This is not a rant. I love the idea of UAAS and I really would like to use it but I really don't understand how I can justify the price difference with our current setup.
We now have 2 vps's. One for live sites and one for staging. The live server is now running at it's max capacity and is running 50 live sites. The stage server is a smaller server and is used for client acceptation and also for internal/external testing.
The total cost for this setup is about € 200,- a month. To be fair, we have to take in mind the support and updates and everything. Say, everything added up (update's, umbraco security updates and so on) is € 1000 a month. That's € 20,- per site. for staging (when needed) and the live site.
If I understand it correctly, the UAAS solution only allows for one site/url and it costs € 25,- and if I need a staging environment it will cost a extra € 20,-
How can I justify the price difference of € 5 to € 25 per site per month?
In our case that's between € 3000 and € 15000 a year.
Again, don't get me wrong. I really like the idea of UAAS but I can't see how I should compare the costs to our current solution.
Thanks for your answer. You're right. I forgot to mention some elements. We're using svn on our stage server for source control so no extra costs there. I have to look up the costs for the SQL server licence.
I think too you wouldn't be spinning up a starter tier for each site - with that many projects, you'd probably be better off talking to HQ, and getting on to the enterprise tier at a negotiated rate.
How can I justify the price difference of 5 to 25 per site per month?
That's a great question and the answer would be if the value of switching is bigger than the price difference.
While it's hard to compare a maxed-out VPS and UaaS, but I'd start by arguing that a VPS only provides a little part of the absolute end result of UaaS - the hosting part. Except you're responsible for the hosting part yourself on the VPS where as it's managed on UaaS.
What you do get from UaaS in addition to the end result - the hosting - is a constantly improving developer experience through:
One click setup of projects
Automated upgrades
Deployment flows for code, umbraco types and data
Easy Team collaboration
Many, many more things
All this should free up (a lot) of time. That's potential billable hours. It should also mean that you'd spend more of your life doing things you like (unless you really like to be a hosting provider).
That might be worth the extra 5-25 EUR per site per month. Perhaps it's worth a little bit less - but that'd work as well. Because if you sign up to the UaaS referral program, you'll get up to 20% referral fee back:
https://umbraco.com/certified-partners/uaas-referral-program/
In fact, once you're on the referral program the price for a UaaS site will match your price today (on your maxed out VPS).
Also remember that the environments on UaaS is flexible, so you only pay for extra environments in the months where you actually use them (and you can always turn them on/off). When you use them, the productivity gains will very likely be exponentially higher than the 20 EUR they cost.
In other words - you might end up being a happier person at the same cost.
UAAS costs justification
Hi all,
This is not a rant. I love the idea of UAAS and I really would like to use it but I really don't understand how I can justify the price difference with our current setup.
We now have 2 vps's. One for live sites and one for staging. The live server is now running at it's max capacity and is running 50 live sites. The stage server is a smaller server and is used for client acceptation and also for internal/external testing.
The total cost for this setup is about € 200,- a month. To be fair, we have to take in mind the support and updates and everything. Say, everything added up (update's, umbraco security updates and so on) is € 1000 a month. That's € 20,- per site. for staging (when needed) and the live site.
If I understand it correctly, the UAAS solution only allows for one site/url and it costs € 25,- and if I need a staging environment it will cost a extra € 20,-
How can I justify the price difference of € 5 to € 25 per site per month?
In our case that's between € 3000 and € 15000 a year.
Again, don't get me wrong. I really like the idea of UAAS but I can't see how I should compare the costs to our current solution.
Frans
Hi Frans,
UAAS is not just hosting.
It comes with automated installs. In your case you have to that manually per server. You have to take into account the time to set that up.
You also don't mention your db hosting. You should calculate that cost as well.
It's the automation that makes UAAS powerfull. Automated upgrades. Easy (content) deployment. Source control, etc...
You need to take everything into account when making a comparison.
Dave
Hi dave,
Thanks for your answer. You're right. I forgot to mention some elements. We're using svn on our stage server for source control so no extra costs there. I have to look up the costs for the SQL server licence.
Frans
I think too you wouldn't be spinning up a starter tier for each site - with that many projects, you'd probably be better off talking to HQ, and getting on to the enterprise tier at a negotiated rate.
That would be a option to indeed
That's a great question and the answer would be if the value of switching is bigger than the price difference.
While it's hard to compare a maxed-out VPS and UaaS, but I'd start by arguing that a VPS only provides a little part of the absolute end result of UaaS - the hosting part. Except you're responsible for the hosting part yourself on the VPS where as it's managed on UaaS.
What you do get from UaaS in addition to the end result - the hosting - is a constantly improving developer experience through:
All this should free up (a lot) of time. That's potential billable hours. It should also mean that you'd spend more of your life doing things you like (unless you really like to be a hosting provider).
That might be worth the extra 5-25 EUR per site per month. Perhaps it's worth a little bit less - but that'd work as well. Because if you sign up to the UaaS referral program, you'll get up to 20% referral fee back: https://umbraco.com/certified-partners/uaas-referral-program/
Hope this helps!
Niels...
Hi Niels,
Thanks for the great answer. Didn't know of the referral program. Will look into this.
Frans
It's free to sign up, no bindings, just pure win.
In fact, once you're on the referral program the price for a UaaS site will match your price today (on your maxed out VPS).
Also remember that the environments on UaaS is flexible, so you only pay for extra environments in the months where you actually use them (and you can always turn them on/off). When you use them, the productivity gains will very likely be exponentially higher than the 20 EUR they cost.
In other words - you might end up being a happier person at the same cost.
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