Ian Landsman is Starting From Scratch, March 14, 2007:
Don’t be Cheap, Don’t be Cheap, Don’t be Cheap
If you're in the market for a powerful and user friendly Help Desk solution, please take a look at my company's flagship product HelpSpot.
Please excuse the title, this is a note to myself as much as a post. Every time I try and go cheap on something it comes back to bite me. Even if I’m not actually trying to go cheap, but if I just don’t buy the best then I end up being sorry. My current frustration is with the dhtml menu system I use on the HelpSpot request page. I’m redoing it for version 2 and this will now be the 3rd menu system I’ve used there.
The first was my own creation, what a mistake that was. A dhtml menu requires a full time programmer just to track down every oddball bug in even just the limited browsers HelpSpot formally supports (IE/FF/Safari). At some point I switched over to the Dynarch menu. Not a bad menu for a few hundred dollars, but some serious problems in Safari which some customers run into. Especially with forcing tabs to be called to the front when using multiple tabs (you know who you are out there 
). I’ve also been concerned that there doesn’t appear to be much development on the menu.
So for version 2 I’ve bit the bullet and spent the $1,200 for the Milonic dhtml menu. Wow, what a difference. I’ve used Milonic before, a long time ago though not such an intensive usage as this. So far this sucker is rock solid. Even better is that there’s really active support and some nifty extension libraries for editing menus on the fly which I really need to do (they’re a bit hidden, which is a shame. You can find it here). It loads instantly and without any browser issues. Building a menu dynamically is also very easily done, which has made integrating it into HelpSpot a snap.
Yet again I’ve had to learn that being cheap is only a path to heartache and support requests.
Discussion
Ian,
I agree with you as a general principle, all things being equal. But what about when all things aren't equal? There are situations where you can buy from a fat, dumb, happy market leader that's sitting on its laurels, or from a passionate startup that's running circles around the entrenched competitor for less money. It happens.
If only it were as simple as, "buy from the highest-priced competitor" == "get the best product".
Maybe a better way to put it is, "pick the best product for the need and then don't be seduced by cheaper alternatives."
--Bob
Created by Bob Grommes on 03.14.2007 12:15 pm
Agreed Bob. I'm one of those scrappy little startups fighting the bigger competitors with a better product 
Basically buy the best product and if that product is more than you expected to spend buy it anyway. I'd also add that it's important to not be seduced by the "not built here" syndrome. If you can buy a better product than you can build then you should do so.
Created by Ian on 03.14.2007 12:20 pm
No one here but us chickens.
Created by John P. Speno on 03.14.2007 12:44 pm
Heh. At least you know your support fees are going for a good cause
Created by Ian on 03.14.2007 12:48 pm
> is only a path to heartache and support requests.
The worse is because of that #@& helpdesk system, you can't even lose those requests :-D
Created by Serge Wautier on 03.14.2007 1:16 pm
Reminds me of the old phrase "you can pay me now or you can pay me later".
Created by Scott Meade on 03.14.2007 3:08 pm
I fully agree that developing everything on your own isn't the best idea. With price as a factor of quality I agree with Bob - it's not always a good indicator when you don't consider whole background.
You've inspired me to write a bit more about the subject.
Created by Pawel Brodzinski on 03.17.2007 8:10 am
Ian
Well, in principal, I definately agree, but within reason (which I concede is subjective).
With so many menu systems available from FREE to lets say a few hundred dollars, to make a jump to over $1000 seems extreme. I cannot comprehend spending $1,200 on a javascript menu system. WOW! Now that must be some menu system.
Created by OneNerd on 03.20.2007 8:51 pm
Ian,
You're right. We, web professionals, shouldn't go under a certain price. I believe that the good services has to be paid accordingly.
Best wishes!
Respiro
Created by Respiro, the logo designer on 03.22.2007 1:28 pm