AHK calculation scheme

The cost for implementation is a one-time payment, the hosting is a monthly fee.

1. Basis is the AHK German Company Directory (GCD). All modules are offered in standard version with limited configuration for users, groups, categories, folders...
2. Implementation of standard module ("as is")
3. Hosting surcharge for standard modules
4. Implementation of standard module if external users are using these modules
5. Hosting surcharge for standard modules with external access
6. Surcharge if modul publishes content on the website
7. Surcharge for modified modules:Future updates are easier if we have no "special case" in the module (or - at least - not so many modifications). In this case it doesn't matter if it is a difficult improvement or a very simple one.

0. Basis (basic implementation and hosting) is the current companies list system.
1. Bookmarks
2. a) Calendar (view mode): This means, the calendar is only used for displaying dates in intra- or internet. Only a few people enter dates.
   b) Calendar (multi user): Every user of the system can enter his dates. The calendar is used as a shared calendar.
3. News
4. Forum (Please consider the special regulations for public forum in China)
5. Knowledge base (kb): This is the standard version ("as is") of the knowledge base. There is no modification in regard to target group, language... If the knowedge base will be used for "Publications" and "Fairs & more" we likely have to calculate different (see below).
6. a) DMS (view mode): In this mode there are few users putting documents in the DMS so that many users can download them.
   b) DMS (multi user): In this mode almost everybody can upload documents (in different areas)
7. E-mail
8. infolog (task manager, workflow)
9. sitemgr (content manager of the website)

Example AHK Company Directory

The AHK Company Directory has already the modules

1. ContactMgr
2. SiteMgr

and the basic hosting.

Example Publications

For this project we can use the knowledge base (KB).

If only AHK staff is working on it and if no modification is needed we calculate 4000 CNY for implementation and rise the monthly hosting fee by 40 CNY. The hosting part is because of updates. For each module we have to do some updates etc.

If external users (e.g. many companies, GTZ, journalists...) are working with kb (e.g. read and write articles) then we add 2000 CNY for implementation. This is because we cannot train external users as well as AHK personnel. As soon as people are working with the system who have no training we must improve the usability of the system. Depending on the users we probably will have more questions and problems. AHK users can ask a colleague, but "single" users in certain companies cannot.

If the articles appear on the website we add another 2000 CNY. This is because we have to improve the usability even more. The template for internal use is more "standard" (e.g Byron) than the individual template (e.g. AHK) on the website. The creation of the template is not included In this surcharge, it is only to publish the articles in the (existing) website template without bugs or usability problems.

For "Publications" we calculate like that: 

* This feature is already available, but therefore you have to login as 2 different users which is not convenient (you need 2 usernames).

As many improvements are not clear now, we cannot calculate them today. I guess that most of the modules already meet the requirements by 80 %. So I recommend to start with the module "as is". We can try to improve a module before offering it to production mode, but this is difficult, time-consuming and expensive. Sometimes the improvements are not needed or even bad. Usually it is better to let people work a certain period of time on the standard version and then improve the module according to the results of the trial period. The user gets the feeling what he needs. And improvements which are really needed are easier to calculate.

The important part at the beginning is e.g. the way the data (documents, articles...) is stored. We strongly recommend to use open standards such as html, open document, text, png, jpg... E.g. if we use the knowledge base for storing articles we have them all as html files. With or without modification of the kb we can access the articles in future. The same principle we use for the LDAP database (companies contacts). The data format is open standard and we didn't make a proprietary format out of it. So you can use all contacts in future with other software or systems. The data format is independent from special features (modifications) of the contactmgr module.

Remark

Please have a look at the kb in the GCD system. We will help you to put some articles there and to make soem trials that you can get the feeling if this way of storing articles is meeting your requirements.

Example Fairs & more

Training, documentation, manuals, tutorials

Training - if needed - is always extra. Same with documentation, manuals and tutorials. Usually we will provide the customer with standard tutorials which show how to use the modules, and with guidelines which include standard settings and recommendations. Optional we can create a tutorial exactly on your system, for your users and for your purpose.