Report by Coley Zephenia

11 February 2010 , Monash University,South Africa

Today was a great day for FLOSS National Trainings. I so inspired as we discussed prospects of introducing FLOSS Business Models at Monash South Africa. Myself and Mr. George Nyambuya made very interesting presentations to the Director of Continuing Education at the University. Our presentation strategy was for me to make my presentation of the course and Mr. Nyambuya gives a background of the bigger picture and how InWent and FOSSFA fit into the training.We also had great input from Monash staff who were part of the meeting. It was an awesome and  inspiring one,with some lessons I thought I could share with you the ICT@innovation community.

Big Lessons
The panel consisted of business executives and an IT Lecturer from Monash who represents the majority of clients you will meet in the corporate world. They asked some probing questions that I think most of us are constantly going to meet when we seek to get deals with clients. The following were some of the questions we faced

What is your business models?
The University needed to understand the business concept behind the course. It sought to understand what's in for the trainer and Monash University. After the discussion there were two options that the University that needed to explored and weighed:
It could be delivered as a short course through the continuing education department (Profit oriented)
It could be offered as part of community development (Not-for Profit)

Who is your market?
The University sought further elaboration on the target market. There was a need to clarify on the nature of trainees expected and their background.

Is the market prepared to pay?
The lesson we learnt from this question was that it is not enough to identify the market. Thanks to our presentation strategy the University quickly understood the whole concept and asked this important question. The Director highlighted that she understands a substantial number of ToT participants including myself were sponsored to attend the training. But even though they might be keen will the potential market be able and willing to pay premium rates if the course takes a for-profit model?

Is course fees standardised?
This was also an intelligent question from the Director. Given 80 Trainers were produced by the ict@innovation ToTs for ten African countries it means there could potentially be an average of ten trainers per countries available to offer similar the trainings. If there is no fees standardization then the training becomes a risky and unregulated business. ict@innovation need to look into establishing a standard fee for the course so that there is consistency.

What is the course marketing strategy?
There is a need to come up with strong selling document for the course so that it attracts the intended target. Listing the modules is not enough. If the participants will be from the corporate sector, the document needs to give a value proposition for the course. Ask yourself why would a manager let his subordinates to attend the course. What's in it for the companies/organization? Businesses need solutions that address the immediate challenges not long term solutions or theoretical concepts. 
After the meeting I realized the need to add a bit of that application side to the FLOSS Business Models Course which could include basic introduction to common applications and solutions. It could also cool concepts 

Outcomes
Despite the critique expressed by the staff pertaining to viability and sustainability of the business model, they were forthcoming. They highlighted that Monash University is keen to introduce the training. It requires a definitive choice of the business model for the short course and and a clarification of some of the issues raised in the meeting. Monash offered to assist in testing the market in case I choose the profit-oriented model. However, the greatest thing about the meeting was that the course will be offered either way.
What a piece of cake! Thanks to ict@innovation