By Avonelle Lovhaug
Publication Date: 9/17/2009 7:04:58 AM
One reason why I am an advocate for fixed-fee pricing over hourly pricing is that I dislike the notion that the customer should be penalized if I make a mistake. I’m of the opinion that the customer should be protected from my boo-boos as much as possible.
There are a few kinds of mistakes that can occur on a software project. One kind of mistake is when the programmer creates a poor estimate of the required effort. This is a very common because few programmers are good at software estimation.
Some who charge hourly will not penalize the customer in ...
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Publication Date: 8/25/2009 3:44:33 PM
I was reminded today of the importance of being careful about the technology resources you hire. This article refers to a survey that suggests that more than 59% of employees who are fired, laid off or quit admit to stealing company data. Yikes! When you trust someone with your technology, you are giving them the ability to do severe damage to your business. Not only do you risk data loss or data theft, but there is also the potential of destruction of your reputation and brand.
Before you hire someone (internally or externally) to work on technology related activities for ...
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Publication Date: 7/31/2009 11:18:03 AM
It is true: custom software can be expensive. The problem isn’t overpriced programmers (usually). The problem is that custom software takes time to build. And effort, lots of effort. (And no one knows what they want, and keep changing their mind, but that’s a separate story.)
Still, it is possible to get custom software for less money than you were quoted. The answer is simple: cut features.
My smartest customers know this. If I provide a bid that is outside their budget, they’ll ask this brilliant question:
“Here’s what we are trying to achieve. Is there a way we ...
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Publication Date: 5/8/2009 7:54:28 AM
Most independent programmers have a fear of scope creep. Actually that’s not completely true. Most have a fear of scope creep they won’t be paid for. For those who are doing a fixed bid project, the fear is that expanding scope will eat away at any profit until they are making about $1.30/hour. Yikes.
To compensate, some programmers get very aggressive about delineating project scope. They become militant when even a small feature change is suggested. And I have a lot of sympathy for that position.
But I don’t share it.
Look, everyone I know who has been in ...
Publication Date: 4/22/2009 6:38:16 AM
Good projects (and by “good” I mean “successful” of course) always have a defined objective. Everyone knows the goal, and everyone stays focused on that goal throughout the project.
Also important in a good/successful project is understanding the project sponsor’s values. For example, some customers place a high value on source code portability – the ability to easily take the code to any vendor. Others may prioritize completing the project as quickly as possible. In the case of the former, using a third party component might not be appropriate, but for the second customer this might make a lot of ...
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As someone with over 20 years of software development experience and currently a small business owner, it has been a pleasure working with Avonelle. In addition to being a talented developer, Avonelle also has database expertise and system design skills. Avonelle is open minded and willing to discuss various methodologies for achieving a project goal. She is also not afraid to ask questions which is vital in a software development project. Her up-front project cost (not estimate) is very helpful in budgeting for a project.
--Dwayne Wolterstorff, Owner @ Fair
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