really want to build a product then go for document management system (DMS). Every bigger company really needs something like Domino.Doc (or Lotus Document Manager). When you take a look at Lotus DDM 7.0 than you see at once that the whole web frontend is based on Notes 4 design.
You don't need much to create a DMS, just some core logic for version management of the documents and a simple workflow module. Lotus Notes is suited perfectly for doing this.
Or you could go for such a thing like {Link} .
Thanks guys. I really appreciate the feedback and will respond separately later.
I think Michael's idea for a book is a good one. You could publish through Lulu. The makeover idea could be along the lines Eric Meyer used in his CSS book. Or a series of chapters/articles gradually building an example Domino website.
I think the idea for a book is great - however, you should take it one step further and have a "reality" TV show that follows you around during development of various projects.
You could call it "Extraordinary Geek" or something like that.
I'm sure some crummy American network (Fox perhaps) would page huge cash for it. They seem to have all sorts of reality shows these days!! Mr T. has one called "I pity the fool" - and I bet he makes a tonne of money.
I'd watch it!
@Mark, yes Domino.Doc/DDM is getting pretty dated, but there is actually a 3rd Party Domino-based product available now that is very impressive looking from the demos I've seen.
It's called DocLogic, from DLITools. Here's the link: {Link}
Jake, you may want to checkout NotesApps ({Link} which is a company that offers a suite of pre-built business Notes/Domino apps for a pretty reasonable price. The point is there is already a fair bit o competition, and as others have stated, selling product is a big time commitment with significant risks.
Good luck in any event.
I don't think that there is much money left to be made on generic applications like CRM,CMS et al.
There is too much free stuff available already and Microsoft has great stuff for SMB use. The money is in service/support/integration, not the software.
You should look at salesforce and sugarcrm and then think about building a Domino version that you would give away. The people who take it and run will typically be the customers that you wouldn't want to deal with anyway. The people who are serious about using the product will be happy to pay for customization and support.
I suggest an online store with CRM capabilities.
To manage the delivery process etc.
The interface could be web 2.0 'ified'.
Nothing easier than adding a new product by creating an additional notes document.
Okay, here's what I'd want. A web site construction tool that works entirely through the web browser. This system would allow a person to come to my web site and sign up for their own web site (fee may be involved).
The system would create a new Notes database that the user could then configure via the web browser. It would not require any HTML/CSS be written by the user.
Some of the features would be:
1. Web control of the ACL. This includes the creation of members, roles, groups, group maintenance, permission assignment, etc. (I have written such a system and have been using it in my designs for over five years. Perhaps we could trade code :)
2. Creation and maintenanceof navigators. (I have a lame system for doing this. I've been considering a complete rewrite for some time.)
3. Creation of web pages. This would likely include page templates as starting points. It would have a web based WYSIWYG editor for the text. It would have a work-flow system that allowed the draft versions to be reviewed before being published. It would have automatic posting start and stop times to allow the page to appear at a certain time and removed at another time automaticly.
4. The system would allow uploading and linking to verious media files; graphics, photos, audio, video. This could be configured so that only the authors would be able to use it or the upload capability could be made available to visitors to the web site.
5. The system would have various configurable modules. They would all have the option of approval work-flow. Some examples of modules are:
a. Calendar
b. Blog with or without comments
c. WIKI pages
d. Forums (better versions than Notes templates provide.)
e. Template based automatic email generation with mail-merge capability. (This is another module I've developed and been using for more than five years.)
That's my pipe-dream system. I've build pieces of it over the years but have never quite brought it all together.
Peace,
Rob:-]