One-time paid support ticket

Problem to solve

Self-hosted instances on the free plan whose admins need assistance for a specific problem currently have no way to request support assistance - even if they were willing to pay for it.

• Moving the whole instance to a paid plan requires to go trough the customer's internal controlling and buying department
• This process can take several weeks to months, depending on the customer's internal structures. -> Delays and decreased user satisfaction
• If the admins have an internal monthly budget they can use freely without the controlling department in their back, upgrading Gitlab most likely exceeds this budget - so the whole decision can not be taken by the admins themselves but has to be escalated
• Gitlab enthusiasts / champions inside a Gitlab customer might want to quickly solve single incidents without escalating the whole licensing question when they are freshly migrated to Gitlab and need dedicated help when setting up the system.

Intended users

Administrators / Gitlab enthusiasts with a self-managed but small budget.

Further details

Providing easy access to paid support will pave the road towards licensing the full package - If we overcame the obstacle of the first payment towards Gitlab, investing a larger sum might be the next logical step.

Proposal

Offer a way to pay a fixed, non-perpetual price for a single support ticket (Standard Support / Priority Support).

What does success look like, and how can we measure that?

• Compare conversion rates from free customers to a paid plan with or without a prior paid support ticket.

What is the type of buyer?

• Core for Standard Support / Priority Support
• Starter for Priority Support

Links / references