Wow, in decades of helping people use mailing lists, I don't think I've ever
been asked anything but "Will it do what I want?",  "How much does it
cost?", "Are there ads?", and "Is it easy to use?" ... though I admit to
never talking to anyone expecting more than 20,000 subscribers ... most
thought 25 or 100 or 1,000 was a lot and that's why they were investigating
an electronic mailing list.  ;-)

cheers, wayne

On 8/12/07, Pete Weiss <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> If you do change host/ISPs, here are some things to consider.  Some
> additional issues relate to virtual hosting, DNS configs, whitelisting that
> your customers may need to do.
>
> /Pete
>
> --
>
>
> Off the top of my head (and in no particular order):
>
> Questions (some may overlap):
>
> how many customers do they have
> what percentage are paying customers
> how many lists are hosted
> how many subscriptions do they have on all lists
> who is their backup / disaster recovery providor
> what are their hours of customer service
> how long have they been in business
> do have have a UPS and generator
> how long can they operate
> what are they doing to filter spam and viruses
> what are their rates for service
> what forums do they provide for customer help
> what is their service level agreement [SLA]
> what is the contract period
> what are the separate roles customers can delegate e.g., owner, moderator
> what kinds of list administrative functions do they provide for error /
> bounce / subscription handling
> have they produced any whitepapers, best practices documents, or case
> studies
> how scalable is their solution
> how secure is their installation (do they have active intrusion detection)
> how reliable is their service
> what interface does one user to maintain the list
> what interface does subscriber use to self-maintain their options
> do they support moderated broadcast lists like TVC-Alert
> can any one of several moderators approve a message
> what method do they use to prevent spoofing so that only authorized
> posters may transmit
> who are their closest competitors
> what is their thruput rate for mail delivery
> how do they handle blocked (client) mail servers
> what services do they offer to customize mailings
> do they have any "measurement" services for determining email response
> rates
> what do they do "better" than L-Soft's LISTSERV(R) solutions?
> what are their confirmed opt-in procedures that prevent subscription
> spoofing
>
> Just FYI:
>
>
> http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&q=%22mailing+list+software%22+features&btnG=Search
>
> http://www.lsoft.com/resources/wp-licensing.pdf
>
> http://www.lsoft.com/resources/wp-emaillistintro.pdf
>
> http://www.lsoft.com/resources/wp-emaildeliverability.pdf
>
> (c) 2007 Peter M. Weiss
>