Getting facts on this straight before speaking to bossHi Jill, I don't think anyone intentionally meant to personally flame you. You just happen to be the most public Ipswitch employee on the list. We are all frustrated and bewildered by the course chosen by Ipswitch, which will hurt many companies and the reputation of many admins that went to bat for Imail with their bosses or their customers.
The repeating key theme that everyone seems to be looking for is a simple version of Imail without the bells and whistles. No one wants to buy services they aren't going to use or need. We want the ability to buy just what we need, be it Anti-Virus or Anti-Spam. We also want pricing in line with these simple needs. This allows you to meet the needs of customers from small business through ISPs. John Tolmachoff made an excellent post on a logical course of action on pricing particularly regarding support costs, partly reposted below from his thread: "My overview (opinion) of Ipswitch's e-mail server product offering" John Tolmachoff wrote: My Opinions/thoughts/recommendations: 1. Marketing surveys should be taken with a grain of salt. The outcome of the survey is dependent on the questions asked, and the questions asked is subjective to the one asking and/or under the direction of the entity desiring the results. 2. Sales should always be taken with a grain of salt, as they have a motive in selling the product they are offering. 3. Ipswitch should offer a basic ICS package for EXISTING ISP customers with a current SA for Imail without AV included for around $1000. 4. Ipswitch should abandon the flat yearly SA fee model, and instead adopt what other software vendors have: A 2 level SA scheme, where by you can purchase a yearly upgrade SA for say $250 and a unlimited yearly support SA for say $750. If you do not have yearly support SA, a per incident support fee of say $250 would apply. (Those prices would be for ISP versions. Business version would have higher rates.) 5. Just because a specific segment of a customer base does not result in good income amounts is not reason to abandon them out right. 6. I have a client who falls within the targeted market of the new ICS. For that client to upgrade to receive the features they have been waiting for would cost them $4995, a cost they can not afford. 7. ICS standard 100 user new cost is $2495. Windows Small Business server 2003, which includes Exchange, for 50 users costs about $4000, and that includes Exchange and SQL servers. Therefore, from a value standpoint, Windows Small Business Server 2003 standard makes more sense cost wise that does ICS standard 100 user. Of course you would need to add anti-spam and anti-virus to the server, but the point is priced too high even for that market. 8. Instead of using pricing levels of 25, 100, 250 and unlimited users, a more realistic pricing level would be 50, 250, 1000 and unlimited users. Best, -C ----- Original Message ----- From: Jill Jones To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2004 2:19 PM Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] Cross-grade concerns addressed (NEW SVC AGREEMENT PRICES) Hi Bryan, The service agreement prices include the AV subscription renewals as well as service on the components in the ICS bundle (which in the case of the ISP/EDU bundle is IMail, KWM and AV). There is one typo in the list concerning the renewal of the ICS ISP Edition - that number should read $3,995 instead of $4,995. What I would be curious to know is - 1) Since that $3,995 number includes subscription for unlimited Symantec AV, would it be more palatable to have two tiers for the ISP bundles - perhaps a 1,000 user level and an unlimited level? This would substantially drop the cost of the renewal (I can't give numbers, as I don't have them - since at the moment this is hypothetical). 2) If we were to continue to offer a stand-alone Service Agreement for IMail, what would be a fair price for such an agreement? Please bear in mind that the current $495 does not cover our Support costs, let alone our Development costs. I am asking this forum these questions, not to start another flame, but to get some feedback - I would appreciate everyone's use of correct forum etiquette. It is difficult for me to post here in good faith while getting personally flamed. Thanks, Jill From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bryan E. Martin Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 5:39 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] Cross-grade concerns addressed (NEW SVC AGREEMENT PRICES) Jill, I received a PowerPoint presentation from Renee Breckenridge, my new account manager, which also gave the ICS Annual Renewal fees (new service agreement fees). They were as follows: STANDARD EDITION: 25 Users $375 100 Users $995 250 Users $1495 Unlimited Users $2995 PREMIUM EDITION: 25 Users $449 100 Users $1295 250 Users $2695 Unlimited Users $4995 ISP/EDU EDITION: Unlimited Users $4995 Should I decide to actually purchase ICS Standard Unlimited just to keep running IMail Server and receiving support and upgrades to a product I have invested three years of my time and profit in, my annual renewal fee will increase from $495 to a minimum of $2995, over 600%. But just to get there, I have to also jump the $4995 hurdle, which is over a 1000% increase in the first year. All I have ever used is IMail Server. That's all I want, that's all I need, but Ipswitch is no longer going to provide me with that option. Jill, would Ipswitch rather have $0 from my company than $495? Is that truly the better deal financially for the company? Please respond to this e-mail. You have been very active in the form today. I would appreciate a straightforward response to my inquiry. Thanks, Bryan E. Martin Ziggycom Online, Inc. From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jill Jones Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 3:22 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [IMail Forum] Cross-grade concerns addressed Hi Doug, I hope that this post will address many of the concerns I have read on the forum yesterday and today in regards to crossgrading from IMail to ICS. If you have a current Service Agreement for IMail or IIM, and are not interested in crossgrading to ICS, you will receive service for the life of your SA. This means that when we release software updates, such as 8.14, 8.15, etc., you will get those updates just as you always have. You will also continue to receive phone support for the life of your agreement. Ipswitch is not taking anything away in terms of service or support for the current product. If you have a current Service Agreement for IMail or IM and are interested in crossgrading to ICS, then you will get a year of service, for all components in your ICS bundle, added to your existing SA. Here are some examples of how this works: If I own IMail and my SA expires in January 05 and I crossgrade to ICS in November 04, then I have service on all ICS components until January 06 - even the ones that I did not own previously. If I own IMail and my SA expires in January 05 and I have Symantec Scan Engine, which expires in March of 05 - but I choose to crossgrade to ICS in November of 04, then I have service on all ICS components until March of 06. Also, bear in mind, that the crossgrade and renewal prices include subscription fees and are not just for service and support. Best regards, Jill From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Doug Anderson Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 3:38 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [IMail Forum] Getting facts on this straight before speaking to boss That SHOULD be when it comes time for SA renewal. My complaint (maybe along with other corporate users) is we paid the SA. That SA should of been prorated to December 31 if you have to buy before the 31. That 5995 actually is plus because our SA hasn't run out. ----- Original Message ----- From: Allen Taylor To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 1:54 PM Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] Getting facts on this straight before speaking to boss Limited-time offer until December 31, 2004 Special offer for IMail Server and Ipswitch Instant Messaging customers (You will be required to enter your valid serial number or service agreement number during your purchase. Offer valid for IMail server versions 7 and up and all versions of Ipswitch Instant Messaging.) 25 seats $695 100 seats $1,495 250 seats $2,995 Unlimited seats $5,995 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jill Jones Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 1:11 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [IMail Forum] Getting facts on this straight before speaking to boss Hi Sharyn, What Edition are you interested in, Standard, Premium or ISP? The renewal costs for each of those unlimited editions are $2,295, $4,995 and $2,295, respectively. Jill From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Sharyn Schmidt Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 8:19 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [IMail Forum] Getting facts on this straight before speaking to boss Suppose I want to fork over the cost of the special price for current service agreement holders, which looks like $5,995.00 for unlimited seating.. I get a year's service agreement with the upgrade software. Next year, I want to renew the agreement. Will the new service agreement also cost me another $5,995.00???? Sharyn To Unsubscribe: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html List Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Knowledge Base/FAQ: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/
