Contact management (simple crm)

This thread is a bit old, but seeing the mentions to Basecamp, thought I’d relay this info in case it was new and of interest.

disclaimer.... I haven’t actually used it yet, but looks promising.

http://www.activecollab.com/

Consider this an opensource "project management and collaboration tool" similar to Basecamp.

That said, seeing how there will obviously be a bulk of developers and designers with MODx based sites, it would be nice to someday have a single solution with the ability to have this handled in the main site or perhaps a separate subdomain site running MODx, rather than intergrating into another script.

For one, it would be one less script to have to keep on top of and master, not to mention how reinforcing it would be to have your clients interacting with you within a project management system that is part of your MODx based website!

Yeah, I have followed progress on this project and did some testing. ActiveCollab is the most promising project management tool I have come accross. The latest 0.7 beta release is a nice step up, and the community is gaining momentuum... I also like what is stated in "What to expect from ActiveCollab 0.8".

Note that ActiveCollab switched from GPL to HPL (which I didn’t know about till then... and makes sense, contrary to GPL it takes into account the web service phenomenon)

I think the blog vertical is the one true killer app that is needed before any other vertical.

MODx based paid services : The team has discussed this time and again, selling paid premium support, building an early access program, custom development services, building a network of MODx certified professionnals... those could be ideas worth looking into.

That would be my vote for the future. I also think ModX should partner with a web hosting company (reliable one) to create an official ModX third party hosting solution. Taking a cut of the profits of course.

Quote from: JeremyL at Oct 01, 2006, 04:35 PM

I think the blog vertical is the one true killer app that is needed before any other vertical.

The next release will be a good blogging platform. Probably not on par with Wordpress, but very close. It will miss a few things like trackbacks and out of the box robust comment-spam solutions, but other than that, moderated comments and email subuscriptions will be all possible.

Though I’d argue that people that need CRM would say CRM is the biggest priority. And people that run community sites would say some sort of Event Calendar is the biggest need. If you sell (or need) hammers, things tend to always be (urgent) hammer problems...

MODx based paid services : The team has discussed this time and again, selling paid premium support, building an early access program, custom development services, building a network of MODx certified professionnals... those could be ideas worth looking into.

That would be my vote for the future. I also think ModX should partner with a web hosting company (reliable one) to create an official ModX third party hosting solution. Taking a cut of the profits of course.

A hosting solution is in progress now. It will be a HIGHLY optimized platform for MODx meant for really professional deployments on dedicated virtual environments run by some really smart folks. Similarly, we’re working on clarifying a strategy for a MODx professional network/premium support channel. More on that as it gels... funny thing though development of MODx keeps getting top priority. :/

Though I’d argue that people that need CRM would say CRM is the biggest priority. And people that run community sites would say some sort of Event Calendar is the biggest need. If you sell (or need) hammers, things tend to always be (urgent) hammer problems... Tongue

True, but what is ModX? It’s a Content Management System / Framework. CRMs and Communities are separate issues while blogs are the killer app for internet content. ModX cannot be everything to everybody. I consider CRM systems and Communities to be something that bridge plugins are more suited.

funny thing though development of MODx keeps getting top priority. :/

And that’s the way it should be. Don’t take your eye off the ball or the project will suffer. Maybe someone should be taken on who’s only job is to monetize the platform. A biz dev manager of sorts.

Interresting discussion (though going off topic and could be a thread of its own, IMHO)

Quote from: JeremyL at Oct 01, 2006, 05:07 PM

And that’s the way it should be. Don’t take your eye off the ball or the project will suffer. Maybe someone should be taken on who’s only job is to monetize the platform. A biz dev manager of sorts.

We sure will need some firepower in the biz/marketing department at some point in the near future. I have already made some moves backstage to involve moderators into marketing MODx, which will help get as many point of view (and by that I not only mean different individuals, but different individuals from different cultures) as we can to help brainstorm our way into clarifying and expand the ideas born out of the marketing IM conference we had a few months ago.

Next step might be, as you suggest, looking for candidates to build up the "biz" side of the team. In my opinion, that shouldn’t be done until we have a very clear view of which business model we want to build things upon, and which goals we set for the "platform" as you call it (and last but not least, what are the means to this end). Once you know what you need to achieve, it’s easier to choose the right person to do it.

This being said, as often in life, it’s almost as much a matter of synchronicity than pure planning : the right person might just ring your doorbell before your mind is made up, or on the contrary you might not find him(her) when you need him(her). Anyway, for what it’s worth, I don’t think we need a biz dev manager : Ryan sure has the mindset and skills to handle the biz management part, what he will need (IMHO) when we monetize is people (plural) who take care of setting things in motion and actually get things done.

Now about "monetizing", it sure is the only way to rise up to the ambition we have, if we are to build a sustainable model (currently, everything relies on the impulse of the warp core, forgive the Star Trek analogy ). This model is at the foundation of what open source stands, but in the long run, there is only so much people can do out of passion (you have to put food on the table for your family) : monetizing has to happen.

In the process, we should just :

• be careful not to break the open source community dynamics : I have said a few times that this needs to be carefully planned and handled, in order to avoid breaking the OS community dynamics (the "going commercial" shadow will undoubtedly have to be dealt with, even if it has no grounds).
• make sure monetizing translates into making life easier for the dev team (thus making MODx even better, dev even quicker) : Let’s say we build a marketplace helping MODx offer and demand meet, or provide hosting (high end or not), or premium support... we have to make sure a share of the generated profit systematically goes to the MODx dev team. It’s the only way to make sure the ambitious goals for the future are properly funded. (As we discussed a few times, donations is not a business model).

This is in part why I think finding a way or showing how MODx can be used as the frontend and backend project management for designers and developers can go along way in adoption. Which is not to say that any of the other uses aren’t just as important, and they may be more important in the long run, but getting critical initial momentum can carry you through to the finish line. But trying to go head-to-head out of the box against well seated giants can leave you always trying to establish your place.

Sometimes the way to dominate the market is to make sure that you have the only products on the shelf... not that there aren’t other products in the market, just they aren’t being presented.

There are tons of designers and developers who of course have their own websites. Many could probably benefit from having a backend, client area, project management functionality. Many of these have probably resisted or just given up trying to piece together the site they need because most CMS and project type scripts weren’t able to handle both, or couldn’t be integrated together, and in either of both cases, required trying to skin their design over some these scripts... and especially for designers, the last thing they want to do is sacrifice the design of their site to gain functionality of a script.

MODx has the power to let them keep their design, and gain the functionality they have been wanting. Now, if you are like most designers and developers, you are doing everything you can to keep on top of everything, so any chance you have to minimize that need, you’ll take it... as long as the goals at hand can be met.

So what does this mean? They will get a good mastery (hopefully) of MODx as they convert their own sites over to it. This project backend will further expose their clients to the power and functionality of MODx (whether they know it or not). Versus having to continue to keep on top of countless other scripts, these designers and developers will be more inclined to turn to MODx for their client needs, and what better testimonial than for them to say that they are recommending their clients use the same script that they use themselves.... in other words, you’re gaining more "shelf-space" as being on the only product being presented by the "store." (yes, my previous background was in product management and development of consumer packaged goods

And in the long run, this allows MODx to gain a larger base of users quicker... key users who influence if not outright decide further use based on their clients. This will further spur and drive, and hopefully, ultimately, fund the other development.... control the pipeline.

I don’t think having project management or crm integrated into MODx will be the differenciating factor there. So far, MODx has attracted webdesigners because it’s highly templatable, flexible, and quick to deploy and coders because of the framework’s API makes building extensions way easier and more efficient.

I do think the concept behind MODx is more important than any (built in or not) feature we might offer. MODx pushing flexibility to another level (not only templating, which is already fairly scarce on the market, at least to the degree that we can provide, but also data structure thanks to TVs) is certainly the X factor for people choosing to go the MODx way.

In a way we are somewhere between the "rigid" classic CMS (Joomla, Drupal...) and the "highly flexible" but "start from scratch" concept of pure framework (cakePHP, Symfony, Code Igniter, Ruby On Rails...). And that’s quite a unique positionning, which makes MODx attractive : way more flexible than any exisiting CMS, yet not starting from ground zero like most frameworks (key content management features are already available "as is", and the beauty of it is expandability is way easier than any content management systems-> will be even more true of Tattoo/MODx 1.0).

True. I certainly wouldn’t deny any of those points. My knowledge of MODx, CMS, and even PHP is still very minimal, but can say that those are all certainly things that I’m seeing that have attracted me.

The idea of "you bring the design... any design, and we’ll bring the functionality... any functionality or the ability to develop any functionality" is a very enticing position. It’s exactly what has been needed.

That said, in a world where "this is for designers" or "we’re for developers," it’s a gutsy and bold move and quite the challenge to aim at giving designers the freedom to not be locked into a box while also giving developers the flexibility to deliver the functionality without having to bend over backwards... and allowing both to play in the other respective areas with whatever skills and knowledge they already have if they so choose! And then to provide a friendly interface for "users!!"

They say, great things can happen when you make bold moves! I’m looking forward to playing a part and just seeing how far it can go

We’ve got lots of bold plans, but first we have to nail the basics dead right (i.e., scalable, fault tolerant and robust as heck). This means your suggestions are honestly probably a year away; we’ll still be targeting technical folks for the foreseeable immediate future.