The Delivery Challenge
Markets want software products not just code. There is a gap between developers and customers, even between research teams and early adopters in the market. The Delivery Challenge refers to the effort required to fill the gap between brilliant ideas, algorithms and code with what will make them valuable for market stakeholders, in a word with what will actually be useful for mainstream users and create sustainable value. Customers do not buy code, they buy products.
Enabling Market Engagement Through Beta Testing Campaigns
By encouraging partners to work together to enhance the market maturity of the product of their research, a beta testing campaign is a best practice to deliver valuable and exploitable results. A beta testing campaign is a technico-marketing initiative in which, on one hand, provisional software is combined with product attributes such as proper packaging, user interface and documentation so as to make it understandable and easy to use and, on the other, beta testers are recruited and incentivised to provide feedback with the possibility of winning a prize.
ReachOut Objectives
ReachOut will help H2020 projects in the area of software technologies concretely engage with their markets via beta testing campaigns. Here is what you can expect from ReachOut.
- The BetaCenter platform where projects can publish their beta testing campaigns.
- A set of recommendations and best practices for beta testing and market alignment.
- Face-to-face or online meetings to educate projects to align with market expectations.
- Potential users, partners and complementors who will connect with projects.
- And, as a result, market sustainable software ecosystems.