Website Redesign.
Five delivery options
compared on equivalent terms.
Four external vendor proposals plus internal delivery capacity. This brief presents cost, scope, timeline, and risk for each path. Source documents and quotation PDFs are linked throughout. The decision sits with the leadership team.
Two delivery models under consideration.
The work can be delivered externally by a vendor, or internally by the in-house Digital and Technology team. Both models are presented below on equivalent dimensions for direct comparison.
- Cash cost: AED 26K to AED 175K depending on vendor selected. Excludes ongoing retainers and platform subscriptions.
- IP and source code transfer occurs at project completion per contract. Operational knowledge resides with the vendor.
- Post-launch change requests billed at vendor hourly rate, typically AED 200 to 500 per hour.
- Three of four vendors are based outside the UAE. One vendor (StarBerry) requires a 24-month support contract.
- Delivery timeline: 10 to 24 weeks depending on vendor and scope.
- Cash cost: AED 22K covering tools, cloud, contingency. Loaded engineering cost (salary plus overhead) is approximately AED 80K to 100K of effort.
- Source code, design system, and CMS schema retained internally throughout the project.
- Post-launch changes handled by the same team at no incremental cash cost. Capacity is shared with business-as-usual workload.
- Delivery timeline: approximately 14 weeks. Subject to internal capacity and prioritisation against other commitments.
- Risk concentration: key-person dependency on lead developer. Discovery and wireframe phases already complete (see Status section).
Four external vendor proposals, summarised.
Four vendors submitted proposals across two engagement models (Design only, Design + Development). Pricing normalised to AED for direct comparison. Source documents are linked in the Quote Library section. All figures dated April 2026.
Normalised total cost
Each option side by side, capabilities and considerations.
Each card lists the documented capabilities of the proposal alongside the considerations identified during review. The label on each card describes the cost tier and engagement model. This section is descriptive, not prescriptive.
- Direct cash cost AED 22K covering tools, cloud hosting, and contingency
- Source code, design system, and CMS schemas retained internally from day one
- Same team builds and operates. No external SLA dependency for post-launch changes
- Roadmap and release schedule controlled internally
- Discovery and wireframe phases already complete (delivered weeks 1 to 4)
- Loaded engineering effort (salary plus overhead) estimated at AED 80 to 100K. Cash cost is AED 22K
- Capacity shared with business-as-usual workload. Other commitments may slip during the 14-week build
- Key-person dependency on lead developer. Mitigated by pair programming, not eliminated
- No external warranty cover. Defects handled by the internal team
- RERA compliance review requires external legal counsel sign-off pre-launch (additional cost)
- Lowest quote received among the four vendors
- Stack: Next.js, Laravel, MySQL, AWS hosting
- Server-side rendering with structured data (JSON-LD) for SEO
- Automated XML property feed integration via cron
- GitHub Actions CI/CD, S3 media storage, environment-based secrets
- Proposal text states: "Other packages selected by the development team" . scope details defined post-contract
- Admin panel uses a third-party template, no custom design
- 30 days post-launch support. No formal warranty period
- Arabic language, RERA-specific compliance, and CRM integration not included
- Pakistan time zone (UTC+5). Public holidays follow Pakistan calendar
- Up to 3 design revisions; further revisions billable
- Core pages are component-driven (not WYSIWYG editable like the current WordPress site)
- Local Dubai team. Same time zone as Chestertons MENA
- 18+ years in business, 250+ clients
- Real-estate references: DAMAC, Aldar, Beyond, Bloom, Emaar Atmosphere
- Government client references: DEWA, Dubai Police, DIFC, Smart Dubai, DP World
- 4-month bug-free warranty (longest among the four vendors)
- OWASP Top 10 security framework, Cloudflare CDN, full architecture document
- Base proposal at AED 55K excludes Arabic language, property comparison, off-plan microsite, valuation form, and WhatsApp Business API
- Add-on package for the above: AED 38K (total all-in: AED 93K)
- Each additional off-plan microsite: AED 12K
- Proposal states detailed scope is determined during analysis stage (post-contract)
- Vimeo Pro subscription, hosting, and CRM integration purchased separately by client
- Content migration from existing WordPress site not included
- Admin panel uses default English template, no custom branding
- 2 rounds of revisions on design, additional rounds billable
- Real-estate references: Omniyat, Eywa, One Broker Group, Allegiance, Sukoon, Sakani
- JLT-based, same neighbourhood as Chestertons MENA
- Stack: Next.js 14, React 18, TypeScript 5.5, Strapi CMS, PostgreSQL
- SSR for SEO, Zod-based RERA validation, Lighthouse CI enforcement
- Native Arabic language support included as a paid feature
- 90-day warranty plus 30-day post-launch support
- Feature pricing is itemised. Individual features can be excluded if budget is reduced
- Full IP and source-code transfer on completion
- Highest quote received: AED 145K base, AED 152K including VAT, AED 175K with optional add-ons
- Arabic language support priced as a separate AED 6,500 add-on (not in base scope)
- Payment terms: 75% upfront, 25% on handover
- 16 to 18 weeks delivery timeline (longest among the four vendors)
- Platform subscriptions (Vercel, Mapbox, SendGrid, AWS) excluded, estimated USD 200 to 450 per month
- Optional retainer afterwards: AED 10K per month, additional hours at AED 200 per hour
- Proposal explicitly notes the existing Chestertons demo build will be treated as reference only
- 30+ years specialism in estate-agency software
- Award: "Best Large Estate Agency Supplier 2021" (Property Academy)
- Algolia search integration and Strapi 5 Live Preview included
- Stack: Next.js, Strapi, Vercel, AWS S3, Cloudflare
- 12-month payment plan available for the build cost
- Pingdom monitoring, MySQL replication, Lambda-based image processing included
- 24-month minimum contract with auto-renewal terms
- Proposal is contingent on the Chestertons Global website being delivered by StarBerry first
- Mandatory £669/month support fee equals approximately AED 75K over the 24-month minimum
- £500/month delay penalty applies for delays in client feedback or content delivery
- Photography (£15 per image), copywriting (£0.35 per word), Google Maps API, and live-chat third-party fees are paid by client
- UK time zone (UTC+0/+1), 3 to 4-hour offset from UAE
- Total 2-year cash commitment approximately AED 153K, with auto-renewal beyond
- Disaster recovery not included in standard scope, charged separately if requested
- Proposal expires 60 days from issue date
Original vendor proposals, linked here.
All six PDFs received from the four vendors. Click any document to open the original file. Provided so reviewers can verify quoted figures against source documents.
Cumulative cost across all five options, year-by-year.
Cash cost projection for each option from project start through year five. Year-one figures use the contracted build cost. Years two to five apply published retainer rates where available, or estimated maintenance allowances elsewhere.
5-Year TCO Projection · Cumulative
14-week build plan if internal delivery is selected.
Indicative timeline for the internal delivery option, broken down weekly. External vendor timelines range from 10 to 24 weeks depending on the vendor selected (see Vendor Proposals section).
Key milestones · calendar dates
Skills available on the existing team.
Skills inventory of the in-house Digital and Technology team, mapped against the technical scope described in the four vendor proposals. Provided as factual context for the engagement model decision.
Phases completed to date by the internal team.
Discovery, information architecture, and wireframing have been delivered internally as part of the option-evaluation work. Status applies to the internal-delivery option only. If an external vendor is selected, the vendor will determine their own discovery cadence.
Risks identified for the internal delivery option.
Risk register specific to the internal delivery model. Each external vendor proposal carries its own risk profile (documented in the vendor proposal PDFs). Risks below apply if the internal option is selected.
Capacity dilution
Team pulled away from BAU. Mitigated with dedicated sprint allocation and BAU rota.
Key-person dependency
Lead dev becomes a single point of failure. Mitigated with pair programming and full documentation.
Scope creep
C-suite adds features mid-build. Mitigated with locked sprint scope and Phase 2 backlog.
RERA compliance drift
Permit and BRN validation must be airtight. Mitigated with Zod schemas + legal review pre-launch.
Artefacts produced under the internal delivery option.
Deliverable list specific to the internal delivery model. External vendor deliverables are documented in each vendor's proposal PDF (linked in the Source Document Library).
Figma design system
Full token library, EN + AR variants, every public template, every admin module. Ours forever.
Next.js codebase · TypeScript
SSR for property pages, mobile-first, accessibility WCAG 2.1 AA, Lighthouse score > 90 enforced.
Strapi CMS · PostgreSQL
Properties, agents, leads, blog, area guides, settings. RERA-validated. CRM-integrated.
Production cloud
Vercel for frontend, AWS EC2 for Strapi, Supabase for DB, Cloudflare for DNS and DDoS.
Search-engine ready
Sitemap, robots.txt, JSON-LD, canonical URLs, OG tags, GSC verified, GA4 events live from day one.
Operating playbook
CMS editor guide, deployment runbook, on-call rota, rollback plan, monitoring + Sentry alerting.
Decision required.
Five delivery paths have been evaluated. Source documents, cost comparison, scope detail, and risk profile are documented above. The selection sits with the leadership team. This dashboard will be updated as the decision progresses.