1. BEST PRACTICES IN GROWING A DEVELOPER ECOSYSTEM AROUND YOUR API
27 September | API World 2017
Paul Nerger, SVP Products
developerprogram.com

2. OBJECTIVE
Share some of best practices that we have learned in building hundreds of developer and partner programs for our clients
Strategy & Planning
Acquisition
Portal Content

3. STRATEGY & PLANNING Developer Program Best Practices
Acquisition
Portal Content

4. DESIGN YOUR DEVELOPER ECOSYSTEM MODEL$
Product
API/SDK = $
Marketplace
Prospects
Svcs
Apps
Developer Portal
Developers
Docs
Partner Portal
Partners
SIs
ISVs $
Customers $ $ $ $ $

5. BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS

6. ESTABLISH ALIGNMENT
Does everyone understand and agree with the business model?
Does everyone understand the monetization points?
Have metrics been established to monitor success?
Product Revenue?
Number of Customers?
Number of Developers?
Number of Partners?
Number of Services and Apps?
Engagement?
Have mechanisms been setup to pivot when needed?

7. IDENTIFY EXECUTIVE SPONSOR(S)
What is in it for your executive sponsor(s)?
Will your executive sponsor(s) be able to explain your program and its importance to peers?
Are all members of the executive team receiving communications about the program’s progress and related milestones?

8. ACQUISITION Developer Program Best Practices Strategy & Planning
Portal Content

9. DON’T MARKET TO DEVELOPERS
MYTH
DON’T MARKET TO DEVELOPERS

10. SEGMENT YOUR DEVELOPERS
POSITION
Prospect
Student
Intern
Expert
Evangelist
COMPANY TYPE
Internal
Customers
SIs
ISVs
VARs
VADs
USAGE MODEL
Transaction Processing
Business Intelligence
Client-Service
Big Data
Workflow
IoT
Mobile
LANGUAGE
Python
JavaScript
Ruby
C++
Java
Swift
Objective C
OTHER
Platform PC
Server
Mobile
Geography
Technology

11. MARKETING CAMPAIGN TOOLS
EVENTS
Hackathons
Webinars
Meetsups
SPEAKERS OPS
Conferences
University Lectures
ADVERTISING
Paid Search
Print
Television
Buzz techniques
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Press releases with press kits
Analyst relations
Whitepapers
eBooks
SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter
Blogs
YouTube
SlideShare
Slack Rooms
StakOverflow
NOTE
KEY METRICS ARE COST PER CONTACT & CONVERSION RATE

12. THE DEVELOPER FUNNEL

13. PORTAL CONTENT Developer Program Best Practices Strategy & Planning
Acquisition
Portal Content

14. SUPPORT THE DEVELOPER & PARTNER JOURNEY

15. PROTECT YOURSELF You will need several agreements over the site
Overall Program Agreement
Software Licensing Agreements for downloads
Beta Test Agreements
Partner Program Agreements
Others
Your portal must support agreements
Who signed or clicked what and when
Granting of new roles which open entitlements upon the signature or click (fulfilling your commitments of the agreement)
You need to keep a copy of each version of the agreement and who signed which agreement
OPTIONAL: Do you want to support the negotiation of custom agreements?
NOTE: You might also be subject to Export Restrictions
By clicking the ”I agree” button, I acknowledge that I have read and accepted the terms and conditions specified in this agreement.
I AGREE
CANCEL

16. API HOME PAGE(S) Simple Step-by-Step
Next three call to actions for the current role of the user
Map out the path to Evangelist
Adapt to each user to move them down that path
Quick links to what matters most
Documentation
Downloads
Support
Hero banner should also be adaptive to their level

17. CALL TO ACTIONS Think About What is Needed to Make a Decision
Watch the Overview video
Test your first App
Earn your Certified Expert badge
Read the Getting Started Guide
Sign up for the Partner Program
Post your badge on LinkedIn
Complete the Tutorial
Get your App Certified
Get your Forum answer voted #1
Ask a question in the Forum
Answer a question in the Forum
Send an invitation to a developer

18. AUTO-GENERATED DOCUMENTATION
Lots of auto-generation tools out there
Requires source tagging making both engineers and tech writers uncomfortable
Using many tools generates inconsistent outputs
Auto-generation describes only the components
Good starting point but don’t stop there…have a technical writer finish it off
HAND FINISHED

19. DOCUMENTATION QUALITY
Describing the whole API or SDK is good but…
Developers really want to get their job done – make the document use case driven!
A tech writer understands development but also knows how to communicate and will focus on describing how to get the job done with your API or SDK
Great tech writers work closely with API/SDK engineers to pick up the information pieces to tells the developer how to get their job done
IT’S OKAY TO TALK ABOUT THE TOOL…
BUT DON’T FORGET THE DESTINATION
YOUR IOS APP 3 HRS
YOUR ANDROID APP 4 HRS
YOUR PYTHON APP 2.5 HRS

20. GETTING STARTED WITH A “HELLO WORLD”
How to set up the environment
Hello World example
Go beyond REST – think Language specific client SDKs and APIs
Built around a live Test Harness such that you can see that it works
GOAL: Minimum TTHW (time to Hello World)

21. SAMPLE APP DRIVEN TUTORIAL
Written by a tech writer
Start with the sample app
Write the tutorial around the sample app
Use a format such as that supports multiple languages SDKs
Port the sample app to other languages and add the new sample code
NOTE: Focus on the 20% of the API/SDK calls that solve 80% of the problems

22. REFERENCE GUIDE End Points and SDK calls grouped logically
For each API end-point or SDK call
What does it do?
How is it called?
What are the methods?
What are the input parameters?
What are the error codes?
What logging is done?
What are the return values?
Parameters and Output: Optional vs. Mandatory, Defaults, Valid Ranges, Units & meaning of enumerated values
Section on Security and Authentication
NOTE: Great place for machine generated automation

23. HELPING YOUR DEVELOPERS & PARTNERS
Frequently Asked Questions
Community Forums – with Q&A Focus
Local on Site
And / or Remote such as StackOverflow
Contact us form and business process
Consider a Slack room
OPTIONAL: Paid Developer Support
Ability to raise a ticket
Tickets are tracked against an SLA
eCommerce engine to allow quick payment
Integrate with your internal system (e.g., Jira)

24. IMPLEMENT SCORECARDS Understand Where You Are and Where You Need to Be
A best practices scorecard can be used to give metrics on where you are:
Do you quickly relay your value to a developer?
Is there pricing information?
Is there a roadmap?
Is documentation quality sufficient?
Are documents in a web friendly format?
Etc.
Scorecards might look at 90+ attributes and should be customized to your needs.

25. SUMMARY
We have given you a glimpse of common best practices. This is a good start but each program must be adapted to its own specific requirements.
Strategy & Planning
Acquisition
Portal Content

26. KEY TAKEAWAYS
This is a complex subject, and I’ve only given you a glimpse of the issues
Start with the business model - find the one that works for you
Get everyone to buy in on the model – Alignment is Key!
Make sure you have an executive sponsor
Make sure all of the executives understand the value of the program and the metrics of success
Think about the campaigns – how will you attract developers, partners, etc.
Think about the content that is needed for each at each stage of their on-boarding
Make the portal work for you not the other way around
Come up with a scorecard and measure your programs truthfully and hones

27. QUESTIONS
Overwhelmed? Let the Experts Handle it Contact Me to Schedule a Demo

28. Copyright © 2016, by Perigee Capital, Partners LLC, All rights reserved.
The dp Logo, the Perigee Capital Partners logo, developerprogram.com, dp.com, dp, dpEngine, dpSlate, Perigee, and Perigee Capital Partners are trademarks of Perigee Capital Partners LLC which does business as developerprogram.com. dpPeople is a service mark of Perigee Capital, Partners LLC.
All other trademarks and service marks belong to their respective companies.
developerprogram.com
2300 Greenhill Drive, Suite 400
Ronud Rock, TX 78664
USA