Should you provide your clients with backups?
Yesterday my post on what goes into a good web design contract got a pingback from Smashing Magazine, so I’ve been enjoying a happy little spike in traffic. The ensuing discussion raises the question of whether web designers should provide clients with backups of their site files and what they should charge for them.
The answer is: bloody hell, of course you should be providing your clients with file backups; and no, you shouldn’t charge for them.
I provide my clients with a backup of both the site files and the database on the handover CD that goes to them upon site launch. If the site is a WordPress site, as is 90% of my work at the moment, I activate the WP DB Backup plugin and set up a regularly scheduled backup. The backups are automatically emailed to me and, through an email filter, go straight into a designated folder. I don’t ever have to deal with the files; they are simply there “just in case.” For larger clients, the backups go directly to them, and they are trained on what they need to do with the files during the tutorial process. Backups for all clients are also regularly uploaded to my offsite storage account.
If, in a worst case scenario, something happened which required me to restore a backup for a client, I would simply charge them my standard hourly rate. It has not happened yet.
Providing a file backup does not invalidate copyright for any party. As long as you have defined rights to files and content in your contract, the stated rights still stand no matter how many backups are produced.
If you refuse to create backups for your client, be aware that there are utilities and programs they can use to download sites themselves. You can protest if you want and even threaten to take them to court, but good luck finding a lawyer willing to represent you. Suing your own clients for a situation that you are completely responsible for creating yourself is a no-win scenario. Web design is not about creating an aggressive environment where you are constantly trying to paint your client into a corner, and vice-versa; if you feel it is, it’s time to find a new career.
All in all, backup processes, whether performed as a one-off or on a regular basis, are completely automated and run in the background. Contrary to what a lot of dodgy designers might moan, it’s not difficult, it’s not expensive, and it does not create a lot of work for them. I regularly hear horror stories from frustrated business owners whose dodgy designers never gave them any site backup and want to charge them upwards of £100 to make one. Bull. I laugh at designers who charge their clients for backups, because aside from being daft, it proves that the designer is a bad businessman. Backups are not a “product” and they are not a stream of income. If you want to increase your earnings, raise your hourly rates or factor in two hours of billable time at the end of the project for handover creation. Charging for backups is the sure sign of a designer who has no confidence in his professional abilities. It smells desperate. And desperation stinks.
If you’re a designer, what else should go into a handover package?
Aside from file backups, the most comprehensive inventory of what designers should include in their web site handover packages can be found in Shirley Kaiser’s book, Deliver First Class Web Sites: 101 Essential Checklists.
If you’re a business owner:
Business owners should clarify the handover and backup arrangements with a potential designer before hiring them. Make sure that you will receive a handover package at the end of the project containing all the project files and documentation as well as a backup of the site at launch. If the topic of file backups causes temper tantrums and threats of extra fees from the firm, how are they going to react if something actually goes wrong? Additionally, asking about backups can unveil facts that some designers would rather keep hidden. I have indeed seen cases where the truth only came out at this stage that to create a backup, the “designer” would have to ask the people who actually do the work…in Delhi. Choose a designer with integrity who will not micromanage their relationship with you and can be trusted to make the best decisions for your business.
