Do you *really* want to avoid price and timeframe adjustments with your digital technology vendor before a project begins? 

June 13, 2014

ContractPlanningForDigitalTechnology

You’re about to get a new online application built for your digital marketing needs. You’ve found an excellent vendor who you know can build it well. The project’s scope had been outlined in broad strokes, and the vendor gave you a ballpark estimate of the price and time it would take to make your online vision a reality.

Working with the vendor, you prepare a thorough technical description for your online application, outlining the production process in detail. The new description lists all the elements of the application user interface and back-end functionality, and defines specific technical solutions that would give your business the edge in the never-ending battle against competitors.

It also becomes clear from the new description that the project will require a bit more work than you and the vendor initially thought necessary.

At this point, should you ask your vendor if there are any adjustments to the price and time frame?

At first, the question may appear absurd. Why would you want to offer your vendor the opportunity to deliver the project later, and at higher price?

However – isn’t it better to have this discussion with the vendor now, rather than in the middle of the project, or, worse, when the project is nearing the deadline – or, worse still, when the project is delayed due to vendor’s lack of commitment because the vendor feels the production team is being underpaid?

At the preliminary stage, before the project has started, you can analyze the vendor’s updated requirements, negotiate them, and include any extra cost into your business plan. Slightly adjusting your business strategy, and possibly the price offered to the end user, can make the resulting web application much more successful (and profitable). Later on, during the production process, should the vendor come back to you demanding more money or time, you can comfortably remind the vendor that you have already factored in adjustments to the price and schedule, and the vendor shouldn’t expect more.

If a vendor comes back to you with the demand for more money or time because you had not thoroughly analyzed the realistic cost during the preliminary stage, and the vendor feels the production team is not being paid for the work it’s doing – that could stall the project near completion, lead to lack of commitment from the vendor (the “underpaid” project will be regularly pushed to the back of the vendor’s pipeline, because the preference would be given to the projects the vendor perceives as more immediately profitable). This could even lead to losing your company’s reputation with the end user, and can cost your company the working relationship with the vendor.

Wouldn’t you be just “hiding your head in the sand” by not requesting the clear and final price / timeframe from the vendor early on, based on clarified project specifications? Being in denial about the very real possibility of a vendor coming back to you with price and timeframe adjustments in the future when your project is already underway is never a good idea.

Build more trust – and more leverage for refusing any future requests – by giving the vendor the fair opportunity to identify all issues related to cost and scope before the project is put in production.

Thinking in terms of Sun Tzu and military strategy, it may be better to give in early so that you can win later.

Did you find this article counter-intuitive? Please share your thoughts with us via email!

Feet on the ground, Data in the clouds

June 3, 2014

Still backing up your important photos and files on a hard drive? Wrap your head around the cloud and check out these four options for individual cloud computing and storage options.

What does the ‘cloud’ even mean?
In a nutshell – the ‘cloud’ or ‘cloud computing’ typically refers to using/storing/accessing programs and files over the internet rather than on a physical device like a hard drive or USB stick. Programs or files stored on the ‘cloud’ can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection and from just about any device. Both businesses and individuals are starting to use the cloud more and more and it stands to reason that the popularity will only continue to grow.

Four Cloud Options for Individual Use

1.OneDrive
Microsoft offers a cloud storage service called OneDrive that gives users 7GB of data for free. 7GB is a pretty good amount of storage space considering it doesn’t cost anything and if you need more space than that you can upgrade from 50-200GB for $25-$100. The website https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/ also mentions something about a service called Camera Roll that backs photos and videos up to the cloud and offers a 3GB space increase when you sign up

2. Dropbox
This cloud solution seems to have the most name recognition and might be the most popular. The basic free plan offer 2GB of storage and upgrades are also available for $9.99-$49.99 for 100-500GB. According to the website Dropbox has been around since 2007 which might help to explain the popularity of it today.

3.Google Drive
Naturally Google offers a service called Google Drive with 15GB of free storage. There might be some advantages to this service if you are already using Gmail. The site also mentioned upgrades of 100GB starting at just $1.99 – a price which seemed like it might be the most reasonable outside of the basic services

4. Apple iCloud
Of course there is an Apple cloud solution out there for iOS users, and it sounds like it might be a good option if you have multiple devices on this platform. App store items and devices backups are possible along with files, photos etc.

Why do I need the Cloud?
This is probably one of the more common questions that comes along when considering whether to go cloud or not. On one hand, there is some serious convenience to having all of your info and files on the cloud. Accessing things from home, the office or on the road is no problem.

The bigger advantage is also peace of mind in knowing that your data is backed up and can be recovered at any time. If you have ever had a hard drive fail, cell phone die or USB stick get lost – you know the immediate sense of panic that can set in on losing your pictures or important files. Having your info in the cloud means you can rest assured knowing that if your phone or computer die, you don’t loose everything. It also means upgrading to a new phone or computer is easy and there is no need to physically copy data or re-install apps etc.

On the downside, privacy is probably the biggest concern. Accessing info online means that information is always available to anybody. Cloud services have protection in place to prevent unauthorized people from accessing data, but there is always the potential for hackers or a breech. Another privacy related concern is that companies might access your info and data in order to market other goods and services or learn more about your behavior as a consumer.

ROP