[lug] odd question

[Rob Nagler]

One thing that might work out well with a university is to get them to
sign up for a maintenance contract and not a lump sum of work, which
looks like development.  Some times "support" falls in a different
budget category.

You could tell them that you'll make sure the system keeps running
(through some type of SLA), and then build the cost of any upgrades
into the price.  The system isn't going to fall apart the first day so
you can then plan out your work over the course of the contract.

As to the price, well, that's always a tricky thing.  You have to
figure out the value proposition.  Ask them questions to try to figure
out how much pain it would cause for the system to fall to crash
irreparably.  Point out that this is a realistic scenario since there
are no backups.  Pretend you are selling an insurance contract, not
your sysadmin skills.

Rob