Part II: Managed Open Source

What is Managed Open Source?
I wanted to propose a session on the idea of Managed Open Source. Meaning - how to deliver a managed open source experience for your clients.

The target audience for this is all those small-med size Drupal businesses that are springing up - like mine, Bear Ideas. I first came across the term Managed Open Source from Boston-based CitySoft, its actually how they differentiate their services from the freelance coders like us out there. In a nutshell, If you are going to build a high-quality service business, you need great dev skills - but also need to know how to run a client service company to have any longevity and avoid a lot of client pain.

As any consultant can tell you it is SO much easier to expand existing business instead of always going after new leads. So as a development service provider - that means getting clients to the launch is just the beginning! Really need to think through long term maintenance, your client lifecycle, how to stay busy but not so busy that you can’t think about the business and your current clients, and how to grow strategically resourcing projects over the long term.

Hoping to share my personal experiences in this area, and an open discussion on running an effective Drupal powered consultancy, managing the open source experience for your clients.