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Selling &Marketing python to –Fellow Developers –Your Company Management –To an SMB owner/CIO –To a larger Enterprise –For a Government Projec t

Reality check How Popular is Python?

Tiobe programming index Tiobe Programming Index puts Python at #7 spot at 4.583% market share and growing faster than everything expect Objective C and C# in top 12 languages. Will that help you? Not really?

O'Reilly Book Radar Over the last 2 years, only Objective C and PHP has seen growth. Python book sales have been dropping, Ruby has been worser! Well, that’s not great News

JOB PORTAL WATCH

Available Resumes with Skill Sets

What do you infer? TIOBE indicates that Python is doing well globally The Book Radar does not provide any great news Among mainstream languages we have the least number of developers from Python Community

Selling Python to a Developer What do developers look for? 1) Job Assurance based on skillsets 2) Going to US, and other perks 3) Social Acceptance being a better developer 4) The quality/power/features of the tool, language in question

Biggest Peeves about Python 1) Lacks an IDE like MS VS or Eclipse 2) No training/schools/trainers 3) No $3 to $9.95 accounts for web hosting that works with an FTP account. 4) No Peers to guide

Making a case of Python to the Management Issues which typical Indian companies have 1) We are customer centric and not technology centric 2) We do not want to suggest a technology where we do not have enough skill sets available. Would rather go with Java instead of Python or Ruby and write all those complex XML files, and bill more…. 3) The trainers are very expensive, compared to what’s available in other languages viz Java, C,C+. 4) Where are the Python developers?

Steps You can Take 1) Choose a right small project to demonstrate and prove the tenacity of Python or Pythonic Framework. 2) If successful, make a presentation to the management, peers and team members. 3) Do not hard sell a business case. It just does not work. 4) If your organization culture permits, organize a talk from an external and experienced Pythonista.

Other Steps which You could Take 1) Ensure that you have your resumes uploaded on all popular Job Portals. Get your fellow Pythonistas to upload 2) Entrepreneurs should consider starting Python training as an option. 3) Offer free training/introductory classes to students in engineering colleges as a start. This helps… 4) Indian Python Software Society can perhaps take lead in doing evangelism within large and mid-sized software companies. We must actively think beyond conferences.

Other Entrepreneurial Ideas that you can Explore 1) Cheap Python Hosting is a possibility. It does not cost you much, and makes sense when you sit in India and Host it elsewhere. (I am willing to take this offline, with anyone who wants to start a cheap Python Hosting) 2) Most educational institutes are open to co-branded training, where their infrastructure can be used to 3) Many engineering colleges are open to evangelists coming and running courses outside curriculum. 4) Selling Your Services built on top of any Python Stack

Who can be your Customers? 1) Another development outfit, contractor, sub-contractor 2) An SMB Customer in India 3) A larger Enterprise 4) Government Enterprise

Selling to an SMB 1) Needs the solution to work. 2) Is really not bothered about technology that goes behind, as long as things work. 3) Is bothered about support 4) Price matters, but is willing to shell out.

What you need to do? 1) Avoid talking Technology. Focus on the problem that customer is facing, or looking at a solution. 2) Avoid discussing about FOSS, Open Source, Linux or anything in Free Software. You will invite yourself into a trap. 3) If a technology discussion is warranted, stick it to minimal level. 4) Remember you can get away most of the time by saying that the language you use powers searches in Google. In short do not discuss Python or Technology, but talk about the problem you may solve.

The Indian Python Software Society(IPSS) 1) Sponsor Evangelists who provide FREE training/talks on the language to a group of students, developers or even users. 2) We require case studies/collaterals of successful implementation within different verticals within the neighborhood. 3) Interface with other bodies, event organizers, and create visibility for the language, language based frameworks and also for companies providing services and products around the Python. 4) Take User Group Meetings to other cities.