Connect. Communicate. Collaborate

Segmenting the GÉANT2 User Base

Dale Robertson, PR Manager, DANTE

TNC 2005, Poznan, 8 June 2005

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The European Research Networking Landscape – Some Characteristics

• Hierarchical organisation – different from USA• Variety of national structures – regional networks/universal

provision/unique NREN• Non-uniform development – digital divide• Linguistic diversity

We are a long way from the

ultimate end users –

communication in this environment

is challenging

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Why Communicate?What We (Used?) To Say

• “The network already exists”• “Who needs to know about it – they just need it to work”• “Users’ needs don’t matter – they don’t know what they’re

talking about”• “The service is available – use it if you like”

• GÉANT was a victim of its own success: it worked well, so nobody knew they were using it

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Why Communicate?What We (Ought To) Say Now

• Maturing sector – emphasis moving from technology to service

• “To provide a good service, we need to understand what the user wants…

• … the services are provided for users, after all”• “We need to know what users think, need and want”• “Users” are becoming “customers”

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What We Already Know About GÉANT2 Users

• (GÉANT) user survey completed May 2003 concluded:

– High levels of satisfaction with the network– Low levels of awareness– Increased awareness could increase usage

• Desirable to increase awareness, and hence usage…

• …but how to communicate with up to, possibly, 30m people?

Connect. Communicate. CollaborateThe Scale of the Challenge

• PR activity: 30,000 items distributed in GÉANT lifetime– Web– Events– Brochures– Presentations– Video etc.

• GÉANT2 user support:– Supporting demanding pan-European users

• But what about everyone else?

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Connect. Communicate. CollaborateCommunicating to Users

• Inform - raise awareness of the network(s) and services• Explain – raise understanding• Support – increase network use• Justify public funding• Ensure users’ requirements are understood and met

But it’s a two-way street… USERSPROVIDERS

outreach

feedback

Connect. Communicate. CollaborateLearning from Users

• We want to provide a good service to members of the European research and education community

• To do this we need to:– Know who they are– Make sure they know about GÉANT2: what it is, what it

can do– Understand what they need– Ensure we meet those needs

Connect. Communicate. CollaborateTackling Diversity

• Who are the users (and potential users) of GÉANT2?– International communication– World wide– All ages: schools to professors– Academic disciplines: religion to particle physics– Technophobes to techies– E-mail & browsing to grids & high throughput– Governments, hospitals, libraries…

Connect. Communicate. CollaborateAdding Value

• Is a librarian’s definition of good service the same as that of a high energy physicist at CERN?

• Is the service required by an art historian the same as that sought by a supercomputing expert?

• They could all benefit equally from GÉANT2, but from different aspects of the network

• Normally, organisations aim to sell more of their product or service• We are unusual: most of our (potential) customers already have

(access to) our product. We want them to– Be aware of it– Benefit from it– Value it

• Users will value our competencies differently

Connect. Communicate. CollaborateSegmentation

• What is segmentation?– Chopping up GÉANT2 user base (beyond NRENs) into

smaller, more homogeneous chunks, called segments• More manageable way of communicating with users

– treat members of each segment in a uniform fashion – appropriate, tailored, correct pitch and detail

• Aim is to communicate more closely with users

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How Might the User Base be Segmented?

• Try to group users who would have similar information needs

• Does this mean:– Usage level?– Support requirements?– Technical requirements (PIP, PERT/monitoring,

roaming, testbed, etc)?– Institution type?– Geography?– Awareness of GÉANT2?

Connect. Communicate. CollaborateExample Variables & Values

• Type of institution/activity:– Research– Education– Other (culture, libraries, health etc)

• Geographical scope of activity:- National- International

• Level of awareness of GÉANT2:- Low

- High

• Type of application:- Grid- Demanding non-grid- Standard (e-mail, web

browsing etc)

Connect. Communicate. CollaborateSegmenting Connect. Communicate. Collaborate

Standard Appl ications

h igh

low

high

low

high

low

high

low

high

low

high

low

Type of Appl ication

Type of activi ty Scope of activi ty Aware ne ss of GÉANT(2)

GRID non GRID, de m anding

O the rs (cu l tural inst. , publ ic he al th syste m s, l ibrarie s e tc.)

National

Inte rnational

Re se arch National

Inte rnational

Education National

Inte rnational

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Potential Segmentation – 11 Segments Connect. Communicate. Collaborate

National Receptives

GRID P ractitioners

Research GRID Novices

Education GRID Novices

Other GRID Novices

Demanding Non-GRID P ractitioners

Demanding Research Novices

Demanding Education Novices

Other Demanding Novices

Standard P ractitioners

Standard Novices

Connect. Communicate. CollaborateSegmentation Issues

• Need to be clear what segmentation is for:– It’s a basis for organising communication with end users

• Segmentation needs to be compatible with NRENs• Need for manageable number of segments• Need to be able to identify which segment people belong to

Connect. Communicate. CollaborateSegmentation in GÉANT2

• Initial proposed segmentation• Discussed with NRENs March 2005• Revision and further discussion following TNC and

GÉANT2 launch• Implement (tested and revised) segmentation• Develop marketing materials for each segment• Dissemination

Connect. Communicate. CollaborateThe Importance of NRENs

• NRENs as– GÉANT2 primary customers– GÉANT2 project partners– Product providers – dovetailed/compatible approaches– Distribution channel for dissemination?– Interface to GÉANT2 users

Connect. Communicate. CollaborateAdding Value

• Marketing is about understanding, creating, delivering and communicating value to our target customers

• Users are becoming increasingly demanding and critical of the research networking services provided to them

• Other networks are now potentially capable of satisfying the requirements of many of our less demanding users

• We need to understand users’ needs – and exceed them

Connect. Communicate. CollaborateFurther Down the Road

• Segmentation: crude at the moment, as just beginning• Feedback loop will help us learn more and develop our

offering – customer value• Segment in more detail: increase sophistication of analysis• Segmentation is just one step on the way to developing a

full marketing strategy for GÉANT2

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QUESTIONS?