Joomla 3.4.4/IIS7/MSSQL 2008 technical requirements

[littlewingz]

Hi,

Hope someone can shed some light on this,
I read through the technical requirements for Joomla! 3.x
We are busy out sourcing the new website design to this company
and they are charging us for software when I told them that we already have the below software for our current "old-school" website

Our server currently runs:
IIS 7
MS Visual Studio 2010
MS Webmatrix
MSSQL Server 2008 (10.50.2500.1)

Comparing the technical requirements to our existing software, are they double charging us?
If so, I would like to tell them that we already have it, please remove it from the quote.
If not, I would like to know what we are missing?

Thanks
Karen

[Webdongle]

Define 'website design'

1. Designing the look 'n' feel' for you to create the Template ?
   or
2. Designing the look 'n' feel' and creating a Template to 'skin' a site that already exists ?
   or
3. Developing the site including designing the look 'n' feel' and creating a Template to 'skin' a site ?

#1 Is drawing pretty pictures and should not require a change of servers
#2 Should work with your existing website/server
#3 If the server you have meets Joomla's minimum requirements https://www.joomla.org/about-joomla/tec ... ments.html then there is no reason why they can't develop the site on their servers then :
Either transfer it to your server
or
Use Akeeba to make an installable file for you to put on your server.

What they may be providing with their own servers is regular updates and security, in which case you are not paying them twice because they are charging for their services.

There are many reasons they might prefer their own servers, including(but not limited to) your host might have a bad reputation, they prefer Linux servers etc. I can understand your concern of 'paying twice' ... but if you rented a server before contacting a web developer then why should they charge you less for their services ?

You can always get quotes from other web designers or web developers and play one off against the other to negotiate a price.

[pe7er]

Technical requirements: https://docs.joomla.org/Technical_requirements
You'll need IIS7 webserver and MSSQL 10.50.1600.1 + database server software.

However, personally I would choose Apache or Nginx webserver and MySQL or MariaDB database server.
IMHO that's more stable, better performance, all open source and free software (no expensive licenses).

MS Visual Studio 2010 -> is NOT server software but an integrated development environment (IDE) to develop software.
IMHO it's a bit weird to charge costs for that to a client.
Do they charge you for MS Office & MS Windows too?
Free Open Source IDE alternatives: Eclipse or Netbeans

MS Webmatrix -> "a free, cloud-connected web development application for Windows. WebMatrix enables developers to build websites using built-in templates or popular open-source applications, with full support for ASP.NET, PHP, Node.js and HTML 5. " (source: wikipedia.org)
IMHO you don't need that. Besides it seems to be free, so I don't know why they would charge you for that.

[littlewingz]

Hi Webdongle,

Thank you for the nice example with description.
I guess our situation is more like #2

Our office host our own local server, sitting nicely in the cabinet, hosting our email, ftp and "website"
Lets say, we are currently driving a car ver. A provided to us from HQ round about 5 years ago
Then HQ ditched us, no longer providing maintenance and repairs to the car.
Each business unit (OBU) is left with the decision to either stick with the car ver.A or find your own car.
So, 1 OBU took the shot, and then provided the first new "template" to the look n feel of car ver.B.
Gradually, more and more OBU's outsourced web design companies to replicate car ver.B.

So, we are basically moving from car A to car B.
The one company we quoted with shows us Joomla CMS for our new website
And we are happy with the freedom and ease/possibility of extensions in future
But they are only providing us with the structure of the website (ie, the framework of the car)
We will be responsible for current+future database/product updates. (ie, the interior design)
So, its basically a once off service that we are signing up with

This then leads to my first query,
Is it correct that I'm treating the software as say, tires and engine of a car?
I already have them, can I continue to use it if Joomla says its will fit the framework?
I don't really want to waste money on 2 sets, and yes I know its company money but I'm happy that I'm learning in the process as well as meeting/asking questions at the same time.

What their quote includes:
1. OS/mysql system environment
2. Application and design
3. Training
4. Cost of extensions used
5. Setup/file transfer

I did get 3 separate quotes, but then it becomes a problem as each promotes their own CMS system
And each company quotes differently, 1 quotes based on hours the developer needs, other just sends the total cost...
I end up not comparing apples to apples.

[Webdongle]

MS Visual Studio 2010 -> is NOT server software but an integrated development environment (IDE) to develop software.
IMHO it's a bit weird to charge costs for that to a client.

Yes wierd it is indeed.


@littlewingz
You could always install Joomla in a subdirectory on your site so you can check it is OK on there.

If they are developing your site and not just designing it then you could ask for 2 quotes. One quote for developing the site and one for Hosting it. It only takes a few minutes to install Akeeba and create an installable file for your site.(In fact installing Akeeba and creating backups should be standard procedure).

They should be able to develop the site on their servers and provide you with a link to view it. Once both you and they are satisfied the specifications in the contract are fulfilled ... they could provide you with the .jpa installable file. And you could install your site on any server of your choice that meets the specifications for running Joomla.

You can always ask in http://forum.joomla.org/viewforum.php?f=177 for quotes

I end up not comparing apples to apples.

But the quotes are like for like if
You specify what you want and get quotes for an end product that meets your specs. so long as the end product (website) matches your specs(requirements) then the tools used to create it and the platform that runs it are irrelevant.

Joomla is a good cms and I am sure there are many excellent developers on here who can create a website for and provide excellent training. Also there may be a http://community.joomla.org/user-groups.html near you where you could find reputable developers.

[deleted user]

Just a personal observation based on my own experiences and stories from others...

Some companies when they submit quotes will also try to get you on board with their chosen platforms. There could be many reasons for that, but if you already have a functional platform that you don't have a strong argument to change, then I'd suggest making it clear to those vendors that they need to adjust the quotes to not include changing your platform.

For Joomla itself, there are companies specializing in development on the Microsoft platforms (IIS and SQL Server). Generally, the CMS has quite a few quirks with running on SQL Server, but I can't say I've read too many issues with using IIS as the web server (either because so few do it or because once it's running it's stable enough).

[littlewingz]

@pe7er

Thank you for confirming what is needed to run Joomla,
PHP (database server software) + IIS 7 (webserver) + MSSQL (database) ?

When I first read the technical requirements page...I thought we had to have EVERYTHING in order to run Joomla. Glad I read through a few posts and picked up that when people listed their parameters, it didn't include EVERYTHING.

Regarding the MS Visual Studio 2010 and Webmatrix, that is just what we currently have on our server to run our current website. I'm not sure on the details 5 years back, it was loaded remotely to our server.

@Webdongle

You never know these days, how people will try and sell you open source and make it looks like they are the ones who developed it. Can't be too naive and thing everyone has your best interest, after all its is business.

I will definitely try first to run a localhost subdirectory, worst thing is I won't be able to get past like the prerequisite checks page...right?
Also thanks for pointing out the Professional Development Services Page, did not see it as I went head on to the installation topic.

@mbabker

I agree. Getting you on board to their services provides them a long-term income vs once-off website development income.
We are aiming for a stable platform in the long run as we do not require constant changes to the structure of the site. Once developed, it will just be basic stuff like updating latest product, news, promotional events, ad banner...that's about it.

[Webdongle]

...
@Webdongle

You never know these days, how people will try and sell you open source and make it looks like they are the ones who developed it. Can't be too naive and thing everyone has your best interest, after all its is business.....

Already sent you a PM on that topic