[consulting] Structuring Security and Module Update Services

Fri Mar 27 16:56:44 UTC 2009

I'm just wondering if anyone has come up with an easy way to do this. For
larger scale operations it would seem prudent to have something like your
own 'update_status' that would report on the various installations out there
that you are maintaining to tell you what versions they are running and what
needs upgraded, on a site by site basis, instead of having to go to each one
and check the update status page. Maybe even a solution that gave you some
sort of alert through email - Site: XYZ has Views 2.2 installed. Please
update it to Views 2.3 - etc.

On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 9:35 AM, Brian Vuyk <brian at brianvuyk.com> wrote:

> Sam,
>
> The X hours labor are included in the hosting contract - and that is billed
> regardless of whether it's used or not. However, most of my clients are good
> about making sure they make use of it. It covers updating to the latest
> maintenance release of a Drupal series, module updates, and someone to hold
> their hand, pat them on the back, and tell them it is OK when they break
> their website.
>
> Anything above the agreed upon hours is billed separately.
>
> Not all my clients go for it, but most do. It really depends on the needs
> of the client. If they have a site that has very heavy activity / creation
> of user-generated content, or are concerned about security and guaranteed
> uptime, then they will go for this. If they aren't so concerned about
> security, have more static websites, and can stand re-uploading from a
> backup if their site is exploited, then they generally opt out of the
> maintenance hours, or cut it down to 1 or 2 hours.
>
> Some clients use it in consulting time to talk about future projects, or
> discuss how X feature might integrate with their website etc. etc.
>
> Brian
>
> Sam Cohen wrote:
>
>> Thanks Brian.
>> Do you charge for the 3 or 4 hours whether or not you put the time in or
>> is that just a cap and you bill for the actual time.
>> My clients -- mostly small nonprofits, documentary films, small
>> businesses-- probably aren't going to go for a $300 plus a monthly
>> maintenance plan to cover upgrades, but I do want to start offering it.
>> Sam
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 12:18 PM, Brian Vuyk <brian at brianvuyk.com<mailto:
>> brian at brianvuyk.com>> wrote:
>>
>>    Sam,
>>
>>    I put my clients on a monthly 'maintenance' contract to handle
>>    these things. Generally, 3-4 hours, although some clients want
>>    more, some less.
>>
>>    What I've done is create a test site which includes a copy of
>>    every module I've used on a client's site, along with any custom
>>    stuff I've used that depends on certain module functionality. I
>>    monitor that site for updates, and when a module is updated, I
>>    update the test site for, make sure that any client-specific
>>    monkeying I've done works, then roll it out to the clients.
>>
>>    It takes a bit of time up front to replicate some stuff on a
>>    testsite in addition to the client's site... but it pays off
>>    because you can catch any bugs introduced by modules ahead of time.
>>
>>    This approach is starting to get a bit a bit clunky though. I am
>>    starting to think about using SimpleTest, and writing my own tests
>>    to test for client-specific functionality to ensure that the
>>    module upgrades are a bit less painless.
>>
>>    Brian
>>
>>    Sam Cohen wrote:
>>
>>        Hi all,
>>
>>        I am now going to be offering all my clients security and
>>        module updates as an ongoing service -- I know.  I should have
>>        done it all along.
>>        I'm curious how others structure this service.  Do most of you
>>        do it at a regular interval (to cover modules) or just every
>>        time there's a new release.          My thought is to offer an
>> option where every time there is a
>>        Drupal release I will install it and at that time I will check
>>        for any module updates and install those as well.  But pricing
>>        wise, it's tricky, because what if you run into trouble due to
>>        a module upgrade that leads to a conflict.  Not to mention,
>>        the time you should take for testing ?
>>        It seems like the safest way to offer this service is to just
>>        say you will bill hourly for whatever time it takes every time
>>        there is a release.  Is that how others do it?  If not, how
>>        much time to you typically charge/take for this.
>>        Thanks,
>>        Sam
>>
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