[consulting] Structuring Security and Module Update Services

[Sam Cohen]

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> 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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