A current software provider/developer that we use has requested that we install a test enviornment so we can test their updates and new versions before we put the updates on our live system. We don’t have the hardware and software needed for this enviorment so we would need to purchase it. The test enviornment includes purchasing a new version of MSSQL 2000 and the hardware to support it.
The software is not a custom program that only my company will use.
It seems to me that this test enviornment is really a research and development platform for them. Setting up the enviornment would cost around $2500. That probably doesn’t sound like alot but three-forths of our 25 desktops are running a 500 MHz processor and I would like $2500 to buy 3-4 new computers than to set up a test enviornment for our software developer.
Does the responsibilty for the test enviornment (cost and time) lie with my company or the Software developer? If they want a test enviornment here then shouldn’t they pruchase it and we would just house it at our facility?
