WebSite Deployment Skills

Question

We need to increase our knowledge on deployment of ASP.NET Web sites/Web App. We are getting increasingly bigger and more traffic and need a more professional approach. Not too mention, we are also moving up to multiple database/multiple back end/ multiple front end server deployments and we just don't want to screw it up.

What type of skills should we be looking for and is there a typical title people with these skills use?

Thanks,

Actually, We have most of the talents the two answers mention, what we are looking for is I guess what Dave calls the web server guru. I simply want someone to handle the deployment aspect. The developers we have need to be working on their end of it not trying to figure out dpeloyment best practices. Also, we may end up with multiple projects and teams and I don't think each team having a seperate person rolling their own solutions would be as good as 1 dedicated resource for all the teams.

Answer 1

If you're looking to take an ASP.NET application to the next level, you need the development talent.

• At least four years of intensive ASP.NET development experience.
• A current certification to go with the experience would be good, but don't take the cert over the experience.
• Find someone familiar with the techniques used in your app- if it's a Webforms app, don't go looking for an MVC wizard unless he/she also has the Webforms chops, etc.

It sounds like you may be handling the hosting yourself. If this is the case, you may also need to either hire a webserver guru or look into managed hosting. Don't be snookered into thinking you can get your dev to care and feed the hosting environment, it's too much work for one person.

Answer 2

Sounds like you will need at least three people, as the skills may not typically be what one person can do.

You may need a database administrator, to ensure that your multiple databases stay in sync, or backed up properly and configured correctly.

You will need a sysadmin to set up the multiple webservers and to ensure that all the hardware and infrastructure is configured properly.

And, you will need .NET developer that knows ASP.NET as well as the database layer.

If you were hosted then the first two you don't need as your hosting site would be responsible.

If you went with cloud computing then the same, you don't need the first two.

But, regardless, sounds like you need the third.

For the developer, you need to be careful about what skills you need, for example, C# for 4 yrs, ASP.NET for 2yrs, if you need javascript or css then specify that. If you are using any particular libraries then specify that.