Spending a lot of time on your support department pays off,

I am using third party controls wherever I can. If I can buy the stuff that I need, we don't need to develop it myself. Buying software components is always cheaper than developing them yourself.

If you look at two component(s) (sets) that I am using (DevExpress Suite and ProfDHTMLEdit) you can tell which gives good value for money. We spent $3000 on DevExpress software and about $100 on the ProfDHMLEdit component. DevExpress is way cheaper for us and I will always recommend that to others. ProfDHTMLEdit has proven to be very expensive and I won't recommend it to anyone.

I'll explain why. But first, let me emphasize that the two software packages don't compare in functionality. The DevExpress package is much bigger and serves quite different purposes then ProfDHTMLEdit, hence the difference in price. But, that's not the point. The point is: what do I get for my money, support wise. And how does that make you feel as a customer.

Another thing to know is that I realize that DevExpress is a much larger company then the single person that supports ProfDHTMLEdit. But, again, that is not the point. The point is: what does attention, curtosy and friendliness do to you.

The Bad Support Scenario
Once upon a time I started to use ProfDHTMLEdit. I was looking for a WYSIWYG XML editor, couldn't find a suitable one, and ended up with ProfDHTMLEdit. It is a HTML editor with no special features to support XML. However, using some tricks and stylesheets I was able to make into the light weight XML editor that I was looking for. Usage of our software grew and I was beginning to get strange bug reports that were caused by ProfDHTMLEdit. I looked high and low but couldn't find a cause nor a solution. I contacted the author of the component and at first he was very helpfull in trying to locate the problems. But, after some time it became clear it wasn't the usual kind of problem and he sort of gave up. I tried to insist, offering to travel to him in Russia, looking for the cause together. But, he wanted a lot of money for that (starting with a 'setup fee' of $1500) and that made me move away from that option.

I tried other components, but there still wasn't a good alternative available. I continued debugging, tried wild guessed work arounds, all to no avail. To make a very long story short: after two years I found help with Marco Cantu and we were able to solve the problem in the end. It was all caused by a memory corruption in the ProfDHTMLEdit control. We were even able to create a good work around for the problem.

I reported this (including demo program of the problem) to the author again and also found that my work around benifitted other users. I have had no official reaction or software update since. In general, the questions asked on the support forum are answered in one sentence, sometimes a single word. No thank you, sorry, did it help? None of that. You feel like you are a burden to the supplier instead of a customer.

I never did a calcuation of the actual cost of this simple, one component. But it must be in the many tens of thousands of euros. Remember the original purchase price was about 100 euro.

The Good Support Scenario
As said earlier, we spent a lot of money on the DevExpress components. Starting with buying the one component pack, gradually we used more and more DevExpress components and ended up with a VCL subscription (worth $600 / year). All in all a couple of thousand dollars changed hands.

In the years that I have used the DevExpress components I have reported numerous bugs and questions with DevExpress. Let me just describe the typical flow of support messages.

1. I report my problem on the website. Using a form I can supply the necessary details, search existing questions and knowledge base. If it is a new problem or question I can submit it.
2. I will be notified when the issue is accepted (or declined) and will be informed when:
1. The issued has been reviewed
2. An answer was given
3. A suggestion for a new feature is accepted
4. The new feature is planned
5. The new feature is actually implemented
3. If the answer to a question cannot be described in text only (in a few lines), a sample project is always supplied.
4. I can respond again using text, modifying the sample program or whatever I feel is the right way.

I will always get a prompt answer. If a solution or answer is not easy to give, they will tell you they need more time. You can track the issues you have opened. You really feel there's somebody on the other side that is working with you.

If I had to pay the hours that the DevExpress support people spend on me, I probably owned them another couple of thousand. And, having such excellent support, saved me a lot (and I mean a lot) of time.

The point and the benefits

Working in a software company myself I can see where the benefits are with excellent and abundant support:

1. Your customers think very highly of you.
2. They will always recommend you to others.
3. Your customers will give you much more feed back, which is invaluable to you. You will know precisely what they want.
4. Your customers will probably come back to you without thinking twice.

And probably there are a couple of other reasons to think of.

In any case (and I have writting that down a couple of times before): the support team of DevExpress is that level of support that we strive for. I can only hope we can reach that in our live time.

Bye,
Bart

Ps: right after posting this, I found an artical that touches some of this

Ps2: coincidence or not? Only hours after I posted this, I got a response from the ProfDHTMLEditor with an official solution to the 2-year old problem... Maybe blogging is gooed for something.