Thanks Dan and Dean. Good stuff. I like the GC idea. I think I have a good plan to be able to explain what I think the details are of the grand scheme and some of the leads I have accumulated. I guess Im looking for that person, but I have done a large portion of the Scope description of that job. Now the thing I need is someone that knows who knows what, and will have a global understanding enough to get RESULTS. Funny thing I really dont know what to call this GC person. Would he be a "programmer", DBA, System Analyst, or what. Can someone list the things this GC should have skills in so I could be sure I am getting the right guy? Robert P. Reil Managing Director, Motorcyclecarbs.com, Inc. 4292 Country Garden Walk NW Kennesaw, Ga. 30152 Office 770-974-8851 Fax 770-974-8852 <http://www.motorcyclecarbs.com/> www.motorcyclecarbs.com
_____ From: Dan Kaufman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 2:35 PM To: Carbs Sales&Service Subject: RE: [ACFUG Discuss] Contracting help guidance. Robert, Consider this metaphor: the construction industry, Owner+General Contractor+Subcontractor The Owner is (by definition) ignorant of building codes and construction methodologies. So the Owner hires a General Contractor who is (by definition) an expert in the BIG PICTURE. The Owner has a need for a building to be built that will have lights. The General Contractor determines the "needs" of the plan and hires a qualified electrical subcontractor. The GC may not know how to wire a 600 AMP service entrance, but he does know how to find and hire a qualified commercial electrical contractor who does know how to... Subcontractors are not full-time employees, but they are experts in the particular task that needs to be accomplished. The General Contractor knows how to find and hire the subcontractors. In your business's case, hire a consultant that you will give "General Contractor" responsibility to. You tell him what your business needs are and he then determines how to fulfill those needs. One day he may subcontract a SQL schema, and another day he subcontracts's a "shopping cart" expert and handles upgrades to AbelCommerce. You be the business expert and give responsibility to an IT General Contractor to manage and maintain your technology. In your case you are an "informed" owner which gives you some advantage in determining that you are getting honest work at a fair price. In my Owner-GC analogy, sometimes the "naïve" owner gets taken to the cleaners by an unscrupulous contractor. It sounds like you have both eyes wide open so I wouldn't worry, but you are definitely making a wise decision to seek out and hire "big picture expert help." Dan Kaufman _____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert Reil Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 9:52 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [ACFUG Discuss] Contracting help guidance. I have decided that the only way I am going to get anywhere is to have someone get things set up for me in this shopping cart. I just will never have the time to do this and there is so much DB layout to do also. I just need a part timer - contractor that can set things up, get me on track, teach me how to manage upgrades and go from there but be available from time to time. We are not flush with money but we are very comfortable in the spring-fall months. But we have to get our DB reconfigured. I need to know how I should tackle this. Should I hire a mid level / high level guy, should I hire a guru? I need a real quote on what it would take to prep us for growth. Again the scenario is: MySQL AbleCommerce Upgrade DB table structure to accept more fields without breaking Able. Script MySQL and make a restoration routine to allow upgrades of able (which overwrite some DB structures potentially) to be reconfigured back to the custom mode. Build management of upgrades like SVN etc that will reinstantiate custom internal code to upgrade new Able versions when rolled out. Thats the big picture and my learning curve is too long and I can not afford the time or the chance on breaking our production site to work with these issues. The CF training was helpful now that I know what it is and roughly what can be expected of it. I now have the skills to understand management of the development of an intranet and theoretical functionality of CF and DB's but thats enough to be really dangerous. Can you all help me find the most cost effective solution to get where I need to be as painlessly as possible? Thanks. Robert P. Reil Managing Director, Motorcyclecarbs.com, Inc. 4292 Country Garden Walk NW Kennesaw, Ga. 30152 Office 770-974-8851 Fax 770-974-8852 <http://www.motorcyclecarbs.com/> www.motorcyclecarbs.com ------------------------------------------------------------- Annual Sponsor - Figleaf Software <http://www.figleaf.com> To unsubscribe from this list, manage your profile @ http://www.acfug.org?fa=login.edituserform <http://www.acfug.org?fa=login.edituserform> For more info, see http://www.acfug.org/mailinglists <http://www.acfug.org/mailinglists> Archive @ http://www.mail-archive.com/discussion%40acfug.org/ <http://www.mail-archive.com/discussion%40acfug.org/> List hosted by FusionLink <http://www.fusionlink.com> ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- Annual Sponsor FigLeaf Software - http://www.figleaf.com To unsubscribe from this list, manage your profile @ http://www.acfug.org?fa=login.edituserform For more info, see http://www.acfug.org/mailinglists Archive @ http://www.mail-archive.com/discussion%40acfug.org/ List hosted by http://www.fusionlink.com -------------------------------------------------------------
