2021 LFN Messaging Workshop 060121

Supporting Documents

Attendees

@Brandon Wick @Jill Lovato @Lindsey Sech Neil Hartsell Yves Bellago

Agenda for Today

Presentation to EUAG Last Week

LFN Proof Points Update

Security

Persona Prioritization

Need Tuned Elevator Pitch for Each Priority

Presentation to EUAG Last Week

Lindsey presented our messaging work to date to the EUAG last week. Overall affirmation of the messaging direction. China Mobile and Verizon will look at providing additional feedback.

Security

Team reviewed and edited draft security statement for the Open Source Background Section:

"Linus's Law famously states that "Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.” Software that is open is reviewable by anyone, which means a higher level of scrutiny and quicker vulnerability discovery. This is a primary reason why open source has become the prominent software development model today."

Revised the Security bullet under the Stay Cutting Edge Pillar to:

"Open source software, by definition, motivates leading edge development with vulnerability detection & code design best practices."

Brandon will take the first pass at LFN Security Backgrounder with a general description and supporting statements from the projects. In parallel, we'll look to develop a LFN Blog post on security (at Arpit's request).

Projects who have not yet completed their security statement (FD.io, XGVela, Tungsten Fabric are asked to do so by EOW). Neal and Jill will bring this up with the Marketing Working Group.

Messaging Next Steps

Collect Proof points and incorporate from the community (Due June 8th). Neal agreed to draft up a FD.io proof point for a customer and seek approval for it.

Review LFN Security Backgrounder

Create specific elevator pitches for each target persona. Brandon to create separate wiki pages for this.

Next Meeting

Lindsay has a conflict on Friday morning this week. Send out a Doodle poll for alternate times.

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Notes from the last call

Updates

Gave quick update to Board on Wed, follow up on proof points → Go directly. LS/BM→Rajesh. Mailing List, + EUAG, etc. Andre interview. Trying to advance the open source message, can't do it without.

Incorporate the Maturity Model, we are "influencing" what following in terms of trials, testing, deployments.

Review Honolulu updates for best stories → 1:1 asks.

Possible approach → Write the story/quote first, here's what we're thinking about.

Synch with Project.

What's the Ask? 3-4 User Stories to be used across the pillar. Where open source has been in action? Where has open source been used effectively? This is not early days, it's mature, ready to go.

Neal has a cost saving example.

Needs to tie back to a specific project --?> It's up to us to position this for the end user as part of the ask.

Different types of service providers, e.g. ITSP. VPP the best/only solution. Ask is short/pith questions, make it easy for them → final product 1 pager (per story) w/ quick elements to add to deck. Neal: Recuit a cost saving customer story (VPP), Lindsey/Bob, synch with Rajesh. Brandon/Heather to pitch the board as a whole (if OK), and follow up 1:1. Ranny: Dish in USA and Rakuten in Japan, very vocal about opens source. What are they doing: Team to check and compare.

Security: We need to weave this in throughout. Surface at least 1 proof point. (based on Amy preso). Message: Many eyes enhance security, see what's being done across the projects. Jill to review general LF messaging. Start with general → find something more. Leverage ONAP "stay cutting edge". Security top of mind.

Reaching out on project security summaries (due 5/28).

Personas

Personas deck last draft here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15A46C2I25ZD01mBoq7jIHzJu44n9fM7Gyd2ABPRzKuY/edit#slide=id.gdc21dff718_0_0

All edits captured in this deck?

Added Teddy the Tech Leader

Need to finalize

Proposed prioritization

1^st: Susan, the open source advocate (prefer to call her ‘advocate’ vs ‘shepherd’)

2^nd: Sally, the SW developer (where we typically target)

3^rd: Olga the operations manager or Paula the P&L owner. If we agree this could be a top priority, we felt it might be good to get input from the enterprise EUAG on which role is more influential within their companies (the person lobbying the P&L Owner or the P&L Owner itself)

How to add P&L Owner? Get input from EUAG on prioritization. Next Steps for each: Develop/take a fine tuned version for each persona to the board.

Build it / run it / don't lose $$

Update list with latest / make proposal / need owner for top 3. Idea: Reference current pillars / assign offsite to polish on group input.

Meet Next Week on Friday? → further this without Lindsey elevator/pillars for each audience – > what would change and how → group discussion → assign owners to polish.

Process/Timeline/Next Steps

5/25: Review with EUAG

5/28: Security summaries due from projects

6/11: Finalize Draft

6/16: Review with MAC

7/21: Ratify with Board

Missing pieces:

Security statements

Proof points

Cross-audience messaging

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Notes from the last call

Update from From Lindsey Pre-Call: I revised the messaging to reflect what we spoke about, and put it into a deck format that we can socialize with the operators in the EUAG and the Enterprise Peer Group, and eventually with the Board. I called out the inputs/help we need from the EUAG and next steps.

Call Notes: The team reviewed the updated messaging deck from Lindsey and the existing personas deck. It was agreed that the personas deck needed an update and one liners for each to be added to main deck. Neal volunteered to do this. In parallel, we agreed the that personas deck needs an update/review. Brandon/Jill will create an analyst media/slide, and Bob will look over the deck to suggest any updates. Goal is to have the one-liners ready before the EUAG Meeting, May 25. It was noted that many of the persona categories are applicable to the different ecosystem audience messaging. After Neal and Bob dropped at 9:30, we had a long discussion with Sandeep on LFN positioning and building in new facets, e.g. the Enterprise Trend: Walmart and other retailers. Networking itself is becoming of interest. 5G Super Blueprint is zeroing in on a specific use case. e.g.: Warehouse. How can we determine use cases and get their thoughts. Sandeep can help on these points, consider asking customers/partners for input.

Next steps & Owners

Finalize cross-audience messaging (elevator pitch + pillars) within message working group (Lindsey)
Need community examples for proof points (Brandon/Heather/Arpit)
Incorporate relevant security sub-messages and proof points in the pillars. Ask project reps to summarize what each project is doing to drive toward more secure networking.
- Owner: Need owner to gather and consolidate this feedback. (Brandon to facilitate with Project Liaisons) Need community owner to help consolidate (Reaching out to Amy Z)
- Integrate security into the narrative (Brandon, Heather, Lindsey)
Personas
- Need to review /update personas deck (Brandon/Bob)
- Need pen source value by persona (1 liner takeaway for each persona, to add to slide 9 (Neal)
Develop audience specific messaging (aligned to cross-audience messaging)?
- Owner: Need owners for audiences (vendor ecosystem, network operators, SIs, cloud service providers, enterprise IT). Format TBD.
- Cross-reference the personas positioning
Review cross-audience messaging in EUAG and MAC for feedback.
- Owner: Lindsey, Neal, Brandon
Ratify cross-audience messaging at July Board meeting (Owner: Lindsey, Heather, Brandon)

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Notes from the last call

Update from From Lindsey Pre-Call:

EUAG scheduling miscommunication, Lindsey to solicit EUAG feedback on 5/25/21 (Draft slides linked above)
Input on industries and use cases we should reference in Cutting Edge message pillar
Discussion Point: Maybe we just do a short elevator pitch for specific audiences, but we’ll need to determine if there is more value to do it for personas (which can span multiple company types in the value chain), or if we do it for company types (operators, ISVs, SIs, etc) which would be speaking to a broad set of personas at that company. I think maybe the former is better, but it would be good to have discussion on it.
Need their input on use cases to call out in the 3^rd message pillar.
We’ll also need to add the persona 1-liners on the open source slide
Discussion Point: Most LFN activities target multiple audiences vs audience specific activations. As such, we were questioning if we should really spend our time developing audience specific messaging. Did that get discussed again? If not, can we add to this Friday’s agenda? I think it’s worth a discussion if our time is best served developing the cross-audience messaging, and we don’t bother generating 6 versions of audience specific messaging.

Call Notes:

Next steps & Owners

Finalize cross-audience messaging (elevator pitch + pillars) within message working group (Lindsey)
Need community examples for proof points (Brandon/Heather/Arpit)
Incorporate relevant security sub-messages and proof points in the pillars. Ask project reps to summarize what each project is doing to drive toward more secure networking.
- Owner: Need owner to gather and consolidate this feedback. (Brandon to facilitate with Project Liaisons) Need community owner to help consolidate (Reaching out to Amy Z)
- Integrate security into the narrative (Brandon, Heather, Lindsey)
Personas
- Need to review /update personas deck (Brandon/Bob)
- Need pen source value by persona (1 liner takeaway for each persona, to add to slide 9 (Neal)
Develop audience specific messaging (aligned to cross-audience messaging).
- Owner: Need owners for audiences (vendor ecosystem, network operators, SIs, cloud service providers, enterprise IT). Format TBD.
- Cross-reference the personas positioning
Review cross-audience messaging in EUAG and MAC for feedback.
- Owner: Lindsey, Neal, Brandon
Ratify cross-audience messaging at Board meeting (Owner: Lindsey, Heather, Brandon)

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Running Draft

Elevator Pitch

Setup

The modern organization has data and users located everywhere. This is impacting the performance and security needs of IT networks across the globe, along with compelling user experiences and new revenue paths - all central to ‘digital transformation’.

Problem/Challenge

Networking technology plays a pivotal role in this digital transformation, among them, three networking transformations will disrupt our planet from 2020-2030: 5G, edge computing, and cloud-native application development. Any one of these disruptions can be overwhelming to comprehend, let alone rapidly and affordably leverage in totality. Inherently, a key challenge is software complexity to implement the full capabilities of these technologies and this is where open source comes into play. Leverage you must: adapt or perish.

Answer

At LF Networking, we firmly believe open-source technology is the only viable path to truly scale software so that businesses, government agencies, education institutions, service providers - and the OEMs, ISVs and system integrators that support them - can achieve operational and revenue value in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Value

We provide the largest set of open-source networking projects - through a broad industry coalition - so the entire world can access networking innovations and achieve digital transformation.

Closer/CTA

Networking digital transformation is a right, not a privilege. We make it so. Join us.

Notes:

OS skeptics are smaller players or vendors who don't understand open source. Needs a WIIFM. Do we need a roles and responsibilities (R&R)? With R&D or w/o R&D.

Add brief open source value statement (hook), details below: Provide map to roles → Value statement for each persona. Small Operators: Rely on SIs for commercially backed OS offerings/ecosystem. How this gets to market. Members building solutions.

Proof Points: What are examples or operators doing well in open source (save $$ pillar, specific examples).

Collaborative development. We have an ecosystem ready to go, build confidence.

No one can do this alone / Don't try this at home / You're missing out if not here / OS Needs You (Uncle Sam) / At the Table or in the Menu – big or small. (Side note: punchy/fun slogans).

TEAM: ADD ANY ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK HERE.

Message Pillars

Speed time to market / streamline development

Key points:

Service providers can leverage open source to more quickly to support end user needs
Speed time to market for network services and infrastructure
Onboard new services more quickly and efficiently
End users can confidently rely upon community-built, interoperable solutions

Examples:

Narrative:

Open source has now become the de facto way to build software to speed up software development. Working within the LFN community, developers have access to the broadest set of open source networking capabilities and integration points, with projects spanning Software Defined Networking (SDN), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), Management and Orchestration (MANO), automation, analytics, data plane acceleration, and more. They can leverage this community-driven work to develop and onboard networking software in simpler, more efficient ways. This speeds up time to market for network services and infrastructure. In turn, businesses, service providers and government agencies have the confidence that they can rely on community-built, interoperable solutions to support their end user needs.

Save money / Improve operational efficiency

Key points:

Simpler, more efficient ways to develop and onboard software
Avoid unnecessary duplication of common components / technology that companies need
Reduce vendor lock in
Interoperability assurance
Better requirements / testing helps ensure seamless software integration
Save or optimize CAPEX & OPEX (add to narrative below) "shifting left" (Give examples)

Examples:

Narrative:

Operations need to run smoothly and can’t afford costly or time-consuming software upgrades. Working in the LFN community prevents unnecessary duplication of common networking components and technology that companies need to develop and deploy, and provide more vendor choice to reduce lock in. By leveraging work within the community, you gain simpler and more cost-efficient ways to develop and onboard software. LFN’s broad community and years of experience in driving open compliance efforts also offers assurance of interoperability and remove the guesswork to save you time and money. The LFN community is constantly improving both the requirements and the testing against these requirements. Whether you are leveraging a single LFN project building block or a more complete solution stack, the work put in by LFN helps ensure that software is more likely to integrate seamlessly and with less headaches.

Stay cutting edge to drive new revenue opportunities

Key points:

Open source innovations enable new revenue generating services
Open source innovations enable operational efficiencies
Develop & foster open source practitioners in your organization

Examples:

Narrative:

LFN fosters and incubates networking innovations that have been implemented in communications networks globally and can be used to enable new revenue generating services and operational efficiencies across a range of industries, from retail and healthcare to manufacturing and more. The community is fostering a new wave of open source practitioners across the entire value chain and is an innovation competency that the industry can rely on. LFN projects are also deeply integrated with the edge computing landscape and collaborate with other communities like LF Edge (others?) to add networking capabilities and features to edge blueprints and use cases. With this access innovation, retailers can find new ways to optimize inventory, manufacturers can improve defect detection and connect their factories for real-time decision making, and <insert 1 more from another industry>.

Notes: Innovation moves faster in an open, collaborative forum. "A greater ecosystem fosters better ideas, faster development" "Innovation moves faster in an open collaborative forum where you can crowdsource ideas." Perhaps add up front. OS development creates design patterns that commercial vendors can incorporate. Operators can evolve directions/requirements accordingly. "Give me that" (add to background on open source section).

Background on open source

Software development can be costly and time consuming. As a result, many developers are actively involved in and leveraging from open source communities and open source has now become the de facto way to build software. Developers can tap into a broader ecosystem of ideas and viewpoints to more quickly generate innovations, and to speed up software development. No single company could accomplish what is delivered through an open source community.
Companies are leveraging open source innovations more frequently in their product and service offerings, contributing to the community and using it to chart their own course in the evolving networking landscape.
As companies and developers use open source code to build their own commercial products and services, they also gain strategic value in contributing back to those projects. Open source reduces time and optimizes effort, while improving efficiencies and interoperability. Open source communities are also a key driver for building consensus across the industry, filling gaps, and driving adoption by vendors, integrations, end users.

Notes: Feedback Loop. EUAG, Enterprise EUAG, MAC, Board. "Are we hitting the mark"? This document a beacon for the content we need to produce. Links to concrete examples/user stories. Idea: Framework lends itself to infographic / visual communications.

How will this be used? Exec Presos (ONES), Infographics, Emails, Blogs, LFN Benefits page, Quote sheet, New member onboarding materials.

3-5 total examples that can be used/linked to from messaging (one or more of the pillars). People need to identify themselves in the messaging (short examples). Specific company names/examples (end users) better. Open offer to EUAG/ Enterprise EUAG. We need these examples, named examples better. Approach smaller operators. 1:1 invitations as well as broad invitation.

Target Personas

Operations: Example Titles: DevOps Engineers, SRE Engineers, Platform Engineer, Automation Architect
Technical Leadership: Example Titles: Engineering Manager/Director/VP, Release Engineer Manager, DevOps Manager, Ops Manager
Technical Developer: Example Titles: Software Developer (title can include: Jr., Sr., Mgr.), Software Engineer, Software Architect
Business/P&L Owner: Example Titles: General Manager, Head of BU
Open Source Professionals. Example Titles: Head of Open Source, Open Source Advocate, Community Manager / Director
Press/Analysts: Editor, Contributor, Reporter, Analyst, Researcher, Head of Research
Exec?
Other?

Notes: How to apply to different types of companies (vendors, end users, etc)? Do we need tuned versions?