Roche Molecular Diagnostics looking for social media platform design input

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by PK Koduri on October 16, 2009 at 12:42pm

Mark - I managed a platform geared towards innovation and idea management at Lexmark. What you do/choose will depend entirely on what the goals are for the platform. Things to consider include whether you are going to use to brainstorm, collaborate on projects, share information, do you want vendors to be able to access, what kind of HR practices need to be on place etc. If you use Microsoft or IBM for your IT services they have products that can integrate with your environment. Send me an email at pkoduri at gmail dot com and I will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Doug Vann on October 20, 2009 at 12:14pm

Mark,
Thank you for using the phrase "social media website." What Douglas Karr and Pat Coyle have done with SmallerIndiana.com is a shining example of what can be done with NING. Your needs, however, extend far beyond the limitations of this and any other hosted application. I've used NING, CollectiveX, and Orkit. They do a good job and they will certainly remain in the marketplace. I've also used Joomla & Drupal. These two are considered by many to be the 2 rival kings of Social Media Websites. I made the switch from Joomla to Drupal in Dec of 2007 when I became aware of the tremendous momentum that was sweeping this CMS into every sector of the web. The roster is impressive; magazines, newspapers, cable networks, governments, campaigns, schools, libraries, Ecommerce, intranets, collaboration, syndication, multimedia...
I'll send you an email with more details. I'll end with a list of qualifications that I believe any solution should contain.

Any one responding to you should ideally fall under the following:
a] A service that is 100% license free software under the GPL v2 license.
b] Developed and maintained not by one company, but by a large community of dedicated, skilled, proven developers.
c] Have a proven track record of satisfying Social Media Websites for a variety of groups with diverse demographics.
d] Must have local [Indiana based] expertise that has extensive experience in building and maintaining Social Media Websites.
e] The solution must not impose any technical restrictions [will work on Windows AND Linux servers.]
f] All source code must be available for free.
g] There should be no limit to the granularity of control over functionality and layout.
h] All existing pieces of software designed to extend the functionality of the chosen application must be free of charge and also under the GPL v2 license
i] Must have a proven track record of integrating with 3rd party application including and beyond social networking applications.

Yes, I know I just described DRUPAL. And, yes, I know that we Drupal developers tend to get pretty excited about our product. I have to say that I also develop in WordPress because it is the right APP for the job when it comes to an easy to maintain blog site. I even maintain a static html site because Drupal is too much overhead for a small site. But the topic here is Social Media Websites. I have seen what Drupal can do and I've done it myself. I simply don't believe that a competing product can deliver the same results even if you paid a licensing fee for it.

- Doug Vann
- http://dougvann.com
- http:///www.twitter.com/dougvann

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeff Zuber on October 20, 2009 at 1:45pm

Mark,
You should contact JAD Porter at DVC. They have built several Social Media Sites during my tenure there and have built them for others in the medical community. Best of all they are a Roche Tier 2 supplier. You can contact JAD at 317-544-2150. They are truly great people to work with.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Doug Vann on October 24, 2009 at 3:26pm

OK... I just had to add this:

Whoa!
I just discovered that http://www.whitehouse.gov/ just launched in Drupal. I knew it was coming but didn't know when.

Recovery.org was in Drupal from launch until a few weeks ago. $18Million was approved for a redesign of the very young site and a military contractor used Sharepoint. I promise you that licensing fees were in the MILLIONS for this one. Way to go Micro$oft. Here's an article on the switch: http://drupal.org/node/594720

The New York Senate website http://www.nysenate.gov/ was launched following last November's elections when the Democrat Party won a majority for the 1st time in 47 years. The site is being harolded as a success in its task to keep open communications flowing and published material archived and searchable.

- Doug Vann : My Blog, Twitter ME!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nellie Stout on November 3, 2009 at 9:41pm

Fusework Studios may be a good fit for your needs. Let me know if you want to chat directly. nstout@fuseworkstudios.com

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by matthew w. wilson on November 4, 2009 at 1:25pm

Mark,

Hey, saw this post and thought I would reply.

I am a Multimedia/Interactive Media Graphic Designer by trade.
I've worked on Flash Websites, Interactive Media (such as touch-screen kiosks, and video games) and just simple web-design and web 2.0 graphics.
I work for Indiana State University, but am always looking for side work and worthwhile projects.

I am also familiar with many of the systems you had in your link.

Let me know if you ever need someone with my expertise.

▶ Reply to This