Demystifying Joomla Website Maintenance

An unidentified long term client of ours has sent us the following questions related to our Joomla maintenance plans:

I’ve been wanting to talk to you about the two maintenance plans we have for 79.99 per month per website. I’m not sure I am firmly grasping what this covers and I feel like I may not be taking advantage of this service plan and for $159.98 per month I need to look closely at this cost. I do see the different plan options on your website, and I’m not sure that another plan would work better (ie the $29.99 plan) but at the same time it’s an extra $50 x 2 per month ($100) for ‘extended software warranty’ and ‘additional security and monitoring’ -- do you think I’m really getting my money’s worth on this? Maybe you would consider giving me a discount since I have two sites with you and/or maybe you would consider including one hour of support time in this payment?

Although our maintenance terms of service are very specific and I have written about Joomla site maintenance questions and issues in the past, many our clients probably still have the same questions so I’d be happy to clarify publicly.

Extended software warranty in the Joomla regular maintenance plan relates to OGO Sense maintaining the originally developed state of your site for no additional cost. This means that if your website fails to work due to server, Joomla security updates or other reasons, we will fix your website for no additional cost. Joomla CMS is a complex system and maintaining existing features for years is not a simple task.

Additional security & monitoring in the Joomla regular maintenance plan relates to OGO Sense completing security updates, anti-hack protection and fixing damage due to hacking for no additional cost. Recently, we had to deal with a Joomla compromise. Those clients who are using the Joomla basic maintenance plan would be responsible for costs related to such incidents under our clearly defined and generous Joomla maintenance terms of service.

So in summary:

• For additional $50/month clients have a piece of mind and better control over their maintenance costs.
• New Joomla sites released by OGO Sense are being automatically enrolled in Joomla regular plan with no long term commitment.
• New clients with existing Joomla sites developed by another company or individual may only qualify for the basic Joomla plan until their Joomla site is migrated or redesigned by OGO Sense staff.

Does the Joomla regular maintenance plan provide better value than the basic maintenance plan?

I would say yes and would be happy to anyone pointing to another Joomla maintenance company that provides the same service levels and more personalized service for less money than we do.

Do we give discounts for multiple sites?

Currently we offer 10% discounts for annual payments but not for multiple sites. Considering that each Joomla installation is different, they all require considerable attention. However, I could see how someone could easily confuse our service for multiple user account discounts. For example, when you sign up for an online CRM service and pay for each user, it costs the maintenance company just a fraction of the cost to maintain additional users. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with unique and separate Joomla installations. And with each Joomla CMS website, you have an option to create an unlimited number of additional users for free.

Do we include free hours of support in our maintenance plans?

For items that are covered by regular or basic maintenance plans, clients don’t have to pay anything extra. If you feel there has been a mistake with your bill, please let us know and our billing staff would be happy to clarify further, explain charges, make adjustments if needed and even provide advice on how to minimize your expenses in the future.

We don’t include additional hours in our service plans because we know that you won’t need them every month. Also, we have a fair number of clients and staff members at this point that we can relatively well balance the workload and provide the additional help when needed in a timely manner.

How do I feel about discounts?

I have to say I don’t believe in discounts. If a business discounts, it could be an indication that the price was not set up correctly in the first place. Also, if you’re discounting a product or service, you’re going to have to earn that money elsewhere. Instead of discounting, I believe in providing better service for clients, reinvesting in the company and trying to maintain consistency.

What's next?

We are currently considering to make changes and introduce additional higher level maintenance plans (with SAS70 hosting, extended support hours, faster response time, etc). If you have some additional questions and recommendations, please post comments below or contact me directly if you are an existing client. I would be happy to hear from you.