Why do we HAVE to bill our clients for support
Johan van Zyl - JVZ Systems CC
This is what I wrote a while ago and did nothing about, that is,
until now,
as there was something posted in this regard recently.
This is VERY much UNFINISHED, it was up to now just me having a
brainstorming session with myself. I would like for you all out there
tohelp me, and yourselves, to draw up a letter that we all have been
wanting to send our to our clients, from time to time.
.
Here goes, warts and all:
Why do we HAVE to bill our clients for support, even if it is only for
a few
minutes at a time? (Even if we don't want to, but have to, to stay in
business, to keep supporting the client)
A good example is Payroll Programs - because of continual statutory
changes
regarding Salaries and Wages - changes WILL constantly HAVE to be made
to
the program - it just HAS to happen. Imagine if a very clever and
innovative
programmer, or group of programmers, write just the most fantastic
Payroll
Program with all the bells and whistles required, and then some.. and
they
sell X amount of them and earn Y amount of money. And for some reason
they,
at a stage, stop selling any more copies (because they have sold a
good
number of copies and now the support calls are overwhelming them (and
they
are not billing their customers for this support) and they do not get
around
to sell anymore to earn more money to actually afford to support the
clients
they already have?) and therefore stop earning any money. WHAT THEN?
These
annual, or some times more frequent, changes must still be made to the
Payroll program otherwise it will become unusable almost immediately.
The moral of the story is: you must keep paying us to stay in business
to
keep on giving you excellent support.
To expect or demand free support forever cannot be logical. The sums
will
not add up - ever!
To put it another way, bluntly:
If we stop deriving income from a project - why should we still be
involved
in it? It is not a matter of greediness - it is just common sense!
Clients don't often appreciate the capital outlay and commitment
software
developers have to make, to be ahead of the pack, to be on our toes,
to give
you the benefit of all of that.
Initial outlay, continual updating/replacement/maintenance, and
Antivirus
software, Expensive Equipment and Books, Courses. And working very
LONG
hours, including weekends.
This entire infrastructure must be in place for you to be able to pick
up a
phone or send an email, and expect a complete and comprehensive answer
IMMEDIATELY.
For you to pay us for say 15 minutes of support may seem like a
nuisance,
but for us, if we actually receive all these little "nuisance" amounts
all
of the time, you know what, you are keeping us in business to keep
supporting you!
To expect to use us just every now and then and not be prepared to pay
the
minuscule amount that we may bill you with, imagine EVERYBODY taking
that
attitude and NOBODY ever paying us ANYTHING ever again, then what will
happen, the more we sell and the quicker we sell them, the quicker we
will
be bankrupted. And who will support you then?
Time is money, and money buys the beer..
And to write letters like this takes time .<g>
Johan van ZylJohan van Zyl JVZ.SYSTEMS customised software clarion
mssql
accpac simply accounting crystal reports 8 Westbrooke Voortrekker Road
Somerset West 7130 - PO Box 3469 Somerset West 7129 Tel/Fax 021 851
7205 -
Johan 082 875 4238 - Davida 083 774 9 775 http://www.jvz.co.za -
jo...@jvz.co.za - dav...@jvz.co.za
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Johan van Zyl - Somerset West - South Africa
JVZ Systems CC
jo...@jvz.co.za
Customised Software using Clarion & MS SQL
http://www.jvz.co.za
http://www.jvz.co.za/pastel - Pastel Utilities & Data Doctor
http://www.jvz.co.za/mssql
http://communities.msn.co.za/ClarionMSSQL
http://communities.msn.co.za/MCSE2001
Guy Cauwenbergh
I never sell my software, I rent them. My customers are never owners of the
software. They pay a quarterly rent that includes:
- the expenses of installation,
- an assistance to the initial parameter setting,
- one day of formation,
- the maintenance
- the upgrades.
Advantage for the customer:
- no large investment at the beginning, the expenses are distributed over
the lifespan of the program,
- a contractual guarantee of the evolution of the software.
Advantage for me: a guarantee of monthly incomes.
Guy
"Johan van Zyl - JVZ Systems CC" <jo...@jvz.co.za> wrote in message
news:3f73535f...@news.softvelocity.com...
Bjarne Havnen
"Guy Cauwenbergh" <guy.cau...@ifrance.com> skrev i melding
news:3f73f1e7$1...@news.softvelocity.com...
Didier Le Duc
A customer is NEVER owner of a program , he only buys the right to use
it.
Should you sell the code, you still own the "intellectual rights"over
this software.
Sincerely,
Didier.
===============================================
Francened SARL
Didier G. Le Duc
e-mail : did...@francened.com
SHOP : http://www.francened.com
Clarion: http://www.francened.com/clarion
Support: http://francened.net-graphics.nl:8081
===============================================
Le Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:58:13 +0200, "Guy Cauwenbergh"
<guy.cau...@ifrance.com> a écrit :
Jens Eden
just out of interest, how have you calculated the rent?
--
with best regards,
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
i.Con Informatik.Consulting - Dipl.-Inform. Jens Eden
Turngartenstr. 24b - 26160 Bad Zwischenahn - Germany
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
the TPS.repair Templates - forget about TPS file corruptions
30 days trial version at : http://www.informatik-consulting.de/DL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Guy Cauwenbergh" <guy.cau...@ifrance.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:3f73f1e7$1...@news.softvelocity.com...
Guy Cauwenbergh
That's not a simple question <g>
The cost of development (including estimation of the devlopment of the
future upgrades), divide by the estimated number of customers, then divide
by the estimated lifespan of the product.
Add the estimated cost of annual maintenance and the percentage of desired
benefit.
Divide the whole by 4 (it's a quarterly payment) and add the age of the
captain <bg>.
Then, we make an adjustment which takes account of the feelings and the
experiment.
The big problem is to have correct estimates, but it is always the case when
you have to estimate the selling price of a product.
Guy
"Jens Eden" <Jens...@informatik-consulting.de> wrote in message
news:5eeblb...@Pluto.informatik-consulting.de...