Frequently Asked Questions

• What is ProofSupport?
• What does ProofSupport cover?
• What’s the difference between Support and Training?
• What does ProofSupport cost?
• What is ad-hoc development?
• Why does development cost more?
• What's the difference between ProofSupport and the Proof Consulting Retainer
• We need both support and ad-hoc development. Which program is right for us?

Q: What is ProofSupport?
A: ProofSupport (PS) is our program for supporting new and existing customers' use of their FileMaker solutions. While some companies try to narrow the definition of support to mean "you pay us to fix the bugs we created" we like to take a broader, friendlier view. Our focus is not on slicing and dicing the meaning of support but on helping you get the job done.

Q: What does ProofSupport cover?
A: Anything you need to help you better use the system you have, including training you on extending that system.

• Need help understanding a script? Got it.
• Report not working correctly for you? Covered.
• Need your solution to track and report on favorite colors? No problem.
• Need a really good brownie recipe? We're there for you. (Although we stand behind our recipes, we might be a tad expensive as far as cookbooks go.)

Q: So, what’s the difference between Support and Training?
A: We don’t see a big difference, really. We think every support incident is an opportunity to provide training. We try hard to give you and your organization the tools and knowledge help yourself. Don’t worry, though, we understand sometimes triage comes first.

Q: What does ProofSupport cost?
A: PS hours are purchased priced in buckets. Twenty hours are $2,800. Fifty hours are $5,750. The minimum buy-in is 20 hours. PS hours are not refundable, but they do not expire if you refresh your account to the original level on an annual basis.

Q: What is ad-hoc development, exactly?
A: Development is really any activity that involves us making changes or additions to your files, whereas support is about helping you work with your existing system as it is. It is not uncommon for a question that starts as a support request to turn into a request for a new report or calculation or even new functionality. If you need us to add on to your system or create a new system for you that's development. While PS isn't intended to fill that need, we are happy to apply some of your support hours to development on an ad-hoc basis, but keep in mind that it costs a little bit more. If you choose to use your PS hours for development you'll have fewer support hours to work with at any pricing tier.

Example: Four hours to have us add an email module would cost about the same as six hours supporting you doing it yourself.

Q: Why does development cost more?
A: We provide top notch development services and stand behind all of our work. Development is a somewhat more risky activity because it involves more unknowns for us and the organization. The price difference reflects the added cost of that risk. For longer-term development work we may suggest a consulting retainer or budgeted project.

Q: What's the difference between ProofSupport and the Proof Consulting Retainer

A: ProofSupport allows you to budget for your support needs at a reduced rate. If you under-budget you can purchase additional buckets of time. If you over-budget your time rolls over to the next year and counts toward the support bucket refresh.

The Proof Retainer (PR) program is best for organizations that don't have an established budget or have more ad hoc development needs. With the Proof Retainer program any unused funds are fully refundable. By the same token, there are no price discounts for the Proof Retainer program.

Q: We need both support and ad-hoc development. Which program is right for us?
A: We'd be happy to talk with you to develop an appropriate budget for support and development. You can participate in PS or PR or both depending on what makes sense for your organization.