Re: freelance sysadmining [WAS: "Red Hat recommends Windows for consumers"]
On Tue, 11 Nov 2003, Tom wrote:
fun stuff !!! i shoulda been reading this thread earlier :-)
> On Tue, Nov 11, 2003 at 07:04:07PM -0500, Vikki Roemer wrote:
> > Well, I've come up with this much (quote from my website
> > http://neuromancer.homelinux.com/foosoft.html):
> > FooAdmin
> > For a monthly fee, I will administer your computers. There are 2 plans.
> >
> > Basic Plan:
> > When a patch for your distro is released, I will patch the system. I will
> > also set up a firewall customized for your needs. Whenever you feel you need
> > a kernel upgrade, I'll custom-compile a new kernel for your system.
great idea and plan ... but ...
- everybody can do this ??? and does ...
i see more things done, explicitly mentioned on the "basic plan" than on
the "premium plan" ??
> > Premium Plan:
> > You get the basic plan, plus I will install/compile and configure any
> > packages you want.
installing is anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hrs ... or 5 days ( raidtesting )
- depending on who is installing it
- depending on the hardware you're trying to install it on
- depending on how much they're paying for installing
- depending on how the system will be used
- depending on the buyers paranoia level
- depending on security and backup process/proceedures
- depending on network, computer use policies
> > Two questions now: is there anything else I should offer with either plan?
> > And, how much do you think I should charge monthly (in USD)?
get the customer ... listen to what they want and their worries
and possible solutions they want implemented...
-- all else is non-issues ( to them that has the pen in hand
for your check you want )
and if you do want to muddy their pond waters with more "what ifs":
- how much for email support to convince me/them to go with you vs
other competitors
- how much for 1hr turn around vs 4hr turn around vs 8 hr turn around
vs 1 weke turnaround
- how much for tons of email questions vs once a week email questions
- how much for phone calls vs did they already go thru the checklis first
before they made the phone tech support call which is typically
10x more expensive than an email tech support incoming call
- how much for installation support vs come fix this after somebody
else tried and failed vs the box keeps crashing support
- how much for one time support, vs ongoing monthly contracts, vs
task based contracts vs "emergency come fix it now" support
- how much for daily backups ??
( the only thing most people care about )
- how much for per-minute system security checking
( the only thing you should be worried about to protect their data)
and how about some free sample answers to the problems we're having ??
and how about "my disk crashed 10 minutes ago", please come and fix
it now, as we have a meeting in 3 hrs that i need to make a presentation
of that data
and how about security patches ?
and how about backups ?
and how about personality and working releationship ?
and did the laywers on both sides bless the "contract"
and even if it was, can you collect on it ???
- once you fixed their problems, how do you know they will
pay your invoice as stated/agreed ??
on and on and on ..
and last question .. why are they looking around for outside help
vs their inhosue "it staff" or lack there of vs their high-school
kid-or-brother-cousins-friends used to be doing the task but they now
consider themself a business and need to find better "professional"
support and prefferably with insurance against certain professional
services that's being rendered
-- i always ask, what was their budget before ....
-- and what is the new budget now ... and what happened ...
> Services consulting varies from $25-$400/hour. The services you are
> offering tend to be valued on the low side.
and even highter ... try $50,000/yr with no minimum gurantee of anything
-- over the years ... 50-20 years... none of the above "support" will make
a difference until "data is lost due to a managers mis-management"
or "support" being a victim of the budget and hire others instead
of what they should have been hiring ( because somebody is cheaper )
-- one does seem to get what one pays for ...
( supply and demand is working ... )
-- email support in mailing lists is good enough for 95% of folks
except business that already have their inhouse staff or their
local "friends"
c ya
alvin
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