[BlueOnyx:12378] Re: Solarspeed / Compass / BlueOnyx stores

[Michael Stauber]

Hi Eiji,

> However,  If  I want a typical  LAMP environment and Migration,
> ( I think there are minimum for BO )   it takes over  US$ 680,. 
> 
> For example;
> 
> $120.64     PHP MySQL
>   $39.54      phpmyadmin
> $201.75     AV-Spam
> $324.42     Server Migration      (CMU still has a bug? )  
> ------------------------------
> $686.35     minimum   Total
> 
> It takes $686 at minimum per one server.  Isn't it very high?
> (We can buy a windoes sever.)

Let me start with the migrations first:

The migration of a server is not a product, but a service. So it is a
bit different. Clients can choose to migrate their servers themselves
using CMU and the guide provided at this URL:

http://www.blueonyx.it/index.php?page=cmu-migrations

CMU has most of its problems worked out and usually works very well.

However, there are cases where clients want it done by an expert. And
the typical migration (as you know) can take anywhere from between four
to fourteen hours. I have had the odd case where a CMU migration took
even more than 20 hours. Not so much because of problems with CMU or the
servers, but because the export, transfer of the files to the new server
and the import took so long due to a lot of factors: Slow disks, slow
internet connection, many, many users and sites (like 300 sites and 2500
users - including DNS records for all the sites ... you name it).

The actual amount of time that a migration will take is always hard to
guess beforehand. While it exports or imports, the process just needs to
be observed from time to time to see if there are problems or if it
finally has finished. But you can't really walk away from it for hours
either, because it might just fail while you're not looking. So almost
all the time that the migration runs you can't do much else.

Hence from a marketing point of view it is even contract-productive for
us to offer migrations at a fixed rate - regardless of how long it takes
to perform the migration. Because all things considered it's at least a
job that takes a whole day (including the communication with the client
before, during and after the migration) and on that day we can't work on
anything else but this migration.

Hence a more realistic pricing for migrations would be to either bill it
by the hour, or to calculate in a full day of payment to begin with,
which would double the price at least. Yet we decided against doing so
as an incentive towards the clients and to promote both trust in the
platform and to promote continuity of the platform. Which is another way
of saying: We could make more money on anything BUT doing migrations. We
still do them. Not to make a minimal profit, but to promote the platform
and to keep people happy.

But like said: People can chose to migrate themselves. The procedure is
well documented and all things considered it usually works very well.

> You have a  volume pricing for over 10 copies,  O.K. 
> How about another discount?   Not only for "duplicate products".

As it is right now spent a lot of time on tinkering with and setting up
bulk pricing tiers that suit the most common usage cases. But sure: If
you have different needs, just contact one of us offlist and let us know
what you need and we will get back to you with the best price that we
can offer. It is all a matter of negotiation.

> $120.64     PHP MySQL
>  $39.54      phpmyadmin

This is a bit misleading, you know. Both phpMyAdmin, PHP and MySQL are
already included in BlueOnyx free of charge. Yes, the included versions
aren't the latest and greatest, but they're there and they work. So
again this is an optional upgrade that people can choose. But I wouldn't
rate it as a "must have".

-- 
With best regards

Michael Stauber