[DHBB7290]

I administer BES with nine 7290's at work. I have been offered to do some small contract work on another company's four 7290's and work on their BES. Wondering what a reasonable rate would be to charge per hour? Any input is appreciated.

[BES admin]

Well, you should consider a few factors:

1. Will you be working WITH the Mail server admin or will the company expect you to perform the necessary mail server admin tasks to set up and configure the BB service?

2. If the answer above is "You do it all." then consider your liability. We all know that a simple installation of one service which integrates with another can be more work than you expect. In other words, they are asking you to stick your hands into a mail server which may or may not be set up correctly. If something goes wrong, what are you in for?

3. Do they want an installation of the BB server and the config of a few handhelds and you are done? OR do they want it set up to work with thier mail system AND design a backup and restore plan for them AND maintain the server (patches etc) AND handle the troubleshooting calls when something, (and it will happen), doesn't work as expected?

I would ask yourself the above question and then outline for this small buisiness what it is you can offer and provide them with options for what you are willing to do. They have to decide what they want and what they are willing to pay for. Whatever you agree on, get it in writing, even if it seems simple now, soemthing may happen and something which effects their business may get lost or broken, and they may come after you. A little piece of paper with an agreement on it signed by both parties can really help.

ok, so how much? well... I would charge no less than $50 an hour... that being said, it is probably more wise to consider something along the lines of a set contract fee for the entire job. Figure 6 - 8hrs to completely set up a machine with BES and test it. Maybe $400. if you get done in 6 hrs. you make more... if you take 10hrs. they don't get overcharged for something you messed up or don't understand.

Also, try talking them into a monthly service fee or something to perform maintenance monthly. Or maybe a $45 per hour on-site support minimum 1 hour per support call.

Just my two cents. Good luck.

[corey@12mile]

What BES admin said sounds faily reasonable. I would also explain to them that some of the things you may have to do once in a while are re-activations, additions and revoval of users. Explain that you will charge them a minimum of 1 hour for each of these tasks, unless you work out some sort of monthly deal. As well, depending on how the client is, you can also ask for a retainer, figure 4 hours worth. That way if there is ever a billing issue, you know that you are paid.

cd.

[jibi]

$45-50?! This is America (maybe not) and the going rate for just about any sort of professional/commercial IT work would be no less than $80-120 per hour. Granted, I don't make anywhere near that, but if I was contracting myself out, then I can guarantee you that I could ask for the higher portion of that fee and get it with no questions asked. Heck, I can do local work on personal computers around here for doctors and lawyers and whatnot and easily make $80 per hour without them blinking an eye. If they are contracting out, then they obviously probably don't have the money to hire someone full-time to do the job, so you may run into a snag there; but on the other hand, they are installing BlackBerry technology, so they obviously have some money to waste.

Its capitalism at its best - people will pay what you ask, unless you aren't the only candidate (in which case, you'll just have to get into a numbers game with them and submit a competitive bid for the work).

[corey@12mile]

jibi, I think that whole attitude was ok 5 years ago, but times are getting tighter. I do work for $50 an hour all the time for people, and for 2 reasons.

1. Company's are more willing to throw work my way, without as much of a decision making process ahead of the actual decision. When they think 'well, this guy only charges us $50 an hour, go ahead' it does pay off in the long term because you build the trust, by gaining more hours, and you start to become a no-brainer for them... you will start to hear more of the 'just call corey' type decisions from the companies.

2. It generally gives you breathing room. Have you ever noticed how under the gun high priced consultants are? We have had a few in from time to time where I work for this accounting package we are using and I tell ya, I wouldn't want to be them when they were here. They were constantly being asked question (difficult at that) and constantly being scrutinized as to what they were doing with our time that we were paying for. We never harassed them, but my boss wanted to make sure that everything on our agenda was covered during the period the person was here.

What I have found in my life is that over the course of the last 5-6 years, I have really developed into the 'server guy' for most of the niagara region here. I have many people/companies calling me to do mostly server related work, and now that I am in demand, I can start demanding the premium prices that we all used to make in the late 90's.

The last thing I can think of as to why to keep the rate lower is because the more they pay you, the more they expect you to drop everything the instant they need you. I explain to all my customers that I work like an emergency room, the most critical items get dealt with first, and sometimes people have to be bumped back. I also give a lot of my clients access to my 'work' calendar through the web. This let's them see my free/busy time so that they can send me a note like 'Corey, you have nothing scheduled for Thursday evening, can you come do blah blah'. This gives everyone involved the best possible scenario because based on the time I have available and the job they want me to do, I can decide whether it's a good idea or not.

Either way... I wouldn't try and start off running at a high rate with a new company. I would start low, but explain that you will increase the rate as you see fit. I do it... it's kinda like my new years resolution...

cd.

[sbagdan]

I charge $150.00 an hour for general consulting, including server, mail and BB work. Now granted, I am in LA and don't know what I could charge elseware, but for me to go on-site for a client, I will not work for less than $125/hour.