So where do IT experts go?

Feenx

There are always IT projects that run into crisis - anything from small but insurmountable technical difficulties to architectural rats nests that need sorting out. Either way, these are not things you need a full-time contractor for.

But there are also tons of good people out there who would have the answers, and would be quite happy to help out on a one-off or part-time basis. I'm one of those latter (J2EE is my space), but have also been on the other side at times.

Is there a place where the two can meet? From what I see, companies either hire contractors or just soldier on ahead working things out, but yet sometimes compounding the problem in the project.

It seems like Ireland needs a specialist consultancy organisation whose members are available to provide specialised services on a near immediate turnaround basis. Would be cost-effective for businesses and I think would really help out businesses.

jesus_thats_gre

We (company I work for) tend to end up going to the same companies when we require consultancy etc. The company is about as big as they come in this company so I imagine the approach isn't uncommon.

They tend to have been used in the past for new systems or some integration work but they inadvertently get quite a lot of additional work once they have got their foot in the door.

Maybe doing some networking with the likes of these companies might help - on the assumption that they engage you as and when they require your skillset.

Feenx

True, I have seen that a lot. I don't particularly like the model, as it invariably tends towards the use of larger and larger providers who often deliver "solutions" of quality inversely propotional to their size. Again, sometimes what you need is a key subject expert which you can't always count on your local provider to have on the payroll. But they could be on the rolodex, that's my point.

DeVore

Ah.... you see, you are an entrepreneur.






That just wont do at all.


DeV.

Feenx

I thought I had hid that pretty well.

Yeah, don't get me started on trying to be a self-funded entrepreneur in Ireland ... sometimes I wonder, but still I have hope

jesus_thats_gre

In my experience, there tends to be a lot of concerns about using small companies - logic being that it is very easy for them to become stretched under the workload and that they don't have the scope to add additional resources at short notice.

The concerns would have very little to do with skills or professionalism.

Been working with a small Irish company recently on an APM solution involving nearly 7 figures and a common theme of discussion among upper management is whether they are capable of meeting deadlines etc.

Stheno

I currently work in a small consultancy company and we have one of two approaches to this problem:

1. Have we in house capacity to do this? No? Get an external contractor in who we have a relationship with. Yes? Get the relevant person to work extreme hours over a short term. In the specialisation I work in skills are so short that we frequently end up doing the yes option and are constantly looking for new talent.

OP there are loads of companies, small ones out there looking to add this skill to there set of skills. I'm not going to name them as I work for one, but feel free to pm. You'll be self employed but it would be great experience and you'll build up a fab portfolio.

Feenx

Stheno - nice to hear that. But now consider this idea, which I did actually launch in the states a long, long time ago and it worked moderately well at the time, although we didn't have the time to expand.

Suppose there was a "guild" of vetted independent IT experts that your company could go to for help. You'd post your requirement and you would get back a proposal and/or a candidate ready to go and a perfect fit for the technology.

For example, I've always been a J2EE guy - I've written various books and articles on related technologies. So I would handle those kinds of things, whether they be ... "help Apache and Tomcat won't talk to each other" or the architecture of a MVC-based app.

From the perspective of your consultancy company, would this help? I think that knowing there was a pool of talent that you did not need to have sourced yourself, but who are nonetheless certified as being qualified, I think would be of enormous help to companies like yours.

We called our thing Digital Masons Guild. I'm toying with the idea of creating an Irish version if I tapped into enough interest ...

Stheno

Feenx wrote: »

Stheno - nice to hear that. But now consider this idea, which I did actually launch in the states a long, long time ago and it worked moderately well at the time, although we didn't have the time to expand.

Suppose there was a "guild" of vetted independent IT experts that your company could go to for help. You'd post your requirement and you would get back a proposal and/or a candidate ready to go and a perfect fit for the technology.

For example, I've always been a J2EE guy - I've written various books and articles on related technologies. So I would handle those kinds of things, whether they be ... "help Apache and Tomcat won't talk to each other" or the architecture of a MVC-based app.

From the perspective of your consultancy company, would this help? I think that knowing there was a pool of talent that you did not need to have sourced yourself, but who are nonetheless certified as being qualified, I think would be of enormous help to companies like yours.

We called our thing Digital Masons Guild. I'm toying with the idea of creating an Irish version if I tapped into enough interest ...

Fantastic idea, essentially you are talking about a framework, in reality for independants and small companies, a nightmare as there is no minimum commitment and normally a run on skills/lack of skills problem.

Feenx

This discussion made me thinking of the old Digital Masons Guild ... and the Wayback Machine had a copy!

http://classic-web.archive.org/web/20050216034659/http://digitalmasons.org/index.html

I'd probably modify this more if I was to resurrect it. Now I have to ponder how to get the word out ...