Although the software I write does not come with a warranty, I do consider myself responsible for it. If you have a problem with any program that has my name on it, or if you want a feature added to it, please just drop me an e-mail and I will see how I can help you. I usually try to respond to such e-mails within 24 hours. Naturally, my resources are limited and I cannot provide any guarantee for this. In other words, this is support on a "best effort" basis. People have occasionally commented that even in this mode, the project teams I am part of are "much more responsive than any vendor these days." This may well be all that you need.

However, if you need a guaranteed level of responsiveness (or if you have many requests that start taking up a considerable part of my time), I can offer you a formal support contract. The idea of such a contract is that I provide two kinds of guarantees:

(a)	How long do you have to wait for an initial acknowledgment of an issue (which often involves a sketch of a solution already), and
(b)	What percentage of my time will I spend on your issue after you have reported it.

These are the options and rates that I offer in these two categories:

Time to Initial Acknowledgment Rate per Month Best Effort (usually 24h) no charge One Week EUR 100 Three Workdays EUR 200 24 Hours EUR 400

Time spent on Resolution Rate per Workday (8h) Best Effort no charge Prioritized EUR 500 One Day per Week EUR 700 4 Hours a Day EUR 1000

The meaning of the table on the left is that you will usually get a response from me within 24 hours, but if you actually need a guarantee for a certain level of responsiveness, I must charge you the indicated amount as a monthly fee.

The table on the right means that I will usually look after the software I have written and try to fix any bugs that come up free of charge. For customers who have frequent requests (bug fixes and/or small feature requests), I recommend the second level, which allows me to handle your requests in a prioritized manner. Beyond that, if you want to ensure that I spend at least a given percentage of my time on your request, the next two levels may be the right choice. "One Day per Week" means that as soon as I have acknowledged an issue, I will immediately make room in my schedule so that I can spend at least one workday per week on your request (if I'm tight on schedule, that usually means weekend work). "4 Hours a Day" means that immediately after acknowledgment, I will start working at least 4 hours a day on your problem (which could involve night shifts for me if I'm tight on schedule).

Which of these "resolution levels" (table on the right) you need likely depends on the nature of each individual issue. Also, if several of my customers simultaneously ask for a top-priority, level 4 resolution, there will of course be a problem. Therefore, the formal support contract does not specify the resolution level in advance. It is negotiated for each individual issue, and I reserve the right to decline a particular resolution level at a given time. Once I've committed to it, the resolution level is of course binding.