PS I already started this idea: its on http://www.crowdpoweredsupport.com just want some feedback before I waste my time!

I think most businesses would rather have a fixed-fee service contract rather than a pay-per-fix option. This allows them to budget the expense and they consider it like an insurance payment, yes it might go unused in a year, but at a time when things are really crashing, you won't be getting nickel-and-dimed for support on top of the technical problems.

I'm sure there is market for it. Several big companies like Microsoft have pay-per-event technical support and I know companies that use it when they need it. But if a company is leery of open source because it's "unsupported" then they already have a fundamental misunderstanding of the model and communities that exist for support, so I'm not sure having a pay-to-ask forum in addition to all the existing support options would help. But some companies just seem to *want* to pay for things they could get for free...

agree with micco....
and ghostwalker the link is not working

How about a broker that offers support on a fixed-fee basis and then outsources/crowdsources problems out to the geeks to fix? Too risky?

Like Google answers or Yahoo answers?

I don't really see this working
Tommy

Imagine if someone gives bad advice that damages something or permanently loses data!

On the other hand, there is no incentive to keep people on hold on a pay per minute line, and there is an incentive to help them.

This might work with some refining.

You can tell your boss for freaking $250,000 you can pretty much get anybody / everybody to support you. But then of course he wouldn't have anything to show for ( having a $250K project on your resume looks better ).

Your idea is good though. If you can solve and guarantee the service level for enterprises, then I think you have a huge money maker :)

The only problem I see with your business model is that the corporations still won't trust you. Who is responsible? In other words, who can they sue if the problem isn't fixed?

Are you going to guarantee the support? Or do the freelancers working for commission have to be liable?

I guess you can start with smaller businesses, and develop the talent pool / reputation. Then later on with more cash flow and experience you can buy higher dollar business liability insurance, such that you can provide service guarantees that are acceptable to corporations.

Ever heard of Experts Exchange?

http://www.experts-exchange.com/

Companies can actually purchase subscriptions which allow for x number of questions to be submitted each month. The questions are answered by "geeks" who are subject matter experts. You pay out to the best solution.

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In summary, been done and done quite successfully. So for now voting down, way down until it can be explained how this is different than Experts Exchange.

Thanks for the info ccozad, but perhaps this idea can give a unique feature than the existing service online?

I always support any alternative to an existing one, without challenging it, customer satisfaction and product improvement is compromised. Imagine if, th e world relies with Microsoft alone or CNN, where will Sun and BBC will be in our lives?

However, I can only give 3 stars at the moment.

Goodluck Gods_Light!