21 November 2009

Emsi Software's a-squared Anti-Malware Wins 2009 Epsilon Award for Software Excellence


Congratulations to Christian Mairoll of Emsi Software for winning the 2009 Epsilon Award at the ninth annual European Software Conference. Emsi Software's a-squared Anti-Malware application was awarded the prize earlier this month at the ESWC conference in Berlin, Germany. The Educational Software Cooperative (ESC) is a sponsor of the European Software Conference.

Each year, the Epsilon Award recognizes the best software program from the European software and microISV community. Programs are nominated by software developers, a peer-review process that ensures that only the highest quality software is considered for the award. In addition to receiving worldwide recognition for its software, Emsi Software was also awarded an artistic creation by a European artist, and 200 Euros in cash which Emsi Software will donate to the SOS Children's Villages organization that was founded in Austria.

The a-squared Anti-Malware 4.5 security suite for Windows features a double virus scanner plus behavioral analysis, and stops viruses, spyware, Trojans, bots, and rootkits from infecting PCs. In 2009, in seven independent head-to-head tests against other anti-malware software, a-squared Anti-Malware was chosen as the most effective. In the latest test, run by the Malware Research Group, a-squared Anti-Malware 4.5 recognized 99.8 percent of the 554,891 malware files used in the test, a higher score than the other 21 applications tested. While not as well-known as some heavily-advertised security solutions, a-squared Anti-Malware has a large and growing number of victories in independent tests.

a-squared Anti-Malware 4.5 runs under Windows, costs $40(US) for a one-year single-user license, and may be purchased securely online from http://www.emsisoft.com/. You can download a 30-day trial version from the same web address.

The tenth annual European Software Conference will be held in November, 2010 in Vienna, Austria. Additional information about the Epsilon Award, and about the European Software Conference, can be found on http://www.euroconference.org/ or http://www.microisv.eu/.

Pictured above are David Boventer (left), the European Software Conference's Executive Director and Christian Mairoll (right) founder and head of Emsi Software. Many thanks to Dave Collins of Shareware Promotions for providing photographs from the conference. You can view more of Dave's photos from the 2009 ESWC on http://www.sharewarepromotions.com/conferences/esc/2009/index.asp

Al Harberg, the press release guy from DP Directory, Inc.

06 November 2009

ESC's November 2009 Software Marketing Book Club Selection


The Educational Software Cooperative's (ESC's) November 2009 Software Marketing Book Club selection is "The Age Curve - How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm" by Kenneth W. Gronbach, published 2008 by AMACOM.

Ken Gronbach believes that the major changes that we have seen in America - and will see in the future - in economics, business, and society are due to the size and character of successive US generations. The success of the software development industry is determined by these demographics, too.

Gronbach acknowledges that his theory simplifies a very complex subject. However, he makes a convincing argument for a lot of the rising and falling of specific companies and market trends.

Software developers are wise to focus their efforts on the immediate marketing problem. But trends are important, too, and must be considered when building a long-term business.

This book is about demographics in the US, but the principles apply worldwide. And if you're marketing software, the US represents the biggest market on the globe. So, the author's ideas could predict the success of your business, regardless of where you're located.

Gronbach believes that demography dictates the demand side of the marketing equation. It's important to have a high-quality product, a solid business plan, and a strong marketing budget. But the ebbs and flows of population are going to determine your success to a very large extent. We live in a world where large and small generations take turns, entering and leaving the marketplace, and shaping the economy. Small generations buy less than large generations. And different generations have their own personalities.

Gronbach would undoubtedly tell us that if we understand these demographics, we'll sell more software products and services. Please join us in the book discussions in the Educational Software Cooperative.

Al Harberg, DP Directory, Inc.

05 November 2009

ASP Updates PADGen


The Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) has released PADGen v. 3.0.1.41, a Windows utility that helps software developers create portable application description (PAD) files. PAD files are used by software libraries and download sites, such as ESC's Software Collection, to standardize and update software descriptions.

The new version of PADGen has updated its list of the platforms that developers may include in their application descriptions. Among the new platforms are Windows 7, iPhone, and a generic Macintosh OSX designation (versus the earlier list of specific version numbers).

For more information and to download PADGen, visit the Association of Shareware Professionals PAD Site.

Al Harberg, DP Directory, Inc.

01 November 2009

Member of the Month, Nov. '09

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Congratulations to our Member of the Month for November, Don Fitchett of Business Industrial Network. Visit the Member of the Month page to learn more.

14 October 2009

The Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) has launched a blog.


ASP's new blog will contain articles, interviews, ASP-related announcements, and news about the software development industry.

Most of the new blog's postings will be written by the 1,000 mISVs and vendors who make up ASP's membership. The blog can be read by the public, and all members of the software development community are invited to comment on blog postings.

"We expect to have a significant level of participation in ASP's new blog," said Adriana Iordan from Avangate. Adriana is a member of ASP's Board, and is Editor of the new blog. "ASP members will post industry news, marketing advice, and development ideas to help fellow members, and to strengthen the software development industry."

The first blog posting is a survey of ASP members. They were asked to comment on what they would do differently if they could turn back the clock, and begin their software development business anew. Developers commented on how they would have structured their businesses differently, chosen business partners more carefully, selected the proper applications to develop after more study, and a wide variety of other topics. The article lets startup mISVs gain insights from experienced shareware developers, and avoid making the same mistakes that these experienced developers made.

Another early blog posting discusses the need for microISV developers to find, read, and discusss books about marketing, sales, and business. There are tips for choosing good books, finding them affordably, and building a library that contains money-making ideas.

The Association of Shareware Professionals was founded in 1987, and is dedicated to the advancement of shareware, also known as try-before-you-buy software, as an alternative to conventional retail software. Today the ASP is a vibrant organization with hundreds of members around the world working together to strengthen their businesses and making it easier for software users to find quality software at reasonable prices. Visit http://www.asp-shareware.org/ to learn more about the benefits of ASP membership.

Al Harberg, DP Directory, Inc.

01 October 2009

Member of the Month Oct. '09

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Congratulations to our Member of the Month for October, Jane Sumerset of English Software. Visit the Member of the Month page to learn more.

27 September 2009

ESC's October 2009 Software Marketing Book Club Selection


The Educational Software Cooperative's (ESC's) October 2009 Software Marketing Book Club selection is "How to Become a Marketing Superstar - Unexpected Rules that Ring the Cash Register" by Jeffrey J. Fox.

I've always been skeptical of little books that promise to turn your life around. But this is a really good book. It's about using common sense and sound business practices to find and keep customers. It's about marketing.

One theme that runs throughout the book is that a marketer's job is to generate revenue. If your current activity is not making the cash register ring, then do something else.

There's a lot of good advice in this book that will help you sell more software. You may not agree with everything, but at least you'll have plenty of topics to think about, and to apply to your software development business.

If you're already a member of the ESC, you'll find the book club discussions in the members' newsgroup. If you've been thinking about joining ESC, then please visit http://www.edu-soft.org/ to learn more.

I'll leave you with a quote: "Technology does not sell. Marketing sells. The equation for success for technology-based new products is 2 percent technology and 98 percent marketing. Don't depend on fantastic new technology to sell itself. Nothing sells itself."

Al Harberg, DP Directory, Inc.