How do I go about explaining that I am a "Web Application Developer" and not a "Web Site Designer" to prospective clients - without talking myself out of the project?! Often I am approached to "design a web site" for someone where it turns out to be more of a "brochureware" presentation site and less of a real web application. While I...
There is another post on here "How to quote project development cost" where user SpliFF commented: This is not a labor market, you are selling knowledge and solutions. Some solutions are better than others. 10 hours of failing is worth much less than 10 hours of building a killer app. You need to stop thinking about time...
It was just mentioned that I'm "not exactly building the Sistine Chapel." This is true, but I am building a freight management application, which isn't exactly as simple as drawing controls on a form (even though the vendors would have you believe it is). I don't hold this against the person who said it, but I do feel the complexity of...
I'm a salaried computer programmer, and I make a pretty good living at it. I've been thinking of supplementing my income by handling a few part-time, paid consulting opportunities. I'm worried, though, that tinkering on the side might burn me out, that it might affect my work, or that it might get me in trouble at work if they find out a...
Where do you go to find high-quality outside development help? Alternately, if you are a high-quality independent developer, where do you go find projects to work on? I own a software and IT consulting and development company, and occasionally we get requests for projects that would require more resources than my team has to spare. My o...
As people trying to broaden our knowledge and become better developers... when should we turn down a project and say "I don't know how to do that"? Obviously there are extremes that are obvious e.g. new developers shouldn't be coding life support equipment. But what about a new web developer that hasn't tried working with databases ye...
I'm getting asked a lot more frequently by friends and friendly acquaintances to 'redo' their website. I know what to ask to learn exactly what they mean by 'redo' their website, but not what to ask to learn if they know the value/cost of the things they request. Is there a post anywhere that lists really good questions to ask a client...
I am aiming to develop J2EE web apps for clients, and am wondering what OSS operating systems you all have had the best luck with? Windows is expensive, RHEL, SUSE Enterprise Linux, and Solaris are free to implement but have support options; BSDs are good servers but not much on the paid support side if the client wishes to have that ki...
The Joel Test sounds like a list of attributes I'd like to work with (and doesn't it for most of us?) But in a consulting context, it can vary a lot. I've been told it depends on the customer, which in some cases do not even have source control (egad!) Is it justified to turn down a consulting job on the basis of potentially low Joel Te...
If you are doing a one off piece of work as a consultant, for which the client receives only binaries, can you use gpl3 software ? You are working on behalf of the client and not distributing it. From a standard gpl FAQ: Q: I am an OXID partner/reseller/consultant and I occasionally do one-time OXID eShop Community Edition customizatio...
This is a large project and currently there are only 3 developers working on it. We have some money in the budget to contract development help from a software consulting firm. However, because the location of our business it would be beneficial if the consultant could do their development off-site. Also, our company policy doesn't allow ...
Where I work, we employ a consultant to do a considerable amount of work for us to hold us over until we can hire/train more staff. He has been working with us for quite a long time now, and he has always had this strange habit of leaving his initials on EVERYTHING he touches, as if its his sort of branding or advertising. And by everyth...
I have a corp that I'm considering using for my software consulting work. Can people who've had experience with the corp-to-corp setup tell me the difference in pay per hour. ...
I'm giving consulting to someone thta is hired worker in a company. seveal times a day he wants to ask me abount proggraming things that he get stuck with. How can I price this service ? ...
How do you make yourself as a consultant stand out from the others? It's frustrating trying to learn how to market yourself when everyone and their brother is advertising themselves as an SEO expert and/or website developer. I don't want to come off as elitest, but I've seen some sites done by local companies that, frankly, would mak...
Several projects I have worked on have satisfied all the requirements, yet for some reason lingered on. Typically what happens is that the client is spending time with their new product and is asking the vendor (consultant) to modify such-n-such "just a little". Or perhaps they realize that although requirement such-n-such is satisfied, ...
How much do Microsoft Consultants (MCS) charge per hour/day? ...
I'm looking for some effective and freely available templates for software/product requirements documents (PRDs). Anyone know of any good resources? Thanks, Yarin ...
How do I write a technical programming proposal for a client's website? Are you aware of any helpful resources? ...
Hi friends, Please introduce me some good consulting corporations oriented in IT business. Thank u ...