Ending the suspense - pricing structure for XIDED
Category xided
A few folks have requested clarification on an admittedly suspect phrase from one of my recent posts: "downright cheap". So for those of you who expressed an interest in XIDED and were curious what the pricing structure would be, I've decided to end the suspense.
An organizational license will be $200 / year. I've scrapped my original notion of using named licenses as well because it'd be more hassle than it's worth, both for me and for the customer. Besides, good software shouldn't be expensive anyway. Good software doesn't have to be. So no matter how many developers you have, the price will remain the same. They won't even need a Notes ID; as long as they can authenticate and have Designer access to the database they want to modify, they'll be able to make code changes... just be aware that if you're using one of IBM's CAL-based licensing options, this won't remove the need for them to have a CAL. They just won't require a traditional Notes account to develop Notes/Domino applications; an entry in a cascaded address book will do just fine.
I'm also opting for a simpler approach than is typical to maintenance fees: multi-year purchase incentives. A 2-year license will be $360, 3-year will be $450, 4-year will be $480, and 5-year will be $500. In other words, if you buy 5 years at a time, it's half price, and you won't have to worry about the price going up later because you're already locked in. You'll also speed up delivery of enhancements because I can spend less time asking customers if they'd like to renew their subscription and more time writing code.
I'm relying solely on word of mouth to generate interest in this project because, frankly, the thought of paying for actual advertising and having to pass the cost on to customers turns my stomach. If this tool is useful enough to inspire people to tell others about it, then I'll be able to afford to make it even more useful. Which is precisely why I don't want to charge more for it. A sales rep at IBM once told me that she didn't feel comfortable selling Websphere Portal to us. Since I'm not accustomed to salespeople being hesitant to make a sale, I couldn't resist asking why. Her response was that, if she sold us something that wasn't truly valuable to us (not to say that it wouldn't be to others, but at the time she felt it wouldn't be a good fit for our organization), we'd stop buying from her. But if everything we bought from her ultimately proved its worth, we'd keep coming back. Brilliant, isn't it? If only everybody in sales had the same outlook. Um... I mean perspective. I'm not recommending that all salespeople use Outlook.
A few folks have requested clarification on an admittedly suspect phrase from one of my recent posts: "downright cheap". So for those of you who expressed an interest in XIDED and were curious what the pricing structure would be, I've decided to end the suspense.
An organizational license will be $200 / year. I've scrapped my original notion of using named licenses as well because it'd be more hassle than it's worth, both for me and for the customer. Besides, good software shouldn't be expensive anyway. Good software doesn't have to be. So no matter how many developers you have, the price will remain the same. They won't even need a Notes ID; as long as they can authenticate and have Designer access to the database they want to modify, they'll be able to make code changes... just be aware that if you're using one of IBM's CAL-based licensing options, this won't remove the need for them to have a CAL. They just won't require a traditional Notes account to develop Notes/Domino applications; an entry in a cascaded address book will do just fine.
I'm also opting for a simpler approach than is typical to maintenance fees: multi-year purchase incentives. A 2-year license will be $360, 3-year will be $450, 4-year will be $480, and 5-year will be $500. In other words, if you buy 5 years at a time, it's half price, and you won't have to worry about the price going up later because you're already locked in. You'll also speed up delivery of enhancements because I can spend less time asking customers if they'd like to renew their subscription and more time writing code.
I'm relying solely on word of mouth to generate interest in this project because, frankly, the thought of paying for actual advertising and having to pass the cost on to customers turns my stomach. If this tool is useful enough to inspire people to tell others about it, then I'll be able to afford to make it even more useful. Which is precisely why I don't want to charge more for it. A sales rep at IBM once told me that she didn't feel comfortable selling Websphere Portal to us. Since I'm not accustomed to salespeople being hesitant to make a sale, I couldn't resist asking why. Her response was that, if she sold us something that wasn't truly valuable to us (not to say that it wouldn't be to others, but at the time she felt it wouldn't be a good fit for our organization), we'd stop buying from her. But if everything we bought from her ultimately proved its worth, we'd keep coming back. Brilliant, isn't it? If only everybody in sales had the same outlook. Um... I mean perspective. I'm not recommending that all salespeople use Outlook.
