T3Marketplace

Olivier Dobberkau is Chairman of the Board of the TYPO3 Association and CEO of dkd Internet Service GmbH. He is responsible for the research and development at dkd and known for his work on Apache Solr for TYPO3. Currently his colleagues are working on computer vision and semantic technologies under the name: nreach.io. He has been using TYPO3 many years and says that the best is yet to come.

Hey Olivier, how do you like the idea of having a TYPO3 Marketplace in general?
I think that the TYPO3 Marketplace holds great potential if participants take ownership of it. It’s excellent to see that Agencies have taken the initiative to conceptualize, draft and calculate the effort to do so. The crowdfunding idea is logical and comes at the right moment of of time. TYPO3 has been revived and it needs to show how good it has adapted to nowadays requirements. I wish that this crowdfunding campaign will be successful.

Where do you see the biggest potential or the biggest advantages for you with a marketplace?
I my eyes the biggest potential lies in the central approach to create a place where all TYPO3 offerings can be seen. It will create a transparent platform to all what is happening around TYPO3. It’s all about visibility and opportunity created. The Marketplace is the only approach that promises growth for everyone around this platform.

What do you think, how will the TYPO3 Marketplace change the TYPO3 ecosystem?
That’s a good question! I hope for good. At present the ecosystem seems cluttered and distributed in an uncomfortable way. Others are profiting from the needs of TYPO3 without contributing back. This will surely change and bring new partnerships that will catapult the ecosystem to a new level. I also hope for a clarification on the entry level to TYPO3. I hope for distributions alongside typical TYPO3 user segments. A clearer commitment to what other CMS ecosystems are already exercising: be it templates, add-ons, integrations, service levels or trainings.

Which kinds of services or products are you going to offer on the TYPO3 Marketplace?
We as dkd will use the obvious services such as job postings, training offerings and the support offers around our TYPO3 activities. We can imagine to distribute our Apache Solr Add-ons via the TYPO3 Marketplace, but also advertise our TYPO3 quick-starter package or our cloud-based offerings around nreach.io. But we also will use it to support everyone who is helping us to deliver a great product with their offerings.

Where do you see the TYPO3 Marketplace three years from now?
In my vision this will become a vibrant place where things will be kickstarted, developed, maintained and shared. It should become the central hub of communication and transaction for TYPO3, enabling the community to thrive and continuing the quest to stay relevant in the area of content and information management.

Thank you very much for the interview, Olivier.