Partner Scenarios

The Atimi Partner Program is a flexible program that caters to high-tech companies with a variety of needs. Some companies want to outsource the entire development of a product. Some companies just want to outsource the Mac portion. Other companies aren't sure how to proceed. We've outlined a couple partner scenarios here to outline the different ways you can partner with Atimi to help you produce your Mac product.

Product Management Scenario One

Your organization has finally decided to enter the Apple OS X market. Management sees excellent revenue opportunities in selling your hardware or software products in the Mac, iPod, or iPhone world. They have a solid Windows-based application that now needs to be Mac OS X compatible. You realize the Apple market is different from your traditional Windows-based user, so it's not just a porting job-you need to change some aspects of the application to please this new market. Your latest Windows-based version is due for public release in five months and the senior management wants you to simultaneously release the Mac version. They're hyping it now so you're hooked on the date, and your shop has never done Mac OS X development before.

Your mind races and you come up with three choices:

"How hard can it be?" I've been managing Windows-based development for years and I know someone who knows someone who can crank this out in no time. I'll find a contractor or two and get them in here.
"Let's off-shore it." You've read about China and Indian firms that will do development for pennies on the dollar, you'll throw this Mac version over to someone for cheap.
"Let's do this right." You want to manage this like you manage your Windows-based development, doing it right, doing it on time and on budget. You join the Atimi Partner Program and work with Atimi to produce the Mac version of your product.

Product Management Scenario Two

Your organization has always had a dual platform product-Windows and Mac. However, business reorgs and staff turnover have decimated your Mac development team, so the Mac version of your product has fallen behind in terms of version and features. With Macs moving into the small/medium business space and more and more products being released on this platform, the market can see your product has noticeably been ignored. The VP of sales wants you to update and freshen up the Mac version so the sales team can re-enter the OS X market. You don't have a lot of budget. How do you get it done?

Your mind races and comes up with two choices:

Make the old Mac version of the product simply Leopard compatible and re-release as "new". Do some testing, update a bit of code and change the colors around a bit.
Take the latest Windows-based version and port it over to OS X Leopard and add some funky new features to it. You join the Atimi Partner Program and work with Atimi to produce the Mac version of your product.

Sales Scenario

You've noticed that the Apple market segment is growing and it's the next untapped market for your product. You've had a solid windows product for many years and a stable development team. You've done your homework but have reached confusing conclusions as to the effort, time and costs it would take to port your product to OS X.

Should you build from scratch and take advantage of features and functions only available on the Mac OS X? This will be a definite competitive advantage but how much will this cost? Should you just port the existing Windows-based program over to OS X? Should you do the whole thing at once, piece-meal? Again how much time and cost is involved?

You can hire an expensive consulting firm to do a feasibility study or you can try to do the estimation yourself. Isn't there another option?

Yes there is.

The Step One Investigation package from Atimi Software.

This fixed scope engagement is perfect for data gathering, budget justification and product planning. Whether you are a software producer or a hardware manufacturer, investigating if your current Windows-based product can be ported to the Apple OS X platform is a necessary first step. If you don't have an Apple compatible product and you're thinking of releasing one, this is an economic service for scoping out the project requirements.

Once you've reviewed the initial estimation and you're ready for Atimi's 10-day Proof-of-Concept Package. We can mock-up your product-to-be.

There are so many uses for a POC-it's the easiest way to build support internally and help your executives visualize the business prospects of such an investment.

You can use this package to help your business with the following tasks:

To build a budget
To organize a support group
To do market research to see if your client base is interested in your product