Ok, I broke my promise to announce the latest-n-greatest TurtolCMS here. I did do the release (some while ago, now), but didn't make an announcement. Color me lazy, or perhaps just overly busy. And the book review will be forthcoming, some day.
Just last night, my cousin Rob asked me something along the lines of "have you ever been thinking about a blog entry for so long that you just couldn't get it done?" He was talking about his own blog, mind, but hit the nail on the head for me. So here's me getting it done, finally.
I alluded, in my previous entry, to another blog I would reference for a starting point. That reference is below, but first, a little history.
A little history
Turtol, my much lamented previous endeavor, was originally started to be a hosting company, with 37signals-like aspirations to build some cool web-based applications. Prior to Turtol, I had Yet Another Startup, and after I exited that, I took about 18 months off to be a Dad and work on my 50-some-year-old house and whatnot. Some of my previous clients expressed an interest in my continuing to support their web sites (and so forth), so I put together a tiny little hosting operation, just to service them. It gave me something to do to keep my hand in technology and was just self-sustaining; it made me no money, but I didn't care, because it wasn't supposed to.
After a while, some friend or other heard about my hosting, asked if he could have an account, and of course I put that together. Then, of course, he asked for some changes, and I did that. Then another guy came along, and pretty soon I needed to hack together some software to manage it all (web-based, of course), and keep me from actually running a hosting company so I could continue to play with my kids and generally be lazy. Then Mike came calling, having heard about what I had put together, and needing a site for his then-current employer. He asked what I'd charge. I didn't know, because I didn't charge, except for those few who had sparked the whole she-bang in the first place.
So I put together pricing and Mike's company cut me a check and all was good. But then Mike said something like "wow, that's like the best control panel I've ever used" and went on to tell me how bad most others were and how his pal Libor (who I hadn't, to that point, met) was always hating having to deal with them and how none of his designer friends even COULD use them. I kinda knew that, since I'd looked at using them before I decided to just build my own. Swell, I said. Thanks, I said. And that was that.
Until Mike asked "what would it take for me to resell your services?" The idea, originally, was that I'd run the servers (and develop the control panel further) and he'd sell the service. Several scenarios were suggested. Then Mike had an epiphany about the pricing structure and a few lunches later, Turtol was born. The original business plan was we'd spend some time making the control panel totally kick ass and Libor (who had come on board by then) would help us bootstrap by bringing in ten or so of his freelance designer friends who each had at least a couple of current and upcoming sites needing hosting. But what would become the critical piece of the puzzle was largely an accident born of my frustration with some of the work I was doing.
The critical piece (and how it related to the business structure)
I can't really recall the exact moment I conceived what would become the TurtolCMS. It probably wasn't a single moment but rather a series of individually frustrating moments which lead me there. As I said above, we wanted build some cool web-based applications. Mike had some great ideas which we hoped to develop and sell, and the hosting operations were to help us get there. We also had some contacts looking for custom consulting work, and this would help too, of course.
At some point, when I had developed the TurtolCMS to the point that it was at least marginally useful, we took the decision to base all our work on it. It became more than a nifty piece of Open Source Software. It was our Competitive Advantage. It became a significant part of our marketing message. It featured prominently in every pitch and every presentation. We closed many a deal based at least in part because of the TurtolCMS.
And what were the reasons? Beyond the usability and the utility -- which it has in spades, in my humble unbiased opinion -- there was the promise of it being Open Source. What if, our prospects would ask, the unthinkable were to happen and Turtol were to go out of business? Well then, our answer would quickly come, you can just take your database and a copy of the TurtolCMS software itself (available forever on SourceForge, of course) to any other reasonably capable web host, and Bob's your uncle. What if we want to change to another designer? Well then, we'd jump right in, there are tutorial materials on the web site.
Basically, we leveraged the oft-quoted promises of Open Source to close deals. And it worked. People like the idea of choice, and dislike the idea of vendor lock-in. We know that, because we are people. In a recent-ish InfoWorld Open Sources column, Savio Rodrigues opined that access to source code (the Prime Directive of FOSS) doesn't do enough to truly prevent vendor lock-in. He asserts that the cost of switching to another provider of the exact same software and associated service would still be prohibitive. He probably has a point. In fact, it's one Mike, Libor and I discussed at some length. Cynical though it sounds, we relied on it to a certain extent.
One of the big problems in the web hosting industry is that the barrier to changing hosts is so very low, the barrier to entry is almost none, and the cost structure has been driven down to the point that an expensive package will cost you all of nine bucks a month. It's such a commodity that there's pretty much no way to differentiate yourself. There are the big players everyone uses until they get pissed off with the poor service, and the local players who can't survive on the rates and volume, so hosting is a secondary (or tertiary) line.
We aimed to be different, by providing an additional value (the TurtolCMS) under an alternative pricing structure (one flat fee, for-life hosting). How do we convince folks that we're the right choice? The inherent protection of Open Source. In real life, is it enough? I don't really know. I'd like to think so, but it's a complex question. For a relatively sophisticated end users (or, more likely, company), the fact is that taking a hosted application in-house should be relatively simple. But then what happens to the project itself? If it's relying on that hosting income to further it's development, then having a dead project as a critical piece of your company's IT infrastructure probably isn't the best idea. Which means the cost of switching providers, no matter how cheap, isn't the key issue.
On the other hand, any project which achieves a modicum of success can become self-sustaining without corporate backing. Currently, of course, the TurtolCMS has no such backing (directly or otherwise) other than my own and that of the couple guys who've agreed to continue working on it with me. So that's my next opportunity: building the community for the TurtolCMS, and establishing (directly or indirectly) a support structure for it.
Wish me luck.
