Things You Should Know

Things you should know if you're going to buy custom-programming services:

• Often, hardware resellers make lots of profit on the hardware they sell. If they sell hardware, and their design just happens to unexpectedly include lots of thte very hardware they sell, don't deal with them. Find a software developer, not a hardware reseller.
• Undocumented software is worth far less than documented software not because it takes less time to get done (it does), but because it cannot be maintained and used over the long run--don't buy it.
• Speaking of documentation, it should include an index--the most diffictult, time consuming part of the entire documentation job. Look at some of their stuff they've done for other people. If it doesn't inlude a "Table of Contents" and an "Index" you'll have trouble getting it done. Insist upon it or use someone else.
• If you pay for it to be written, you should have a copy of the source code in case the company that wrote it goes out of business. Insist on getting the source code you pay for. If they won't give it to you, don't deal with them.
• Look at some of the proposed vendor's source code. Uncommented source code, i.e., source code that does not have English-language comments explaining what it is doing embedded within it, is the mark of an amateur programmer. Don't buy it!
• Involvement of the end-user in the software design process is an integral part of successful custom-programming efforts. If they don't insist on it, don't deal with them.
• Training on the software is also an integral part of the entire process--what do they offer? Nothing? Run, don't walk, away from them.
• Professionals do not work for free. Sure, that nice young fellow down the street took a semester of programming in college and he says he wants to be a programmer. But, think, do you really want to hang your entire business process on his shoulders and his shoulders alone? What is his experience level? Who backs him up if he gets sick or, worse, dead? THINK! You'll get what you pay for.
• If you are using a package by a third party and building your custom software around it, always be sure you are not using pirated software--you could wind up paying lots of money and losing your own good reputation if you do. For more information on software piracy, see our page entitled "What you should know about software piracy"

First Decision

We always try to be completely open, above-board, and honest with you. Consequently, the first thing we want you to do is be sure that custom programming is the correct option for you. If yours is a proprietary need, usually scientific or engineering in its orientation, then just ignore the rest of this paragraph. Otherwise, please consider the three options:

• Use an off-the-shelf product and bend your company's procedures to its requirements. At first, this may not look like a good idea--"We've always done it this way and it works just fine." However, you should carefully weigh whether the procedures you would have to bend to might not work just as well or, dare we say it, perhaps even better than the way "we've always done it." In many cases you will find that such is the case.

• Use an off-the-shelf product and blend some custom software around it to meet your requirements. This "compromise" position is often the best one available if you've ruled out bending your procedures to fit off-the-shelf products. It will be expensive, but not nearly so expensive as doing the entire thing from scratch.

• Forget the off-the-shelf stuff and just do it our way. This will start from scratch and will, as a result, cost the most of the three options. Our hourly rates and contract positions are explained below. If you're willing to go to the expense and the delay to develop it, we can almost always give you the software, but just know three things going in. First, it won't be cheap--custom software that works never is. Second, compared to the first two options, it won't be quick. Third, right at first there will probably be some problems that have to be ironed out--that is the norm, not the exception.

Second Decision

If you believe that custom programming is in your design picture, please contact us about it--see below. Our first question is always one of practicality--can it be done in a reasonable cost and time frame? Reasonable means both we and the customer can agree on it. Usually, though there are exceptions, such a determination requires an initial visit and several hours of explanation, question and answer time, and meeting with representatives from any and all groups that are involved to get their input. Since our bills keep coming during this time, we must charge you for the hours and any travel expenses we incur. These charge rates are explained below.

After this evaluation meeting, we will usually fall back to our offices, devise an initial plan and design for the system, and then tell you what we estimate the costs to be. When we leave the evaluation meeting, we'll give you an estimate of how many days this will take. Again, we'll usually spend several hours on this phase and, yes, we're going to charge you for them.

The decision points that we reach here are two-fold.

• First, we may tell you that it just cannot be done within your time frame and/or your budget constraints. On one or two occasions, we've even had to tell people it just couldnt' be done with existing technology. In that event, we'll send you a bill and agree to part as friends. Far more often, we will tell you what we estimate the final cost and time requirements to be to complete the job. Notice that these will be estimates, not final costs. We will do our best to give you an accurate assessment of what is involved on both time and money, but we cannot guarantee that there won't be overages on either of these.

• Second, having heard the cost and time estimate, and having the realization that this is only a good-faith estimate, you must decide whether to commission the work or not. If you decide to go ahead, you must realize that the work will have a "contract-period and amount" associated with it. That means that, just as an example, if we estimate that the work will require 500 man-hours and 60 days to complete, you would be signing a contract to pay for 500 man-hours of work at a given hourly rate, payable weekly over a 60-day period. If you decide one month later to stop development, you will still be required to pay for 500 man-hours of work at the specified rate over the specified 60-day time period, regardless of why you have decided to cancel the project.

Ongoing Meetings/Prep

After you sign the contract to commission the work, be aware that we will need to meet with some of your people to clarify what needs to be done, how it should work, etc. These meetings will be on an as-needed basis and beyond saying that there is always a need for two such meetings, we cannot say that there will be one or ten such meetings. Usually, these subsequent meetings will involve only the programmer and one or two of your people who are directly involved with the project, but be aware that they will be there.

Training/Turn-up

Once the software is done and tested, there will be a training session for those who must use the software. Notice that this can be one person or many. You should plan for this from the start. If there are a number of people involved, are they in various locations? How will you handle that? Do you want to include time for IHS personnel to do multiple training sessions? Video conferencing? What is your budget/plan? Please, discuss this with us ahead of time so we can know what to prepare for.

The official turn-up date will be the date when IHS has finished the project and notifies you in writing, usually by email, of this fact. This date will be solely at the discretion of IHS and will be the official turn-up date no matter what action(s) you do or do not take.

30-day Fix Period

After we notify you that we have officially turned the software over to you, during the first 30 days you may report any kind of problems to us and we will give priority to finding and fixing them. That means we'll drop anything else we're doing and work on the problem immediately. Yes, you will still be charged by the hour as described below and in your contract, but you'll get preferential treatment. During this period, any problems you report are considered to be part of the custom programming contract. After this period, unless IHS agrees otherwise, the contract will be considered closed. You may still get maintenance, but it will not be on a preferential-treatment basis and the terms of the original contract will not apply. This means that if the hourly rate has changed, you will be charged at the rate then in effect.

Software Ownership

Our methodology here is simple. You pay for it. You own it. After the 30-day fix period is complete, we will give you the source code for any software we write under your commission. If we use proprietary software that is generally available from IHS, we will NOT give you that source code...just the stuff you pay us to write is yours. The source code will be well commented so that someone else who is technically capable could follow it.

Can you sell the software to someone else? Yes, it is yours to do with as you wish.

Can you have someone else maintain it for you? Yes, it is yours to do with as you wish, but be aware that any changes that someone else makes to the software will not be in our library and we will not be responsible for what they changed unless you can provide us a copy of the commented, documented source code showing the change(s).

Prices

Custom Programming is done on a by-the-hour basis. Our charge for any hourly work that does not involve over-night travel is currently $90.00/hour with a minimum of one-hour charged in all cases. You will be billed in 1/4 hour increments ($22.50 each) after that. If we are doing on-site work, the clock begins when we leave our office's door and ends when we get back to it. (Our rate is subject to change without notice and we'll update this on our website as quickly as we can, but we'll notify you of what the rate is before we do anything so you'll know if it has changed.)

Weekly invoiced payment (Net/10) by your company's Accounting department will be arranged. We will be happy to accept your company check, your credit card, or even cash as payment. Yes, you may choose to make payment to us using PayPal if that is most convenient for you.