Project Estimate

Business Goals

We need to know what the site/project will achieve for you.

Eg.: increase engagement; update security; improve branding; add features; attract audience for related revenue generators; meet requirements for grant-funded work (or other compliance); allow for collaboration among staff/participants; documentation

Type of wiki, Size and Scope

We need to know how you use this wiki. The same software has been put to use in a thousand different ways. If existing, how do you use it? If new, how do you intend to use it? What other websites (e.g. blog) or systems (like authentication, or corp. databases) are incorporated or integrated with the website? Will the wiki be "document rich" - meaning lots of images, videos, pdfs, or other files? While integrations can create tremendous value, they also require more time and maintenance. And, integrations should be known and discussed early so that the functional and technical requirements are known. If existing, what are the current traffic stats, hosting arrangements, db stats, storage and bandwidth usage, etc. Will it be high-traffic public, will it be internal-use-only? How many end-users (and what's the read/write ratio)? Does the site have levels of authority in the functionality and workflow of the site, and what are they (e.g. moderators/managers)? Who on staff will be a site administrator? What staff will be responsible for operating the wiki? What are the cyclical or event-driven demands on the site? For example, will the (public) site receive 2-3x demand after publicity? Does your (internal) site have usage patterns that spike corresponding with month-end, quarter-end, year-end or other predictable or unpredictable temporal events? If a wiki farm, when, how and why would you be creating a new wiki? Is it client-based, project-based? Where is the content for the wiki? Is the goal to transfer content from an existing system into the wiki?

Design Requirements

Are there any requirements or wishes for how the site will look? Are there other websites that you are trying to match for design/ease of use/content/functionality?

Budget

What is your current annual personnel spend on the site? Vendor costs? What is the expected budget range for a) build b) maintain? What are you planning to spend on this project? Contrary to popular belief, you should not try to hide your budget from your vendor. Being upfront about the amount of money you have to spend, or expect to spend greatly helps reach a proper match with your vendor. For analogy, you can purchase a car for $5,000, $50,000 or $500,000. They all come with tires, brakes, seats and a steering wheel and will get you from point A to point B. But obviously the demands/expectations of the buyer will be very different. And the product / technology will be very different.

< $5,000
$5,000 - 30,000
> $30,000

People

There are many stakeholders in any project. We need to know as much as possible about those stakeholders. Of primary importance are who's paying for it, and who does it serve?

Who owns this project internally at the company?
Who at the company will be involved with this project? (Name, title, email, capacity/role) Especially, what IT, Engineering or other technical people will be involved?
Who has budgetary responsibility for the project, and will authorize payments?

Keeping it running

Websites are not launched. Websites are born. As those of us who are parents can attest, the real work begins from there. However, unlike your children, it is easy to ignore your website and simply allow it to fall out of date. Software updates, critical security patches, performance and feature improvements, bug fixes etc.

Would you create a “content calendar” to map out important events or updates for your business?
Would you create new website content on a regular basis (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly)?
Would you review traffic reports and be able to assess performance?
Would you keep up with software updates for website and plugins?

Maintenance and Support might sound like hosting, but it's not. Although you can get a package deal that bundles support and maintenance with hosting (and in fact that is exactly what QualityBox offers), they are two very different things. Hosting would be like leasing some farmland. You still have to do all the farming yourself!