On 8/11/2003 5:15 PM Jim McAtee noted that:
> NSE participants are what? Alpha testers? Beta testers?
The definitions of Alpha and Beta carry some implications that we'd like
to avoid if at all possible - i.e., the logical progression from Alpha
through to launch. Services launched via the NSE initiative require
input from our channel partners regarding fit and finish prior to a
widespread launch. It will also be the case that both of us (ie - us and
our resellers) have further learning to do about the space or technology
that the service plays in.
The clearest idea that I can give you is that NSE launched services
will typically not be "line extensions" (i.e. improvements on existing
services like domains) - they will be completely new services that we
haven't offered in the past.
I like to think of services offered under these programs as being
offered on a start-up basis. Our team is small and focused exclusively
on offering these services to NSE participants. For instance, I will be
personally handling customer service, billing and technical operations
for the services in my launch portfolio. Darryl Green, whom you may have
dealt with in the early days of our cert and email services, will be
similarly handling services in his portfolio. At a certain point, these
services will be graduated to the larger organization, but in the
meantime, this really is a deal between me and my team, and all of you.
Think of it as a cross between a Beta, a market trial and the Pepsi
Challenge. :)
Hope this helps,
---rwr
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Tue Oct 19 2004 - 23:37:46 EDT