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By
Dennis James
Editor-in-Chief
October 2005
Welcome to another newsletter from The DSXchange, the largest independent community for the IBM WebSphere Data Integration Product Suite® (there HAS to be a shorter name for these products!)
Becoming the biggest and the best independent community for IBM Integration products is no trivial matter. When we were only interested in helping developers needing DataStage questions and answers, the mission was simple. Provide a relatively non-threatening way for users world-wide to use the Internet to help each other. We grew quickly and within two years eclipsed the DataStage list server of Oliver.com and soon thereafter left ADN in the dust. But we can’t count on "business as usual" keeping us on top. We at the DSXchange are committed to staying the best.
Our growth rate is skyrocketing, with over 400 new registrants each month. Unfortunately the costs are also increasing, as the site requires more support on an ongoing basis. You have seen us take polls to determine the best way to help cover the current cost structure as well as fund development of a better site. The overwhelming winner is that you’d like vendors and advertisers to foot the bill. The problem with vendors is they want something in return for their money (I can’t blame them).
The idea we have come up with is to offer a premium membership plan. As part of that plan vendors will have the ability to "sponsor" members who are interested in sharing limited contact info in return for paid memberships. That allows us to promote the premium (paid) membership model without blocking serious help to those that need it.
The web is a fragile place and charging for content without validating the results can be devastating. Any free website that has grown dramatically has had to solve this problem, usually by placing advertising, selling their content, or adding premium memberships. We have searched the web and several of our favorite free websites have added a premium version. (www.LinkedIn.com, www.imdb.com, to name a couple)
We have also decided to adopt a new practice, namely to "reach out and touch" our members at the DSX. (apologies to AT&T!) Here is the plan. We have divided our 9,000 plus members into two main categories, International and North American. We have assigned our new partner Faruk Bhagani to head up our International Division. Faruk will be contacting our international members and gathering critical information on how we can better serve their unique challenges. Andy Sorrell, our content manager, has agreed to take the management of North America. We will over time assign regional managers to share the load. Anyone wants to raise their hand, contact Andy. Some of you will start seeing emails from Faruk and Andy reminding you to update your profile to keep you eligible for our premium content.
Our goal is to have the premium memberships in place before the next newsletter. As part of that process we are implementing some serious site upgrades including extensions for commerce and account tracking. We really hope that by introducing vendors to members interested in their goods and services, we can subsidize improvements for all our members.
Take time to read the rest of the articles within. Let’s finish the year with a BANG as we shoot past the 10,000 mark!
Dennis James, Editor