How much would you pay for support?

[thetrusteeco]

Okay, I'm going to try to defend Kris' crazy policies 1 more time...  (a cluster of guesses and theories; my attempt at optimism)

Assuming he's not an idiot (in business): I think there a 3 options:
1) He's getting business advice either from someone he trusts that knows even less about business than him (like his grandmother),
2) He talked to a lawyer that made him realize how much trouble he could get into,
3) A company has offered him some amount of money to change his policies in this way.

It's possible a 3rd party wants HostBill closed until Kris fixes more of the bugs and security holes.  If HostBill is closed and the only people testing the code are the new paying customers, and they don't have access to all the various apps and order-pages that could contain bugs and security flaws, then it will take longer for someone to find and report them on some forum (because non-HB owners cannot report bugs unless they pay the $75).

I know it's a long-shot but, if there is any validity to this concept, the next few months of updates will probably be focused on security updates and bug fixes, and then in a few months KBKP will re-open HostBill to 3rd Party developers, and probably drop the price of the HostBill core to get more customers on-board.

Optimism == Insanity

[ezpnet]

Man, I answered this incorrectly. I'd pay UP to $250/m for unlimited interaction with a real support team at Hostbill. Useful people answering requests in a realistic time frame - 30 minutes or so with timely resolutions.

24 hour turnaround? No way.

[Patrick]

Man, I answered this incorrectly. I'd pay UP to $250/m for unlimited interaction with a real support team at Hostbill. Useful people answering requests in a realistic time frame - 30 minutes or so with timely resolutions.

24 hour turnaround? No way.

I don't even know where $250 would be justified.  Who would really require that kind of support to justify paying $250 a month?  That's a 1\4 the cost of the lease of my commercial property for one of my small businesses just on support requests.  I've required support once in 13 months, so no way would that amount be reasonable, at least not in my opinion.  Of course that's my not so important opinion

I mean for $250, they better be hosting the software and supporting it (managing it).  $3,000 a year just on support is a jaw dropper.

Maybe someone can educate me but other than finding a bug, even the 1 support ticket i needed was for a licensing error on their end that locked me out of my admin area.  A good CTO should alleviate that kind of premium no?

[ezpnet]

For software that enables my entire business, $250/m is completely doable. I spend more than that now on billing software and hostbill has 10x the features with roughly the same documentation... so yah, for me and my business, paying $250/m for our software is not a problem. If circumstances are right - good support, fast turnaround, etc.

[ezpnet]

And damn! $1k/m on a commercial property lease? I paid more than that to share a room in an office before I shut it down. I was paying over $2500/m in the burbs for an office as well before. Now we all work from home, makes more sense. If I could get an office lease for $1k, I'd do it. Damned Vancouver pricing.

[Patrick]

For your software, absolutely, for added support?  I can't see how anyone would require that kind of support.  $250/month would have to include like you said an easy 30 minute SLA and phone support.  My 2 admins take care of the majority of that stuff.  What i'm getting at is where would you spending $250 be justified per month on support you'd rarely use?

I'm not knocking you or anyone else who agree's it's a good amount but i'd be out $3,000 right now as i'm on my 13'th month if i had been paying hostbill $250 a month.  Pay per use model i'd agree on.  $x.xx that doesn't expire for 10 tickets for example. 

And damn! $1k/m on a commercial property lease? I paid more than that to share a room in an office before I shut it down. I was paying over $2500/m in the burbs for an office as well before. Now we all work from home, makes more sense. If I could get an office lease for $1k, I'd do it. Damned Vancouver pricing.

Yeah Vancouver is insanely high on commercial property.  Our space is small,  It's a small walk in with 2 desks.  About 400sqft, not even remotely large.  A good option for many businesses is a virtual office.  Around here they start at about $120/month.  Very cool option for those who don't always need an office space.

(keep in mind this 400sqft place is for one of my newest ventures.  Pretty small business 300+ customers)  Something i randomly decided to do one day because i was bored, and it's my only commercial space

[ezpnet]

$250/m for support in my mind just kinda goes hand in hand with paying for a software. Call it a software license fee, call it a support fee... I don't care. I want my software provider to have a decent revenue stream so they have a healthy business. $3k/yr I can completely handle for something like hostbill - IF it was better than it is now. As it stands now, no way.

Vancouver is nuts. Even virtual offices here cost about $400/m for desks. That's with no privacy - just a desk in an open space. Better than nothing, but not by much.

[Patrick]

$250/m for support in my mind just kinda goes hand in hand with paying for a software. Call it a software license fee, call it a support fee... I don't care. I want my software provider to have a decent revenue stream so they have a healthy business. $3k/yr I can completely handle for something like hostbill - IF it was better than it is now. As it stands now, no way.

Vancouver is nuts. Even virtual offices here cost about $400/m for desks. That's with no privacy - just a desk in an open space. Better than nothing, but not by much.

wow, virtual offices here (in Toronto) include an actual office.  It's about the "type" of office you want.  With computer, without, with phone, without, with internet, without, type of chair, type of desk, conference room access is included, presentation room is included, toll free numbers, mailbox, usual secretary etc, etc.. No where near that pricing.  Though i know cost of living is up in Vancouver i believe average income is much higher too.

[ezpnet]

Well, to go even further offtopic, salaries in Vancouver and Toronto are nearly a wash. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/famil107a-eng.htm

I have a few friends who've moved out that way from here and they feel rich comparatively. Vancouver to Calgary escapists even more so.