Suggestions to make the CIS project profitable

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1

CIS Release Cycle is not as frequent as it used to be in the past.

v12.2.2.8012 was released back in March 28, 2021 and it’s the only CIS released in this year of 2021 so far.

Exactly 1 year ago, a Moderator said:
“The long silence from Comodo, as part of a longer ongoing process of what seems like a cultural change in Comodo in which relationship with the forums has become more distant, upsets regulars and has them wonder and worry about the future of CIS.”

From what I noticed, the development team seem to be having it’s own issues since at least 2019. More specifically, the people taking charge of the CIS Project often are leaving the company.

With this post, I would like to suggest, once again, a few ideas in order to make the CIS Project more profitable.
Money can be a solution to almost anything, worst case scenario it can at least help attenuate the damage.

  1. Secure Shopping as paid-only feature.
    It was planned to be like that since the beggining and is not a critical protection component for being included in the Free Package.
  2. Same for Virtual Kiosk and/or Manual Sandboxing capabilities (Rick click > Run in Containment or Run Virtual task). Or a limitation to only 1 application manually Sandboxed at a time by Free users.
  3. Multiple Sandboxes for running apps Virtualized, as suggested by a user in the Beta Corner Wishlist section - Paid only feature like it was in Sandboxie.
  4. Faster submission and analysis of files through the Cloud for Paid Users as suggested by another user in the past.
  5. A direct channel for communication and submitting support tickets with actual Comodo Staff and not just GeekBuddy crew, for paid only.
  6. Youtube Videos testing CIS at Proactive setting VS some well-known Malware, showing it completely prevents infection. When convincing people about using CIS, one thing that used to help a lot was the videos from Cruelsister. Comodo is already doing something similar for the Enterprise edition.
    Just make it more frequent for CIS, with a nice background song or a real human narration.

Other suggestions to help the Comodo team profit from CIS are welcome.

The Free Package including Fully configurable: AV + Firewall + Web Filtering + Auto-Containment + HIPS + VirusScope + Advanced Protection + File Rating is more than enough as free offering in my opinion. Other users may disagree and it’s OK.

Comodo may use the increased revenue for a more frequent Release Cycle, longer list of Bug Fixing including long lasting Bugs and issues, better job offer for CIS lead developer, etc. Instead of just complaining, let’s help Comodo to find a solution. :-TU

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well, i can not disagree with everything, except the last part…

for me, the real deal for the free editon could easily be just that: CIS = firewall + striped version of av (could be cloud only) + containment (the sandbox cis has). anything besides these 3 components could be an option for paid clientes in upgrades or standalone cis package with everything onboard…

in fact, we dont even need cis av module, as the sandbox is all we need… but we tend to install the av module just so windows disable defender as it takes updates every day and have some behaviours that most people dont like, so it is good to stay disabled and the av part being monitored by cis…

the perfect world for me would be: cis (cloud av only + firewall + containment) with 2 updates with bugfixes for year… no need the full database av, just an cloud would do the trick… with the firewall and the containment…

but… now what we have? cis without updates, full of bugs (i know, not every users have these bugs), no word from devs or mellih or staff… even the list of problems we have on this forum, we have an mod trying his best to make the lisk always updated and sending it to devs and we still have no word from devs regardless these same issues…

all it seems is like cis is dead, or atleast almost dead. i hope being wrong (i really try my best to have faith in it)…

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I am a former IT project manager not in the technical field but in the application field (specific software and software packages) for different types of clients (company, bank, stock exchange).
I was therefore able to see the cost of manufacturing and maintaining software in operation.

Given the complexity of CIS, it is impossible for me to make it free.
I think that a majority of CIS users would understand this; those who do not understand it should go elsewhere.
In return, the service provided by COMODO would have to comply with software standards; bug fixes would have to be delivered quickly.
Twice a year upgrades might be a good frequency.

The simplest way would be for the package, CIS Home, to include the current features of CIS Pro (AV+FW+CSS) without the insurance/guarantee.
The user should have the choice to install all modules or only some.
ISE, COS, Dragon and Ice Dragon would be withdrawn in a first step.

Several questions arise: price and “how to prime the pump”.
If we want to remain in the philosophy of Melih, the price should be contained; 20€ per year (the price of a bottle of champagne to have your PC secured) could be a compromise. 20€ * per several hundred thousand users would allow COMODO to have a stable core of developers for this package.
As the stabilisation of the package will take some time, to prime the pump, it would be possible to propose this price initially for 2 years.

These proposals will make some people cringe.

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pretty sure about professional enterprise companies finds ways to reach other professional consultation and advisor companies to maximize profits and finding new ways of income instead of we mere individuals. but OK. I’m starting to think (if) CIS will be first?! discontinued commercial(paid) product for most of you.

:-TD

:P0l

5

Thank you guys for the input.

Indeed, but to me seems like CIS is a passionate project from the CEO of Comodo, being free and all, and such professional consultation/advisory will always come with costs.

The team seems to be struggling because the job offer for CIS lead developer don’t seem to be that great of a position. From 2019 onwards CIS had multiple lead developers that left the company after working in this position for a full year to a year and a half…
At least that’s what I can infer from reading multiple Forum posts from Moderators and Comodo staff since 2019, correct me if I’m wrong.

Money or extra revenue can solve this problem. I’d rather CIS become full Paid-Only or insert a Paywall into some of it’s features instead of being discontinued. 88)

You are right, we have to make a choice. Either Full-Free CIS with almost no updates per year, issues with development team, high risk of CIS being discontinued, OR a Full Paid-Only/or Paywall into some specific features only CIS with Updates being delivered twice per year or more, a stable development team without the lead developer leaving every year, longer list of Bug fixing including long lasting issues and problems…

People not seeing this are letting greed control their minds. No offense intended. If they truly support CIS and don’t want it discontinued, then they should understand the current situation and support the product they like with actual money which will lead to improvements in the working condition of the Comodo team.

Not sure if I understood it correctly, but I think you mean: If CIS is discontinued, then we will switch to other paid products.
Not in my case, I can guarantee you, If that happens I will look into other Free alternatives.

However if CIS becomes Full Paid-Only I might strongly consider acquiring a license. If it becomes partially Paywall into some features like I’ve suggested in the OP, then I will probably remain using the Free version for a certain time, and buy a license later on. It’s just that in my opinion users need more motivation to buy the Paid Version of CIS instead of just GeekBuddy Support, Virus-Free garantee, etc. Those are indeed great deals however not so useful for advanced/long time Computer users which is my case.

I think most of us are agreeing on the fact that Twice per year Updates for CIS are the best approach. It’s better to have Updates every 6 months with a long list of Bug fixing, than Updates every 2-3 months with a not-so-impressive list of fixes.

Anyways let’s bring in more suggestions and hopefully CIS can overcome the odds and don’t be discontinued in the near future.

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It wasn’t long ago that Melih suggested a change to a net zero cost business model. I don’t remember the date or location of the thread, but if memory serves, it got a cool reception. He was obviously looking for a way to increase revenue, and failing that, we shouldn’t be surprised if development of Comodo is slowing down. It seems too many people were crying about any changes being made that would affect the cost or convenience of using the product. The gravy train may not have stopped but it appears to have slowed down.

I say finding a way to increase revenue so as to help development is a welcome thing.

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I have 2 laptops. As a matter of principle, when possible, I buy a license for one and install a free license on the other. I think that software should be paid for in its full version even if a subset can be free (a good example is Glasswire). Otherwise the service provided is degraded.
Some publishers abuse the price but it is sometimes possible to take advantage of commercial operations.
Google is free but it is paid with the personal data of the users, some are free because of their origin (e.g. VLC or TcpView), others are free because they feed their technical data or more … (e.g. Avast AV).

Comodo’s choice not to fix some important bugs quickly exasperates users, which is understandable for paying users but less so for those using the free version. This is the main point to be corrected by Comodo.
Bringing evolutions or fixing minor bugs every 6 months is indeed enough.

I agree. It would indeed be necessary for a majority of users, if they like CIS and want it to continue, to buy a licence.