Register or login (socially) and grab the download at www.launchsitecore.net
If you are evaluating Sitecore or if you’re a partner working on pitching Sitecore to a prospect, hopefully you’ve had a chance to download and experiment with Launch Sitecore. I wanted to take a moment to explain the motivations behind the project, the current state and the future hopes and dreams. I plan on doing a series of posts around this growing platform, as our whole team is buzzing with ideas about the directions this could take.
Before continuing, I wanted to take a moment to give credit where credit is due. Howard Kim and I dreamt this up a while ago and had been brainstorming lots of ideas based on some challenges in our daily work lives. Our entire North American Sales Engineering team has kicked in with ideas, article writing, proofing, testing and particular areas of expertise. But I can’t continue without recognizing the heroic efforts of Chris Castle, who took this project on with such enthusiasm and skill that it has taken on a life of its own. (I would say it’s his baby, but for those of you that know Chris, there’s just no additional room for that). This was a part time job in addition to an amazingly busy and productive full time job.
The thing I like most about this project is that, while allowing creativity to enter, it has stayed true to its goals:
- Create a package that is easily installable, understandable, self-documenting
- Highlight effective and efficient solutions to common scenarios—reusable content, navigation, configuration, separation of content and presentation
- Provide a consistent and seamless path from initial developer discussion—>self-install and investigation—>follow up deep dives—>successful evaluation
- Provide a clean and extensible starting point for SE team, partner and client proof of functionality / proof of concept activities
- Use the platform in our own “public” site to show real world examples of Digital Marketing System, Analytics, Email Campaign Manager, GeoIP resolution, the upcoming OLAP cube and more.
Create hugely successful experiences for organizations evaluating Sitecore.
Our team believes so strongly in the power of the Sitecore platform that we know absolutely anything you need to do can be done. From the recent Symposium video from the great folks at Carnival Cruise Lines: “if we can think it, it can be done with Sitecore”. We also know that with power comes a growing responsibility for the Evaluator. I can imagine quite a few dictates out there that come close to something like, “go figure out what that Sitecore thing does….and we really need to make a decision by next week”. Yikes. In my 5 years at Sitecore, the thing I’m assured of is that I’m going to learn something new every day.
The power of Sitecore doesn’t mean that you’re looking forward to a road of painful complexity. The amazing thing you’ll see over and over is how things are built from the Core. This Launch Sitecore package is not an amazingly flashy, feature-laden site. Nor is it intended to be an ongoing content-based site. It is intended to highlight the strength of that Core, to let you have a number of ah-hah moments, to get the juices of creativity flowing and to become a vehicle of your ongoing Sitecore learning.
So that’s the Launch Sitecore package—a downloadable Sitecore package (installed with the Installer in the Sitecore Desktop). But we’re pushing on from there. Now, a public site: www.launchsitecore.net. I’m extremely excited about where this is heading—a real-life Engagement Plan, meaningful Goals and Engagement Value, use of Sitecore Email Campaign Manager throughout, GeoIP lookups and Analytics, available OLAP cube reporting and much more. Our whole Sales Engineering team will be able to share this story—why we created this site, what were our discussions around Goals, Engagement Values, how did our Campaigns perform, what did we test and how did that improve our Evaluators’ experiences. And we of course want you to be along for the journey. Give us some feedback on the site (after all, it’s a Goal and a State in our Engagement Plan). Or contact any member of the Team (also on the site).
