14 June 2011

The MA2 story 3: whatever next?

By Andrew Clifford

What would you do if you found yourself in charge of an exciting new product?

When we started developing MA2, we only intended to improve its support for assessment and analysis. Along the way, we accidentally created software with much broader potential. Our next challenge is to turn this software into a viable product and a viable business.

The potential of MA2 gives us some interesting opportunities, and we need to make some decisions.

Although it is tempting to rush out and promote our product as a revolutionary wonder-tool, we are very aware how hard it is to convince people to use new tools and work in different ways. We have to demonstrate value rather than preach about it. We therefore made some decisions.

Having a technical background, I find the move from software development to business development very daunting. Our new technology gives us huge opportunities for success, but there will be challenges along the way. I am scared and I am excited, in equal measure.