Rob Addy, on his Gartner blog, raises an interesting question about extended support fees for software. We are talking here about support for old versions of software, and the way support and maintenance fees are structured has always looked to me like a racket designed to push reluctant users into upgrading. I am annoyed when my new computer, running Windows 7, won't speak to an old inkjet printer or run ViaVoice Millennium Edition. What's that all about? It's about Lexmark and IBM (and others) trying to make me buy stuff I don't need (because I have stuff that works fine for me) and can't afford. Thank goodness Windows 7 has an XP emulator.
A client of mine, or rather of my old firm's, or rather of the firm where I used to work, always argued that maintenance charges should go down over time, not up as they invariably do. When you're talking about old versions, the case must be even more compelling - the bugs have been ironed out, the users know their way around the program, the cost of keeping it running is minimal.
But don't read me rambling on about it - read his original posting.
A client of mine, or rather of my old firm's, or rather of the firm where I used to work, always argued that maintenance charges should go down over time, not up as they invariably do. When you're talking about old versions, the case must be even more compelling - the bugs have been ironed out, the users know their way around the program, the cost of keeping it running is minimal.
But don't read me rambling on about it - read his original posting.
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