EEDA's sponsorship of Eastspace is coming to an end
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EEDA (East of England Development Agency) have announced that they are ending their sponsorship of Eastspace on the 30th of September ’08.
We, at Esperto Ltd, a commercial web development company, that have always provided the technical services behind Eastspace, have decided to take on Eastspace so that those users who wish to can continue to use the service from the 1st of October.
Without EEDA’s sponsorship we at Esperto will have to make the service fee based. This article sets out what the fees will be, your choices and what help EEDA have offered.
From the 1st of October you will have four choices with your Eastspace web site, these are:-
1. Do nothing, if you decide this is the best option, maybe because your website is of no use to you, then shortly after the 1st of October it will become unavailable. In the meantime you are free to “cut and paste” any of your content. This will be the default choice if you do not select any of the following choices.
2. For the technically savvy user, you can request that your Eastspace site be converted into HTML. This will enable you to take your website to a third party hosting solution. EEDA are offering to pay for this conversion on a one off basis, (please review the FAQs about this option).
Please note:
a. That we can only convert your main weblets, not interactive elements such as forums, newsletters or secure areas. This will facilitate the transfer of your current content to another website provider.
b. We are unable to offer any advice or support on the subsequent use of your converted website. You will need to get in touch with a web development company who can provide you with any help needed.
c. Depending on the demand you should allow up to 45 days for this conversion.
d. The HTML version will not, of course, have any connection to Eastspace so it will not be possible to edit it using the Eastspace back office.
e. When converted the site will be supplied by email only.
3. Continue to use Eastspace on a fee basis but without any support. This is designed to be the preferred option for small organisations, typically charities or community groups who have very limited budgets. It is also intended for the more straightforward one or two weblet sites. The fee for this service will be £16.66 per month plus VAT. This option will enable you to continue to use the Eastspace content editing system. Other than a potential short outage for the technical move you will not have a disruption of service. Your current login will remain valid and, of course your website address will not need to be changed.
Please note:-
a. The minimum period of service will be 3 months, payable in advance.
b. All fees are subject to VAT at the standard rate.
c. This service does not include any support; documentation will continue to be available.
4. Continue to use Eastspace on a fee basis but with help and support available. This is intended to be the preferred option for larger organisations, perhaps with larger websites that have a web services budget available. The fee for this service is £50 a month.
Please note:-
a. The minimum period of service will be 3 months, payable in advance.
b. All fees are subject to VAT at the standard rate.
Transitional arrangements.
To ease the transition from a fully sponsored to a fee based service EEDA is making available a grant to cover one of the following for 'active' Eastspace projects*:-
1.The cost of the one-off HTML conversion.
2.Continued free use of Eastspace for 6 months, i.e. until 1st of April ’09 using the unsupported service.
3.Continued free use of Eastspace for 2 months, i.e. until 1st of December ‘09 under the supported service.
You will find some FAQ's about the changes if you click here .
What do I do next?
1.Review the choices open to you
2.Decide on the one that best meets your needs, then click on this link, complete the questionnaire and email it off to us.
Please note all prices quoted are subject to change with 90 days notice and are subject to VAT.
*The grant only applies to those websites that are deemed 'active' A simple definition of having being updated since January '08 is used for active.
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