We offer our clients three different engagement models:

target cost

Target cost is a unique pricing model that combines much of the cost certainty of a fixed bid with the flexibility of hourly billing.

The first phase of a target cost engagement is a discovery phase where we collaboratively prepare a feature list for the project that can be reasonably implemented for the desired budget. This phase of the project takes two to three weeks and is billed at a fixed rate.

The output of this discovery phase is a feature list, a project budget, and a two tiered rate card. Hours billed while the project is below target cost are billed at our standard rate. Hours billed over the target cost are billed at a reduced rate.

Each feature in the list is assigned a point estimate that approximates the amount of effort required to implement the feature. Each week we deliver a subset of the features from the feature list. After a few weeks we will learn the ratio between feature points and cost. This ratio can be used to predict the total cost of the project. We provide a spreadsheet that models this and each week we'll do a weekly review of the budget to make sure we're on track.

This is our favorite model for any project long enough to create the opportunity for enough weekly feedback cycles (typically 8 weeks or longer). Target cost gives us both incentives to keep the project within budget. We find that this model eliminates many of the problems that come from fixed bid engagements, such as the inability to change scope as we learn more about the project, and the adversarial relationship between client and vendor.

deliverable based

This is our version of a fixed price engagement.

On a deliverable based engagement we work with you to prepare a feature list that constitutes the total scope of the project. Depending on the size of the project, we may require a discovery phase to explore scope.

After we have explored the feature space and prepared an overall model we will deliver a project bid that includes a list of features to be implemented. Each feature will generally be quite small and will match the grammar outlined by the Feature Driven Development process.

Each feature will have a fixed cost associated with it. The total cost of all features is the total project bid.

Each week we will implement a subset of features from the list and review work from the previous week with you. Minor changes will be corrected as part of the process. Major changes that invalidate assumptions in the proposal will be billed as separate change orders.

We highly recommend the use of target cost for larger projects, and suggest deliverable based pricing for smaller projects that require cost containment.

hourly

We provide you with a standard hourly rate card and bill you for hours worked. This is a good option if you require maximum flexibility and minimal project management overhead. Work requests are logged as tickets in trac, and we work the tickets in the priority you specify.

comparison

Which model is right for you?

model	project duration	flexibility	cost certainty
target cost	8+ weeks	high	medium to high
deliverable based	2+ weeks	low	high
hourly	any	high	low

workflow

Regardless of the model you choose, our project workflow will be similar. Each week we will have a status meeting where we review deliverables from the previous week, note any required changes, and prepare a work plan for the following week. For maintenance projects this call may be brief. Typically this is a 90 minute meeting.

For target cost projects we will also review the overall project budget.

All projects are billed monthly.

delivery

We always deliver increments weekly regardless of the billing model.

We provide each client with a staging server where our work in progress can be reviewed.

tools

We provide each client with a separate trac instance to document the project and track change requests.

We provide each client with a separate subversion repository for code changes.

All projects will have automated builds in ant or maven, and continuous integration for all projects is done using hudson

For target cost projects we provide clients with a Google Spreadsheet that provides up to date information about project budget and billing so that we can collaboratively steer the project towards an on budget solution.

technology

In order to provide cost certainty and short lead times we have a standard technology stack. Server side code will be developed in Java. Client side code will be done in standard CSS/XHTML. AJAX UI development will be done using JQuery or GWT depending on the client's needs.