Marketing/SWOT



Introduction

The SWOT Analysis is a tool to provide a self assessment of a project/organization/venture that provides useful output to help on the strategical planning of the very same project/organization/venture. This was the very first challenge I proposed myself when I joined Fedora Marketing Group. I've chosen to do this for several reasons, being by far the most important of them the fact that I wanted to understand the project.

The subject of this document is the Fedora Project as a community that produces a product known as Fedora Linux, one of the most known Linux distributions available for several audiences, from Linux enthusiasts to Software Engineering Professionals, from students to power productivity users, and everyone else who wants to give it a go as an alternative to proprietary software available from several companies.

To better understand the Fedora Project it is recommended to understand the 4 Fedora Foundations, which provide the basis of the Fedora Project identity. Another relevant document to understand the Fedora Project is the current developing version of the Fedora Marketing Plan which presents interesting information regarding several factors of the Fedora Project, some of this interest factors are:

• Future User Base;
• Brand Notoriety;
• Approach and User Enrolment;

There are other interesting factors that are introduced in the Fedora Marketing Plan, but I will focus only on the three mentioned above because they are the most complete and relevant for the upcoming contents displayed on this document.

This document is composed of the following sections:

• Introduction - A small introduction to the document and the topics to that compose the same.
• Internal Environment Analysis - An analysis to the Internal Environment of the Fedora Project which consists on highlighting and understanding a set of key factors that can be fully controllable by the Fedora Project and that will qualify as Weaknesses and Strengths. This factors are to be selected as a self-assessment of the project and will be evaluated under a methodology explained later.
• External Analysis - An analysis of the External Environment of the Fedora Project which will provide a set of key factors, those that can not be in any way controlled by the Fedora Project and that might act as Opportunities or Threats to the project. They will be evaluated under four factors (Economy, Social/Demographic, Politic/Legal and Technological) that will be introduced later on.
• Analysis and Proposals for Action - The last part of the document will be an analysis from the SWOT itself (including Matrix) with a set of proposals for action to correct the possible points that might require immediate action from the Fedora Project.
• Critical Factors for Success & Critical Comparative Analysis - This points might not qualify for a typical SWOT Analysis, but they are of relevance and they should be present in this case, therefore I've taken the liberty of introducing them on this document.

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT Analysis is often divided in two different analysis, both very important for the strategical planning.

• External Environment - This will define the Threats and Opportunities of the Project and none of this factors can be controlled by the management, or in this case the Fedora Project. The External Environment is based on the following factors:
  • Demographic/Social Factors - An analysis based on social and demographic factors. Given the nature of the Fedora Project it is also important to look at geographical data.
  • Technological Factors - The technological factors in the Industry.
  • Politic/Legal Factors - Legal and Politic factors. Factors like licensing and legislation are contemplated here.
  • Economical Factors - The economical factors.

• Internal Environment - The internal environment provides the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Fedora Project. All this factors can be controlled by the Fedora Project and they are being evaluated according to:
  • Men -
  • Measures -
  • Means -
  • Machines -

The SWOT Analysis should provide information helpful in evaluating the Project's resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates. This is a instrumental resource in strategy formulation and selection.