Cowell Computer Consulting

Someone I know recently had their web site redone. Apparently, their site was vulnerable to a security vulnerability and they were told by the original 'developer' (I'll call them design-corp) that it would need a complete rebuild. Hmm, I'd suggest that it's a better idea to patch the vulnerability, rebuilding the entire site sounds a little bit like a cash grab or that they don't know how to fix it. My confidence in design-corp was waning.

This situation got my curiosity and so I thought I'd check out design-corp's site. They actually had an impressive client list. Lots of local, but very high profile clients. They had a extensive portfolio divided into < $10000 sites, > $10000 sites and Ecommerce and Database sites (which I can only guess are the most expense). Design-corp isn't cheap, I'll say that much, so it made me think that it's not necessarily about what you're selling, but how you sell it. That is to invest a lot of time in helping the client understand the value of what they're getting.

So, here's the punch-line, in form of a list of features that Design-corp's web sites can include.

• Web strategy
• Training
• Project management
• Web design/creative
• Programming
• Database development

OK, some of these aren't funny, but a couple are.

Programming - my question is: what web site's don't require some programming ? How far can you go in the business without it ?

Project Management - read: the project was big enough that we had to charge for an additional service. We all do this, don't we ? It's called getting the job done, so you get paid.

Come on, they're suppose to be web experts! Should they list that they know basic computer operations such turning a computer off and on, or that they are experienced with Microsoft Word ? To me that stuff is all par for the course in the web world.

I should be thankful, at least they aren't driving the prices of web development down.