Twelve Questions to Ask a Potential Web Service Vendor
And NetRaising’s answers
- What’s your exit strategy? When it’s time to sell or close your company, what’s your plan to ensure that my organization still has access to its data and/or digital files in an accessible format while we transition to another vendor?
We acknowledge that change happens, in fact, we anticipate it. At some point in time, either NetRaising or your organization will need to make a major organizational or technology transition and the relationship between us will need to change. We want that experience to be as smooth as possible for everyone involved. Our carefully chosen business and technology practices help ensure that major transitions protect everyone’s investments and peace of mind.
- Each website is hosted in an individual hosting account and has its own databases and files. Should the need arise, a backup of the entire site can be transmitted electronically to another hosting provider.
- We choose software that runs on the most common and best supported open source foundation of PHP and MySQL so that no one is ever “stuck” with something that is unsupportable.
- When we use licensed software, we ensure that all licenses are fully paid for upfront, and should the need arise, are either transferable to our clients, or available for purchase at an affordable price.
- We won’t register your domain name. You maintain full control of your domain and DNS, so we can never hold your site or your domain “hostage.”
- Clients have full sFTP access to their hosting account, hosted files, images, and software at all times.
- Upon termination of services, all client data and files are digitally destroyed within 45 days.
Will you host my organization’s data in a cloud? If so, in what state is the data center actually located? How “green” is your cloud?
NetRaising doesn’t host our clients’ websites in a cloud. Click here to learn about our hosting.What’s the name of the person who checks your direct client work for accuracy, and how often does he/she review it?
NetRaising has internal systems that promote peer review of all our work. Each website is peer-reviewed prior to launch and we participate in weekly reviews of each other’s work. Ask Kurt about how tough and thorough Megan is when she checks his site development.Tell me about your relationship with your largest software vendors. Is there someone at that provider we could contact to verify your relationship?
NetRaising has been working with ExpressionEngine (EE) software since 2004. You may contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to verify our ongoing support relationship with the company that builds EE.What percentage of your company’s time is spent training and coaching clients to be successful with your software/service?
About 30 percent. Our consultants spend about three hours a day working directly with our clients on training, coaching, and support.Tell me about your personal experience working or volunteering at a nonprofit organization.
Members of our team have chaired nonprofit boards, served at the volunteer, program, management, fund-development, and executive levels within nonprofits. Learn more about our team here.Does your company/organization participate in any third-party review or certification process?
NetRaising is a Certified B Corporation, a Nonprofit Association of Oregon-Qualified Consultancy, and a 501 Commons-Approved Nonprofit Specialist.Does your company post social/environmental impact reports online?
Is your business license and registration current? Mind if we look them up?
What’s your company’s client/customer turnover rate? What percentage of your clients is new within the last 12 months?
NetRaising’s client turnover rate is consistently below 15 percent annually. Learn more about NetRaising’s client retention rate.Is your company transparent about its fees? Does it post its pricing online?
What percentage of your clients are nonprofits/schools?
90 percent
We created these questions as a hand-out for a nonprofit technology fair in Portland Oregon. Since these could be tough questions for some companies to answer, we thought we should share our answers publicly.