Developer Center Resources
Introduction
As part of their work, most consulting and integration companies create code to solve a variety of issues. This includes code written to address a customer's need, or code written to improve an internal process. Often, this code will be reused through copying and pasting from other projects, or worse, it will be used once and forgotten about. These tools can range from simple APIs and VI templates to complex architectures and stand-alone solutions. By packaging, productizing and distributing useful code, companies can take advantage of the NI software ecosystem in a variety of ways:
Generate Revenue – Developers would very often prefer a paid tool to an in-house tool that may require a great deal of time to develop.
Generate Leads – Follow up with users of your toolkit to determine if their projects require additional expertise or assistance.
Build Customer Relationships – Gather feedback and capture the needs of your customer base to better market your services.
Build Your Company's Brand – Your software is an opportunity to showcase your company’s skills and areas of expertise.
This document walks through of the major considerations when adding your software to the NI software ecosystem.
Productize Your Code
Redistributable code should be both functional and portable, but to be productized it should also be intuitive, documented, and identifiable. Two key considerations when productizing your software are the user experience and the product’s brand.
Focus on the User Experience
User Interface – Ensure that your software is intuitive. This includes the design of your front panels, names of your VIs, and behavior of your software during user interactions. These white papers present many concepts that will help you design an intuitive UI.
Documentation – All software should have documentation surrounding its use, whether it’s in-product or a separate document. Important types of documentation include help files, context help, controls descriptions. There are many tools available to efficiently create documentation, some of which can be found here.
Examples and Tutorials – Consider the typical ways in which an end user might use your software and craft examples or tutorials that demonstrate that use case. This will help the user hit the ground running with your product and provide a starting point for projects.
Brand Your Product
Your product's brand should contain the following elements at a minimum:
Name – Give your product a descriptive and memorable name, something that conveys the purpose of the software but also distinguishes it from other similar products.
Logo – Your product’s logo should be simple (not too busy), distinguished (easily recognizable), and versatile (able to be used in a variety of media). Before finalizing any logos, be sure to get feedback from others.
Descriptions – Craft 25-, 50-, and 100-word descriptions of your software. Be sure to highlight the features (what it can do) to support the benefits (why the feature is important).
Select a Distribution Model
There are three distinct methods to distribute your software through the LabVIEW Tools Network:
Free - This option is for completely free software. Many partners choose this option when focusing on lead generation and branding rather than direct software revenue.
Sold Externally - This option may be best for software that requires extensive setup by the partner's team or is bundled with a hardware solution.
Sold Through NI - When choosing this model your product is given an NI part number, which allows it to be sold through the same channels that all NI software uses. You may also sell through an additional, separate channel if you wish.
Publish Your Software
The LabVIEW Tools Network is NI’s premier marketplace for partners to showcase and distribute their software. All software on the Tools Network must meet a minimum standard of quality defined by a set of software requirements. After reviewing and approving your software for the LabVIEW Tools Network, our team will work with you to create model page showcasing your product.
Visit this page for more information about the submission and review process.
Market Your Product
After publishing your software you will want to raise awareness for your product as well as communicate its value. This can be done in a variety of ways:
Demos - Online videos demonstrating your product allow potentials users to see the software in action without the overhead of installing and configuring the software themselves. Additionally, these can serve as product tutorials and as channels of communication with your user community.
Testimonials and Case Studies - Feedback from successful users instills additional confidence in your product. Additionally, case studies describing customers that have succesfully leveraged your software demonstrate real-world applicability.
Community Activity - The NI Community is a great place to promote your product as a solution through forum discussions or community examples.
Additional Tips
- To better capture user information, incorporate in-product mechanisms such as registration (example).
- Gather feedback from users and provide regular updates addressing feature requests or bugs.
- At a minimum, provide forum-based support for your product.
