Hi folks,

 

I am sending this to all the current Sydney Visual FoxPro User Group members.

 

I apologise in advance for how long the email is, but the topic is very important and may impact you greatly.

 

As you know, the current UG attendance has been dropping and I've been wondering if it is time to make some changes.

At first I was thinking of just a few tweaks, but after discussion with a number of community members and User Group organisers I have come up with the following major proposal.

 

What I'd dearly love is for your honest feedback. The suggested change will obviously mean a big change for the group, and effectively finishes any regular Visual FoxPro presence in Sydney. This is a step I have not taken lightly!

 

[Note: this will not affect conferences such as OzFox - I am already planning the next OzFox]

 

My main reasons for the changes are:

1. It takes a lot of time to organise the group and speakers, for a relatively small audience (ie is it worth all the effort for only a few people, and could my and the speaker's time be better spent on other activities)

2. Over the last year or so the topics have moved to focussing on business related, rather than FoxPro technically related talks

3. There has been a strong encouragement for more of these business related talks

 

So, with that in mind I am proposing changing the group to be called something along the lines of: the Sydney Business & Technology User Group.

 

Here’s a suggested brief of the group:

 

Brief

The Sydney Business & Technology User Group is designed for senior developers, software managers and small business owners of software companies.

The group meets to discuss topics relating to the running of software businesses  and software divisions in companies.

The aim of the group is to provide high level clarity on Microsoft technology, Microsoft products & tools, and issues relating to the running of a software division or company. Some example topics are outlined below.

The objective is to empower attendees to make informed decisions on technology choices, and key business development decisions.

 

Each meeting there are two sessions, one focussing on business issues (related to a software company), the other focussing on technology.

 

 

Business topics

Trademarks – why they are important and how to organise them

Intellectual Property (IP) – understanding the implications and knowing how to protect yours

Sales process – key skills in selling your services and products

Marketing – how to target your market and deliver proper marketing

PR – what is it and how do you go about organising a PR company

Insurance – what insurances do you need to organise and how to go about it economically

Virtual offices – how to use these in business (no matter your company size)

CRM options – why CRM is the big topic in business these days and how you can refine your process

Budgeting – proper budgeting for software divisions, including a breakdown of cost % appropriate for software development

R & D – what is it exactly and how can your business claim it legally

Project management – how to successfully manage software development projects and product development projects

Governance – a look at the responsibilities of software companies in Australia

Ethics in Software development – a discussion of ethics in software companies, what is right, what is wrong and what is in the grey

SaaS – understanding what the Software as a Service strategy is, how businesses should approach it and what traps it includes

Recruiting staff – a look at tips and tricks for hiring the best IT developers and managers for your business, plus how to make yourself more marketable

 

 

Technology topics

CRM systems – a look at the different CRM products available (focussing on Microsoft CRM)

Dynamics – what is it and how appropriate is it for your business

SQL Server 2005 – an overview of what SQL Server encompasses (including all the things like Service Broker that no one ever talks about) and the costs of using it in your business

Team System and TFS – what is it, how can your developers use it and how much does it cost

VFP Sedna – what is it, what is its history and who will use it; outline the benefits of VFP and where it is appropriate

WCF, WF, BizTalk – what are connected systems, where do they fit in your company’s strategy, costs involved and benefits to be gained

BPI & BPM – understanding how BPM fits with BPI and what they provide to businesses, a look at the main toolsets available and how to choose between them

Live services – an attempt at understanding all the different Windows Live, Office Live and other Live product offerings, where they are appropriate, costs, etc

Small Business Server & Home Server – a look at these products, with high level feature set discussion, relevance to larger companies, costs, licensing

WSS, SharePoint and MOSS – provide clarity on what is in each, costs involved, where they are applicable, what developer skills are required

WPF – what is it and when should it be used, what tools are there to help with development

Silverlight – what is it and what does it compete with from other companies, why and where should it be considered, costs

Software + Services – a look at how Microsoft is embracing the SaaS paradigm, and how software companies can benefit

Business Intelligence – a roundup of the most common tools and products for achieving business intelligence

 

 

Dangers

The dangers of having high level talks is that they are prone to becoming ‘marketing guff’ talks. This will need to be carefully managed (by me). I will provide very clear guidelines to speakers about the content structure, including licensing and costing details wherever possible.

There is also the danger of trying to cover too much stuff! In this regard I think it is fair to assume that the attendance each week will be different – it will be a group that people attend when there is a topic that is of interest.

 

 

What it’s not

The sessions do not aim to be in-depth technically, rather they are higher level to give managers and senior developers an understanding of all the different technologies so they can make informed decisions.

For in depth technical sessions there are already many user groups and other events meeting this need.

However, it is expected that many of the sessions will include live demos of the products (eg a talk on SQL Server would have to include a fair chunk of the talk showing the tool, its different components and features, but stop before showing the explicit commands for setting security roles etc).

Sadly, there will be few sessions on VFP anymore, although when Sedna is released I think it is appropriate to provide coverage of that.

 

 

Sorry for such a long winded email.

Many thanks in advance for your feedback and ideas.

 

Cheers,

Craig

 

PS Don't miss this month's UG with Adam Cogan covering SQL Server Data Dude (See the UG site www.svfpug.com.au for details of why this is important for VFP developers)

 

Craig Bailey
Chief Technical Officer