FAQ's. Every company in every industry can supply a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ's). Some of these questions might be common, no brainer questions while others might be questions that many potential clients might like the answer to. It is typical for a company to have a "FAQ" section on their website.

On today's blog, I am going to tackle a few questions we get often. The answers to these questions may help you get a better understanding of what we do here at SYDCON, and how we do it.

1. "Can you take over a project that is already started?" I would say we get this one most often. And, our answer is always a resounding "YES!".  Dave and our developers like to say they "have been handed a spaghetti bowl" to sort out! Often times we step in and act as a relief pitcher so to speak. We get companies who call us in full SOS  mode. It's not uncommon for a potential new client to call us and say "my developer disappeared" or "we hired a company who said they could handle our project but they can't".  Another common reason is that the project was not built to code specifications and a company needs us to pick up the pieces and help them salvage it.  A criteria when we hire a new developer is that they must be comfortable working in other people's code.

2. "How do you price projects?" This is another common inquiry. If you have spent any time on our site you will see that we do not have any type of pricing model. While some may say that will discourage companies from contacting us, we have specific reasoning for it. You see all of our services are custom. We have no ground zero starting point on any project. We like to say it's like hiring a custom builder to build a custom home. The price varies on those homes based on things like what type of flooring, counter tops, faucets, and cabinets.

Here at SYDCON, we offer two types of pricing.  We offer a "flat quote" or "hourly".  For flat quotes, we conduct very in-depth consultations with potential clients to knock out all of the specifics of their project and quote the entire project. When we use hourly it would be for clients who are looking for maintenance work or maybe adding functionality in phases, who can only budget a few hours a month on development time.  With no two projects being alike, it is hard to have base pricing. Our consultations are free and our experienced Project Manager leaves no stone unturned when he combs over specs.

3. "Who owns the code you create?" There are many different types of development firms out there. Some require you utilize their hosting environment or provide specific software on a "licensing" term. Meaning that you pay them a monthly fee to utilize a database or shopping cart. If you choose to move to a different hosting environment or work with a different developer you cannot take the site/code with you.  While a firm like this may be attractive up front because the initial price tag may be lower, in the long run, it may not be cost effective. Here at SYDCON, we turn over ownership of the code to the client once the project is paid for in full. We retain no rights to it once we turn it over. We hope that you will continue to work with us in the future for any additions and/or maintenance but we do not tie you to us by any monthly fees or contracts.

I hope that by further expanding on the answers to these 3 FAQ we receive it will give you a better understanding of how we function here at SYDCON. Whether your project is small or large, complex or a quick fix we apply the same standard to all of our projects. By conducting in-depth consultations and digging far beneath the surface of the project specifications we hope that our proposals mean you will not be faced with any surprises. Now, we know that no one is perfect and sometimes things pop up in projects that were unforeseen. When that arises we will have another discussion, decide how to proceed based on time, budget and best practices. If you have a project you would like to discuss, contact us today! Remember, consults are FREE!