[Evangelism] Re: "Top 15 Questions..." Final Draft

[Dylan Jay]

On 14/04/2009, at 4:23 AM, Chris Barnes wrote:

> Gabrielle Hendryx-Parker wrote:
>> Please provide feedback by Monday, April 13th so we can move  
>> forward  with the formatting of the document as a nice Quick Ref  
>> Card for  integration in conference kits.
>
> Just remember, you did ask...
>
>
> "#2 - What is Plone? - FINAL
> Plone is a powerful and flexible, enterprise-level content  
> management solution that is easy to install, get started with, and  
> use."
>
> I take exception with this.  It gives the impression that running a  
> complete Plone system is "easy to use and get started with" for  
> *everyone*.  This is especially in light of the fact that #1 above  
> it says "without requiring a high level of technical skill or tools  
> other than a web browser".
>
>
>
> #6 - geez, I'm not sure what to say about this.
> Sure, it's easy to download and the installation goes fairly  
> straight forward.
> THEN WHAT?
>
>
>
>
> In fact, this is my main complaint with Plone in general.  It might  
> very well be easy to use for the end users - but to run the entire  
> system requires a person who is well versed in Zope/python.  I'm a  
> computer administrator by profession - and *I* haven't been able to  
> get a Plone site up and running yet.  What does that say for the  
> "average user"? Iow, the kb needed to run & maintain a Plone system  
> is WAY under stated.

I very much agree with you Chirs, and I install Plone for a living.
We'd all really like Plone to be easy to configure into a working  
system and are working hard to make that happen but...

a) it's not currently the case
b) it's not one of plones competitive advantages
c) it sets a dangerously high expectation that can lead to  
disappointment and resentment.

IMHO we're much better selling plone on it's enterprise grade power.  
The fact thats its both a web CMS and document management system. And  
set the expectation that Plone being Enterprise grade combined with  
consultants produces a fantastic fit to your business needs.
No  one expects SAP to be easy to install do they?

---
Dylan Jay, Plone Solutions Manager
www.pretaweb.com
tel:+61299552830
mob:+61421477460
skype:dylan_jay