[BNM] Database support contract

[AndrewGill73@gmail.com]

Simon,
I'm currently doing a similar support contract for a SQL Server/DTS data
warehouse.

Suggest the starting point is to ask the client to estimate the criticality
of the database for their business. If they can estimate the cost of
downtime then this is superb (although this is often really difficult).

Based on this info suggest you put together a draft SLA (service level
agreement) and provide an on-call fee and your hourly rate (at different
times of the day, weekends etc). Remember that the client will be looking at
other options such as training existing in-house resources or outsourcing
support to India, South Africa etc, etc.

Consider that most of the time you will need to provide technical support
because of things completely out your control, such as user issues, changes
to inbound feeds, data issues etc.

Suggest you also find someone to help you support the system whilst you on
holiday, ill etc.

Lastly, because you developed the database you will understand it better
than anyone else and therefore be able to support it better than anyone else
- the support "phase" of a project can end up being the most lucrative !!
(although often the most boring)

Good luck. Cheers,
Andy

On Dec 11, 2007 1:08 PM, Simon Harriyott <simon.harriyott at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm about to start a database project for one of my customers, using SQL
> Server with Analysis Services (née OLAP) and Reporting Services, and
> probably a web front-end.  The project is likely to be about three months,
> which I'm able to charge daily for, but I'm having trouble working out how
> to quote for the subsequent support contract once the work is finished.
>
> I don't know how many hours a day / month are needed to support such an
> installation (backups, replication, panic phone calls etc.).  I don't know
> yet whether the customer wants to host the server inside their firewall
> (I've been told their IT department isn't too helpful), or whether I'll
> need
> to use someone like Rackspace (or a reseller).  I also don't know what I
> should include in the contract - response time (if I'm working for someone
> else concurrently), availability (9-5 or 24/7), holiday cover, and how
> they
> affect the price.  My initial guess is that the cheapest option would be
> "phone me if you get stuck and I'll fix it when I get a chance and charge
> by
> the hour" and the most expensive is "I'll drop everything for you, day or
> night, but you've got to pay me enough so I don't have to work on anything
> else".
>
> I realise that there are many other factors, but any advice you can offer
> on
> options and pricing would be very gratefully received.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Simon
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