Percona's offerings are structured to give you unsurpassed flexibility and peace of mind. Here are some key points that differentiate us from others:

• We offer zero-commitment plans. You can buy just the help you need.
• We price our services on the value delivered, matching cost and benefit perfectly.
• We have no artificial boundaries between our services; you'll never hear us say "sorry, that's not in the contract."
• Similarly, we support the whole application stack and all its components, both hardware and software, regardless of version or release status.
• We connect you with the same small tight-knit consulting team each time, and they take time to learn your business and your needs.
• No lock-in. We want to work with you, and we'll prove it by earning your repeat business every time you call us.
• On a budget? Just tell us to cap our work, and we'll arrange to deliver the greatest value possible in that time.

A few words on hourly pricing. Of all the ways we've seen, by far the best way to match cost and value delivered is flat-rate per-hour pricing. Other models such as per-server or per-incident do not align the vendor's interests with yours, and lead to problems such as paying for services you never use. Our competition's per-incident or per-server pricing models create pressure to over-purchase to be sure you have enough, and the vendor has to over-charge to protect themselves in case your needs are unusually large. Our per-hour pricing removes that artificial tension. You can read more about Percona's pricing philosophy from our founder and CEO, Peter Zaitsev.

The net result is that you can buy the help you need without fear of commitment in either direction, and then ask us to do the work you need, regardless of what that is. We invite you to shop around, and if you find a more compelling offer, call us and tell us why it's better for you.

We've worked with hundreds of companies from one-person businesses to charities to Fortune 500 enterprises, and everyone's legal structures and budgets add unique needs. In recognition of that, our contract structures are also very flexible. The following three models have proven to accommodate nearly every situation. Consider these as a framework, and if one of them doesn't meet your needs, talk to us about it.

Option #1: Percona Pay-As-You-Go

Our pay-as-you-go contract lets you pay only for what you actually use, a la carte. There are no monthly minimums, fixed fees, or hidden costs. Once you have signed our no-cost, zero-commitment contract, you can ask us to do work as needed. We'll bill you in 15 minute increments. We can provide any kind of work - support, consulting, DBA tasks, operations, PHP optimization, systems administration, or anything else needed in a LAMP environment.

This means you can get a lot of simple questions resolved for less than $100. The only fine print is in case you have a 24x7 emergency requiring immediate action. Then a two-hour minimum per incident and 50% surcharge on our normal rate applies.

Key points:

• zero commitment, zero upfront cost, no cap on services
• 15-minute billing increment
• surcharge and minimum incident length for emergency help

Option #2: Percona Annual Contract

Percona's annual contracts can save you money and deliver a predictable budget. You get a discounted block of pre-paid hours that can be used anytime during the year for anything you need. We also waive the surcharge and two-hour minimum for 24x7 emergency calls.

We designed this offer because we know that your support needs can be unpredictable. For example, we have many customers who need nothing for months, and then have a serious incident that requires many hours to resolve. Having a block of hours makes it possible to buy time predictably and use it unpredictably.

How much should you buy? It can be hard to estimate your needs, so we let you roll up to 50% of your hours into the next year's contract, or purchase more hours at the same rate. On the other hand, your needs may go away unpredictably after some time, too. No problem! We'll refund the unused time. If you're still not sure you can estimate how much time to buy, here are two suggestions: 1) talk to one of our experts and get an honest estimate, 2) work on the pay-as-you-go contract for a few months and then switch to an annual contract.

We think simple is beautiful, and this offer is a compelling choice when compared to MySQL Enterprise support or other vendors' remote DBA offerings. Shop around and see if our competitors provide the security and flexibility you need while protecting your downside.

Key points:

• discounted rates
• no emergency surcharge
• no lock-in
• protected upside: buy more time at the same price
• protected downside: roll unused time over to next year's contract
• buy time predictably, use it unpredictably; all hours immediately available

Option #3: Percona Monthly Retainer

This service lets you make us a virtual extension of your in-house DBA or Operations team on a day-to-day basis. You can select the number of hours you need per month (20-hour minimum, billed in 15-minute increments). The service assumes you'll spend the time relatively evenly across the months.

This structure gives you a guaranteed dedicated resource, even if we're busy. This requires a strong scheduling guarantee, so the time is use-it-or-lose-it; however, you can accumulate up to one month's unused hours as a "piggy bank" to provide flexibility. We'll work with you to plan the time each month, and you can change the number of hours with a month's notice. Any additional time beyond the monthly amount is charged at the same rate. We also waive the surcharge and two-hour minimum normally applied to 24x7 emergency calls.

This is the most predictable type of work for our consultants, so we offer our best rates. However, it requires a clear understanding of your needs and a strong commitment to work closely together so the time doesn't go to waste. It is best for customers who have a predictable workload. For example, you might choose it when you need a DBA for routine tasks that are regularly scheduled, but you don't need a fulltime DBA. We're much less expensive than a fulltime staff member.

As with the other contracts, there is no lock-in. You can change or end your contract with a month's notice.

Key points:

• guaranteed availability
• discounted rates, no emergency surcharge
• use-it-or-lose-it monthly hours
• best for predictable workloads
• some flexibility built in: keep a piggy bank of unused hours
• protected downside: change the commitment with a month's notice
• protected upside: get more help at the same price