At 04:16 PM 4/25/2001 -0400, you wrote: >Thanks for the responses... >Two things pop up, First are most of us freelancers?? or work for small >companies.....its sounds like most of the people like that where 50 >different hats/pets? I think I work for a small company but it is 18 people, which sounds like a lot more than most around here. I think it is the biggest one in Louisiana. Not that I'm in Louisiana anymore. >Second, why are the roles such a unique thing. Most other area's of IT >have some very set roles and functions that people do. Where as the web >really doesn't.....I really enjoy being able to do the server admin, db, >programming and sometimes graphics, all of which are important to doing a >good job. I think that part of the reason is that a lot of web firms are small. When it comes to server administration, you should have an expert, partly because weird things happen and partly because security is so important. A lot of DB stuff is crucial to what I do as a programmer, so I do those things, but some DB stuff is more along the lines of the server administrators. I don't mind doing graphics and sometimes it is fun, but it is less efficient (and less cost-effective for the client) to have me do graphics than it is to have a specialist do that. The company that I work for has a lot of business, so it's reasonable for us to have experts in different areas. Our programmers program and that's about it. I also do documentation but that's because I'm the programmer that doesn't have any issues writing a hundred page paper. It's more cost-effective for me to do the documentation than to have someone else to do it, since I don't have to root through the code very much to figure out what's going on. It's basically about cost-effectiveness. Is it more cost-effective to have you do the graphics or to have someone else do the graphics? Is it more cost-effective to have you manage the network or to have someone else do it? (And remember that cost includes what you pay if the network is hacked.) Is it more cost-effective to have you administrate the server or to have it hosted? I'd personally prefer to have experts everywhere. I only have so much time to spend keeping up with advancements and if I tried to keep up with advancements in 5 different areas, I wouldn't be able to keep up with enough of any given one of them. If I focus on one, I have much better odds of keeping up and I'll have time to learn new things. I'd rather be kick-ass at one thing than be a jack-of-all trades. But that's not to say that I haven't done my share of work on the networks at the office. >just thinking, sometimes I wonder if I can really get better and learn >more if I don't do everything.... > > >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 04/25/01 03:44PM >>> >Ha Ha Been there. The company I worked for that brought me into the CF world >was exactly like that. The owner and the lead (only) sales guy only knew a >few phrases, "We can do that.", "we can do that, fast and cheap.", and my >all time fave, to the developers, "We said we could do X, I have no idea >how, or even where to look for examples of previous implementations of X but >you have a month to do it. Oh and don't ask the others on the team, we only >bid enough for one developer to work on this." > >That was always a good one :-) > >Obviously that's the attitude that closes deals, but I've seen enough deals >that have worked out fine when the vendor clearly explains the details of >what the client wants so that while X sounds easy enough when talking about >it conceptually, it's another story programmatically. > >Sales people always crack me up. > >J. > > >John Wilker >Web Applications Consultant >Allaire Certified ColdFusion Developer > >www.red-omega.com <http://www.red-omega.com> > >Lessons learned from movies: >5. It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving >martial arts, your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one by >dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out their >predecessors. > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Jennifer [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] >Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 12:07 PM >To: CF-Community >Subject: RE: Roles > > >We have a main web designer, a couple of HTML lackeys/secondary >designers/banner designers/Shockwave developers, a couple of CF/database >programmers, a couple of project managers/data-entry clerks/client >contacts/"We already got the client to agree to this functionality without >asking you how it will affect the site or its development" nuts, a supreme >authority on all things web (ie, the company owner), and a couple of >copywriters. Our development and production servers are hosted by another >company. > >Site specs are done by the company owner, the copywriter, the main project >manager, and the main designer, usually with little or no input by the >people who will actually do the implementation of the functionality. That >means that I get to spend a bunch of time saying "I don't care if you >already got the client to agree to this, it's impossible to do this without >wasting huge amounts of resources" and then having to explain in detail to >the copywriter why this is true, even though the copywriter doesn't know >anything about development. > >Once I had to explain why this prepackaged java software couldn't display a >random record. It took me three hours to get her to believe me, because "we >can do it in ColdFusion so we can do it in this prepackaged java software." > >Luckily, everyone survived. > >At 02:08 PM 4/25/2001 -0400, you wrote: > >Here the roles are a bit dynamic, depending on the project. We have 3 > >developers that have a lot of overlap. One guy tends to be > >operations/admin, one tends to the backend programming, and one mostly does > >the web design. > > > >My experience is that the hardest to do is the actual project specs. The > >client never knows what they want until they don't ahve it. And if you >ever > >make the mistake of asking them if they want something, they'll say "yes". > >Still working on how to get out of them what's an "A" requirement, and > >what's a "B" requirement. > > > >--- > >Daniel Dewey |"Tell me, and I'll forget. > >Systems Developer | Show me, and I may not remember. > >MCP (NT srvr/wkstn/eprise) | Involve me, and I'll understand." > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] | - Native American Proverb > >http://www.pobox.com/~dewey | 610-868-1421, x115 > > The National Association of Colleges and Employers > > > > These opinions are mine, and may not be the same as my employer > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: Michael Ross [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > >Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 1:28 PM > >To: CF-Community > >Subject: Roles > > > > > >I am just kinda curious what type of different roles people here play. Do > >you do the programming, web layout, system admin, db admin, managers...or > >are the functions split up, that kinda of stuff. > >I am just trying to learn different ways people have their group/team. > >Trying to get the most out of people without stretching them to thin.... > > > >Me, I do everything which in my mind is too much...I'd like someone to > >handle the content and someone else handle the db admin...so I can focus on > >the apps themselves....... > > > >Whats your team like? > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Structure your ColdFusion code with Fusebox. Get the official book at http://www.fusionauthority.com/bkinfo.cfm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Structure your ColdFusion code with Fusebox. Get the official book at http://www.fusionauthority.com/bkinfo.cfm Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
