There is a large variety of software being used in modern IT departments, everything from databases to CRMs to enterprise integration platforms. Which of these platforms are strategic for your organization and will lead to success? You’ll notice that these systems are either new or have evolved significantly from their origins, have strong investments in research and development (R&D) and have an active community of users, examples include Salesforce and MuleSoft.
Community success is the idea of investing your time and efforts in the community to improve the experience of using the software. This applies across the board, whether you create, support, or use the software, investing in community success benefits everybody.
Many of the successful software companies of the past 20 years can attribute their success to the user adoption and associated community. The community plays a key role in shaping the direction of a software product, while contributing to the ecosystem of skills required for mass adoption.
How to increase user community engagement
The user community for a software product is a vital aspect of the software ecosystem and is a measure of success. Here is how I think about community and ways of participating:
- Forums: These allow you to share and learn content and get answers to your questions. Stack Overflow is a popular forum but there may also be specific forums, such as the MuleSoft Forum, for questions about your favorite product or tool.
- Blogs: A blog post is an opportunity to share your knowledge or perspective with the community. Blogs help others get over humps in their journey or share guidance on how to make the best use of a tool. Many of my colleagues have shared their knowledge via the MuleSoft Blog.
- Meetups / user groups: These give the community a chance to engage on a personal level with other people who use the software. Meetups allow users to showcase their efforts and share their knowledge. MuleSoft supports over 130 Meetup groups around the world!
- Social media: LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are fantastic networks for sharing a message to a wide, distributed audience.
- YouTube: There may be someone out there seeking the knowledge you have and a simple YouTube video tutorial has the power to educate and inform them.
At MuleSoft, the community has played a huge part in our growth to date and continues to be a pillar of our success. MuleSoft runs and coordinates a huge community of users and provides the platforms for the community to network, learn, and share with each other. Don’t just take my word for it though; last year was a huge year for the community and our community members are inspirational in their passion and commitment. I believe that we can always do more for our community and I will make it my mission to do so in 2020.
The beauty of a vibrant community is that it doesn’t stop at a particular platform and brings people together to share experience and expertise. This is why I engage with the MuleSoft Community.
So, as you set goals for 2020, I urge you to seek out a community that you identify with. I also hope you engage further with the MuleSoft community and share your thoughts on how we can help support you. Visit the MuleSoft Community page to see how you can get involved.
