Sakai Foundation Update

Michael KorcuskaJuly 8, 2009

Agenda

• Sakai Foundation in 2008• Sakai Foundation in 2009• Membership• Finances• Conferences• Proposed by-law changes

Sakai Foundation

• MISSION — help coordinate design, development, testing & distribution of software; manage & protect intellectual property; provide basic infrastructure & small staff; champion open source & open standards.

• PARTNERS — approximately 100 member organizations contribute $10K per year ($5K for smaller institutions, sliding scale for commercial affiliates).

• GOVERNANCE — ten board members elected by member reps to serve three-year terms; Executive Director manages day-to-day operations.

• BUDGET — funds 4-6 staffers, admin services, computing infrastructure, project coordination, conferences, Sakai Fellows Program, advocacy & outreach activities.

We are not “in charge” of the Sakai Product. We do develop community practices.

SAKAI FOUNDATION 2008

Focus on Quality

• August 2007: My first month at Sakai• Sakai release 2.4 going in production• Large institutions spending too much time on

troubleshooting & maintenance• Fewer resources for new feature development

• Immediate Foundation Goal• Quality, Quality, Quality

• Other Issues• Desire to rebuild Sakai UX• (Perception of a) developer-dominated community• Roadmap

Changes & Results

• Increased Foundation staff focused on QA• Extended QA Cycle for 2.5

• Formal Beta and Release Candidates• Final 2.5.0 release in March instead of November

• Introduction of Maintenance Releases• Currently on Sakai 2.5.4, the most reliable version of

Sakai to date• Challenge: Managing 2.5 and 2.6 releases

simultaneously• Not to mention 3.0

UX Improvement

• Did not make 2.6 release• Not enough work completed in time for code freeze• Many felt design needed happen on tools before they

would deploy on campus• 2.7 or 3?

• Currently the Foundation is working towards 3.0• Some design work can be implemented for 2.7, but we

need resources willing to do this• Overall Result

• Positive change in direction• Won’t be satisfied until changes reach release

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Sakai 3

• Changing expectations• Google docs/apps, Social

Networking, Web 2.0• Success of project sites =

Sakai beyond courses

• New technologies• Standards-based, open

source projects• JCR (Jackrabbit)• Open Social (Shindig)

• Client-side programming• JavaScript/AJAX

Design Result

Sakai 3: What

• A set of R&D projects that will form the foundation of Sakai 3

• A series of preview releases starting later this year

• No defined date for Sakai 3.0

SAKAI FOUNDATION 2009

Current Challenges

• Predictable Roadmap• Good things are happening• When will they emerge into the release?• Action: Sakai Product Manager, Clay Fenlason

• Communication• Who is working on what?• Who is interested in the same things I am?• Action: Sakai Communication Manager, Pieter Hartsook

• Creating large changes• User Interface Improvement: UX Improvement Project• Major Tool Rewrites• A Completely New Version?• Action: New Product Development Process

Sakai Goals

• Adoption• Broad & Diverse (significant adoption by different types of

organizations)• The top choice for innovators

• Product Experience• Cohesive, effective and engaging (end users)• Platform for local innovation (developers)• Easy to deploy/manage (production)

• Community• Easy to contribute (for new & experienced members)• Diverse (roles & institutions)• Excellence (recognized as desirable to belong to)

Community Wants

• Clear product vision & direction• More communication from Foundation• Roadmap that allows campus advocates to

effectively communicate with stakeholders• Project structure that attracts sufficient resources

and uses them effectively• More input from functional experts & designers• Allow diverse types participation

• Large and small, Formal and informal, Institutional and individual

Product Life Cycle

Majo

r Pro

du

ct Ch

ang

es• Generate new ideas• Try new technologies

• Prove desirability• Create dev team/plan• Reduce dev risks

• Finish building• Test• Document

Community

Product Council

Product Development• Structuring of work in this phase is key• Projects probably need

• Project management• Project schedule and plan• Functional leadership• UX (including accessibility and i18n)• Multiple organizations involved

• Exceptions possible• K2 using Apache-style management successfully

Key: Ability to predictably deliver quality product

Product Council

• Authority:• Decide what is in the official release

• How:• Based on objective criteria as much as possible• Open process and document decision-making

• Also:• Provide guidance to incubation projects who are

wondering what they need to do to make the release

Product Council

• Nate Angell (rSmart)• Noah Botimer (Michigan)• Eli Cochran (Berkeley)• Michael Feldstein (Oracle)• Clay Fenlason (Georgia Tech & Sakai)• David Goodrum (Indiana) • John Lewis (Unicon)• Stephen Marquard (Cape Town)• John Norman (Cambridge)• Max Whitney (NYU)

MEMBERSHIP AND ADOPTION

10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 21July 2009

New Foundation Members

Membership

• Steady overall• Expiration of original 3-year SEPP commitment

• Some institutions are not renewing• Introduction of 3-year discounted membership

• 20% for a 3 year commitment with up front payment• Membership will be driven by adoption

• And effectiveness in coordinating community

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What Adoption Numbers?

• Moodle statistics are often referenced• These aren’t right for us.

• Number of Courses/Installation, ~ 40• Number of Users/Installation, ~ 400• 33% Higher Education, 12% Commercial

23

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Sakai Adoption Metrics

Total enrollment of Higher Ed institutions that have adopted Sakai as their primary CLE

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US Adoption

• Large research institutions who have (or will have) Sakai as their primary CMS account for ~22% of total enrollments (up from 16% as of Paris)

Adopted 22%

Not Adopted 78%

Overall US Adoption

Newpor...

Paris

Boston

0

250

500

750

1,000

In Thousands

Overall, US institutions who

have adopted Sakai have total

enrollment of 949,000.

Up from 832,000 at Paris (12%

increase)

Adopting 2 or 3?

• Generally, the answer is 2.6 or 2.7• It works well today• 3 doesn’t exist yet

• The best path to 3 will be through 2• Bb/WebCT migration to 3 is undefined• Bb/WebCT migration to 2 is well known• Many will be migrating from Sakai 2 to 3

• Exceptions• You don’t have a CMS or you are using something like

Sharepoint• Your adoption timeline is 2012 or later

FINANCES AND BUDGET

Finances

• Healthy: $890K of current assets• Current Cash Balance of almost $500K• A/R of almost $400K

• But• Conference expenses haven’t come in yet• Much of this reserved for future years (3-year

memberships)

• Expect to collect/spend approximately $900k this year

Spending Goals

• Less spending on conferences• Net of $300k two years ago• Net of $60k (estimated) this year

• More spending on product development• QA, UX, Release management

• More spending on communications• Internal and external (outreach)

OTHER TOPICS

Conferences

• Single Global Conference• Late June, Early July every year

• Regional Conferences (since Paris)• Stockholm, Virginia Tech, Australia, Japan

• Development Meetings• Next one?

By-Law Changes

• Remove requirement to have board approve conference chair and committee• If they want to they can do so. But it shouldn’t

be required in the by-laws.• Allow up to 2 external board members

• To bring perspective we might not get via elections process (financial, legal)

• Approved by 2/3 of elected board• Members must approve this change