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Working the developer pipeline

by bryan morgan
January 7, 2002

Software developers traditionally have been a fairly low-maintenance group within most organizations. Not long ago, management kept their development staff happy with a stocked Coke machine and a microwave oven. But the economic boom of the 1990s coupled with the rise in the value of information technology put many programmers in a somewhat unusual position: a professional continually pursued by major software companies and headhunters alike. Hoping to capitalize on a formula perfected by Microsoft over the last decade, technology companies now are setting their sights on software developers (using a variety of relationship-building techniques) in hopes of building a critical mass of application and developers for their products or architecture.

Corporate developer programs historically have come in all manner of shapes and sizes. Many follow the venerable Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) model in which a developer registers information with a company in exchange for the latest tools, white papers and technical support (often for a fee). MSDN has grown from a simple quarterly subscription format to a veritable empire comprising a magazine, a booming online development community, regular trade shows, a certification program and a subscription service that includes more than 100 CD-ROMs that is updated monthly. Microsoft is aggressively providing MSDN members with all manner of early access releases and technical documentation for the upcoming release of its .NET platform and tool suites. If all goes according to plan, .NET will be released with a full pipeline of products and Web services built on the architecture.

As "traditional" wireless data and device companies have rapidly begun to place heavy focus on the enterprise, their efforts to attract software developers have accelerated just as quickly. Among these, Palm may boast the strongest developer program of all. The Palm OS Developer Program, which boasts nearly 100,000 registered members, offers a free basic membership for those interested in obtaining up-to-date tools, sam-ple code and technical information. The "Advantage Level" offers direct technical and marketing support, product discounts and quarterly CD-ROM updates for a $500 annual fee. The company hopes the program will serve it well as it shifts hardware platforms (to Texas Instrument's ARM-based OMAP architecture), splits its operating system business into a separate group and for the first time faces significant competition from Microsoft's Windows CE.

Palm, of course, does not stand alone as a device manufacturer courting the developer audience. Siemens Developer Village, the RIM Developer Zone, the Symbian Developer Network and Qualcomm's BREW developer program provide extraordi-nary amounts of information and support. On the software-only side of things, Sun Microsystems' recently launched Wireless Developer site, Openwave Systems' Developer Program, Nokia's Forum and Ericsson's Mobility World all provide tutorials, message boards, product downloads and business partnering information.

While all of the above programs follow a time-tested model, the wireless industry is unique in that programs sponsored by carriers offer developers the opportunity to garner revenue immediately. NTT DoCoMo's revenue-sharing model certainly has driven i-mode's explosive growth. Cingular's Wireless Developer Alliance and AT&T's Wireless Data Developer Program are just two of several popular programs designed to allow developers to partner directly with carriers. Nextel Communications Inc. and Sprint PCS have launched similar initiatives.

Perhaps the ultimate sign of the times is the predominance of these programs within each company's marketing information and Web sites. Traditional infrastructure companies such as Ericsson now feature "Developer" links and info on the top of their home pages. After years of scrambling for the tiniest scraps of technical data and information, wireless application developers now are in the enviable position of evaluating the options with all the information at their disposal. Now it is the developer's turn to fuel the industry's growth engine with a pipeline of quality applications. [DEVBIZ]

Bryan Morgan is a software developer and regular DevBiz contributor.