OUR APPROACH
At BitBolt we use a multi-phase project model, which we believe gives a much better return on investment than traditional models.
It works by breaking a project down into short phases. For each phase, we ask our customers to choose the smallest possible scope that makes business sense. This allows us to deliver a working product sooner, and gives our customers greater opportunity to ensure that the project is heading in the right direction. Depending on the scale of the project this usually means phases of no more than 8 weeks.
The scope, duration, and price of each phase are agreed upon beforehand. After each phase our customers can decide either that additional phases are required, or that the product is complete. Naturally certain projects, such as a small website, may not be complex enough to require several phases. In this case we are happy to quote a single fixed price for the entire project.
Here's an example, showing an 8 month project, with 4 phases:
The BitBolt Pricing Model
This model has a number of advantages:
- The customer enjoys genuine business value from the software as early as the first release date. This is long before the project is completely finished.
- The customer has far greater control over the design and direction of the product. New features are designed at the start of every phase, meaning customers can change the scope or focus of the overall product at any time.
- Each release delivers a fully functioning piece of software; the customer can chose to halt the project at any stage, saving money, and still getting a valuable software product.
- This model allows payments to be spread over a longer time period, rather than one huge payment at the end.
This is contrasted with the typical software pricing structure, illustrated below:
Typical Pricing Model
This pricing model has several disadvantages:
- This is an all or nothing model. If the project is cancelled at any stage, generally no useful software is delivered.
- The customer has to wait until the very end of the project to see the finished product. At this stage they may find that the software isn't exactly what they intended, or that their business needs have changed in the mean time, forcing another phase of development (and additional unanticipated costs).
- No business value can be gained from the software until the very end of development. For a large project this may involve waiting many months, sometimes years.
- It is difficult to estimate how much work is involved in complex or lengthy projects. Many software vendors either spend a large amount of time costing the project, or simply inflate their estimate to cope with any unforeseen problems. Both of these cost the customer money.
Rates
Our hourly rate is very competitive. Additionally we pride ourselves on finding ways to work smarter, using technology in innovative ways, to ensure that project phases are completed with the minimal amount of effort. Please contact us for a free introductory consultation. We are sure you will be pleased with the results.