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How easy is it to use the control? Let's face it, some controls are so complex that you become frustrated and develop the code yourself. Some controls seek to do so much that they overwhelm the developer with confusion. Plus, the more complex the control, the more reliant on it you can become, meaning that that vendor can have a virtual monopoly over your business. This has been the case with, for instance, MicroHelp, maker of the famous (or infamous) third-party controls for earlier versions of Visual Basic. These are discussed in a later section. |
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How much does the control cost relative to developing the code yourself? Some controls have become so cost-effective and productivity-effective that either developers buy them without the need of evaluating them or Microsoft licenses them for inclusion in Visual Basic. FarPoint's Spread control and the True Grid control, respectively, are notable examples of both scenarios. |
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Can you reuse this control to obtain a fair return on investment? Any wise organization, for-profit or nonprofit, always seeks benefits that exceed the initial cost of a product or service. For organizations and individuals developing software, the same standard applies to third-party controls. In acquiring a control, you don't buy it for use on only one project. You want to be able to use it over and over again. Many controls fit this criteria. Some, however, are so specialized that they aren't reused. For individual developers, this is not always an issue. However, for organizations with recurring software development needs, realizing a return on investment for every cash expenditure is (or should be) a high priority. |
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Is the control well documented? Believe it or not, some controls are shipped with little or no documentation. They come with a readme file with general comments, but that's it. A control that has no documentation is a control that hasn't been completely developed. Avoid controls with little or no documentation. |
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How responsive is technical support? Out of fairness, even the best vendors are overwhelmed these days with technical support questions (including this author). To keep the controls as inexpensive as possible, some vendors have to avoid hiring technical support staff. Larger organizations charge a fee for incidents because the costs for technical support have increased over the past few years (around the same time that Microsoft helped promulgate the third-party control market to unheard of heights in the industry). Be prepared to pay for incidents. On the other hand, the vendors should at least post commonly asked questions (and their answers) on a Web page or in newsletters if they are overwhelmed. Larger, more established vendors should have some form of technical support staffif not in-house, then external subcontractors. |
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Will the vendor be around to provide technical support? Fly-by-night vendors have proven costly for organizations that use their controls. A way to reduce the |
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