[consulting] Structuring Security and Module Update Services

[Steven Jones]

This is what Aegir aims to do:
http://groups.drupal.org/aegir-hosting-system

Regards
Steven Jones
ComputerMinds ltd - Perfect Drupal Websites

Phone : 0121 288 0434
Mobile : 07951 270 026
http://www.computerminds.co.uk



2009/3/27 Jerad Bitner <sirkitree at gmail.com>:
> 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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