On Sunday 07 November 2010 21:25:04 Silver Salonen wrote: > On Sunday 07 November 2010 17:56:34 Kern Sibbald wrote: > > On Saturday 06 November 2010 08:17:45 Silver Salonen wrote: > > > On Saturday 06 November 2010 08:44:31 Henrik Johansen wrote: > > > > 'Silver Salonen' wrote: > > > > >On Friday 05 November 2010 20:24:09 Kern Sibbald wrote: > > > > >> Bacula Systems does do funded development (only for customers) > > > > > > > > > >I'm sorry to drag out one sentence only, but this one caught my > > > > > attention :) > > > > > > > > > >What do you mean by "only for customers" - I guess it's not what it > > > > >sounds like, but just to clarify: are there any features or > > > > > functions that are made available only to the customer funding > > > > > development? I guess you meant something else, right? > > > > > > > > > >BTW, I totally understand the idea of Bacula Systems and I also > > > > > totally agree with points about distinction of the > > > > > enterprise/community versions. The reasons I see that companies > > > > > would pay for > > > > >backup-systems, are plugins for enterprise-class databases and > > > > >applications, but (as I have understood) there are currently none. > > > > > If it had some, I'd happily suggest my many customers to buy Bacula > > > > > Enterprise software, but justifying 1500 EUR technical support > > > > > (which is the only available licencing model currently, right?) to > > > > > a company who has its IT dept or a very competent IT service > > > > > provider, is a bit awkward.. > > > > > > > > I tend to disagree. Paying for tech support is much like purchasing > > > > an insurance, it is risk and time management. > > > > > > > > I work for a large IT company full of very smart people but we face > > > > the same problem as many other companies; we have lots of skills but > > > > very little time. > > > > > > > > Our Bacula support contract is not so much about buying knowledge or > > > > skills; it is about renting an extra set of hands that we can choose > > > > to activate if / when we need. > > > > > > Yes, ofcourse - paying for support is totally fine and should be one > > > way to purchase something. Here, in Estonia, most of the companies are > > > small or medium, so I was speaking on behalf of medium sized companies > > > - they would easily buy the product, but paying a lot more (than for > > > just a product that you are totally by yourself with) for support in > > > quite a small setup is not needed. > > > > > > But later, when you see you don't manage with it, you can always > > > buy support in addition. > > > > That is a relatively dangerous way to function if you are speaking about > > a serious company, for several reasons: > > > > 1. You don't have any expert checks/advice on your configuration before > > you get into trouble. > > > > 2. When you get into trouble it can take you weeks or even a months to > > get a support purchase order completed -- contract difficulties... The > > bigger a company the more it is complex getting contracts signed. Most > > big companies want "suppliers" to sign their "paper". Bacula has its own > > contracts and does not sign 3rd party contracts, unless they want to pay > > $10,000 or more for our lawyer to read, approve, and negotiate the > > contract (we don't have the money to do that). > > > > 3. Bacula's support contracts are in some respects like health insurance. > > If you have a pre-existing problem you will need a "consulting" contract > > to have it fixed before a support contract can begin, and Bacula Systems > > will only do "consulting" for customers. > > > > Bottom line: it can be slow and expensive to resolve, if you have a > > serious problem. > > > > That is for you to decide, of course. > > > > Kern > > Of course. As I said - I do see a point in purchasing support. But not for > such small solutions that we are usually implementing for medium sized > businesses. Especially if we already have about 5 years of experience with > Bacula :) > > If the website will at some point be outlining benefits of paying for > support (or additional features of the enterprise version) a bit more > clearly, it will be interesting to overview this thing again though :) > > Can you please also answer my initial question about that "only for > customers" thing? :)
I already answered that in quite some length. Perhaps it landed in your spam folder -- in any case, I will resend it. Kern ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Next 800 Companies to Lead America's Growth: New Video Whitepaper David G. Thomson, author of the best-selling book "Blueprint to a Billion" shares his insights and actions to help propel your business during the next growth cycle. Listen Now! http://p.sf.net/sfu/SAP-dev2dev _______________________________________________ Bacula-devel mailing list Bacula-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-devel
