Making the Software Connection. eHarmony?

By Jeffrey Rott (Intel) (1 posts) on May 13, 2008 at 1:11 pm

One of the things that I constantly ask myself is, "What do ISVs want from Intel?". The next question that follows is, "What is Intel able to provide to ISVs?". Just to clear things up, answers to the first question such as; big bags of money, extravagant vacations, unlimited supply of test systems and $2.00/gallon gas unfortunately get nixed as a result of the second question. Wow – I never actually thought that $2.00/gallon would be a GOOD thing.

Through our software partner program, ISPP, we took our best shot at delivering the "goods" to our software partners. We conducted surveys, held user groups – you get the picture – and wound up with a set of offerings to solve the reasonable wants of ISVs. On ISPP you can now get access to product roadmaps, discounts on development systems, marketing collateral and even the chance to sell your product on IBX. But something that we're hearing more and more of is that it would be of great value if Intel could find a way to help facilitate matchmaking within the ISV community. We dipped our toes in the matchmaking -water at GDC, bringing a few ISVs together, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

So now the question is "What's the best way to facilitate the ISV connection?". Should we arrange ISV get-togethers at trade shows and events? Should we try to formalize a program where ISVs can list themselves as available and prospective mates can view their profile online, hoping for that perfect connection? Should we ignore the situation entirely and let ISVs figure things out for themselves? I'm leaning towards a combination of the first two, hoping that we're wise enough to recognize the power of the Intel-ISV ecosystem and pass on the third option.

Categories: Intel SW Partner Program

Comments (3) Comments RSS Feed

By David Valdovinos (Intel) on May 14th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Just look at that blogger go...welcome to blog-land, jeff! :)

By James White (Intel) on May 16th, 2008 at 8:32 am
I have an example of an event, hosted by e-commerce provider Digital River, that worked very well for me and potential partners. The format is that they bring partners into a 3-day event that is structured around a couple of primary goals:

1) Striking partner-to-partner deals - they accomplish this by sharing the list of registered ISVs in advance, having ISVs pick the others with whom they want to meet, and setting up a room full of dozens of tables where partners can conduct 10-20-minute sessions for a few hours, almost like speed dating. Really fun and productive.

2) Providing knowledge about industry trends and suggested actions to take to improve business. They did this by securing experts on various topics (PR in light of social media, increasing e-commerce operations efficiency, search marketing, etc.) and having interactive sessions with them.

Add in some good food, cocktails, and a warm atmoshpere, and you've got a recipe for a very productive and fun event for up to a couple hundred partners.

P.S. Let me know when you get that bags of money thing worked out.

By Andy Gong on May 27th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Actually these questions also confuses me a lot, maybe some ISV will ask what they really can get from ISPP and is that worthwhile to spend the time and efforts in that just to optimize their software.Can we provide the exact things ISV wants?and what is that?
I spend much time communicating with ISV in order to understand their needs and it turn out in most cases we can only provide limited technology and support for them and which is far from enough they think.If they we can't meet their demands ,how can we drive our project?
I understand that mostly we provide a platform for ISVs to get connect with each other , to share some ideas and technology together.That is what they have been always looking for and that is really helpful to them.
Maybe next time I pick up phone ,I should say something about that.


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