DWUTKA at marlow.com
DWUTKA at marlow.com
Mon Mar 29 16:02:54 CST 2004
I second that. I work for a fellow on the side, who sells a few software packages, along with 'add-ons'. I have modified his software package here and there, but I also have written many of the add-ons / extra tools. He really makes his money on maintenance contracts, and reselling software. But it's an up and down world. Some clients simply send him money, others are a real drain of his resources, with little reward. Drew -----Original Message----- From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of Rocky Smolin - Beach Access Software Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 3:55 PM To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: A survey from somebody not as well-connected as JC Steven: The short answer to your questions for me is that I'm trying to move away from fee-for-service to product. With fee-for-service it's just as many hours as you can stand to be at the computer running the billing clock. I find that it's hard to bill more than 1000-1200 honest hours a year without breaking your head. So you can make a living but that's about all. You can never really build up any real wealth. With a product, the upside is unlimited. You can make $10k in one day just by being next to the phone. But the risks are high as well. It's not a course of action I could recommend to anybody. Rocky Smolin Beach Access Software http://www.e-z-mrp.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steven W. Erbach" <serbach at new.rr.com> To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving" <accessd at databaseadvisors.com> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 8:16 AM Subject: [AccessD] OT: A survey from somebody not as well-connected as JC > Dear Group, > > This is for the independent developers only. If you work for a company and you'd like to take the survey, just let me know that you're not an independent developer when you reply. > > I'm curious about what you independent developers have had to learn to keep up with the changing marketplace. > > 1) If you've managed to maintain a significant clientele by developing Access applications, what have you done to sharpen your skills to make you more attractive as the developer of choice in a competitive field? That is, have you developed a framework like JC, or have you gone more towards developing front ends for SQL back ends like Arthur? > > 2) If you've moved away from Access development as your primary source of income, what other platforms have you learned to make a living? Do you now do mostly .NET development, ASP, SQL Server, PHP, what? > > 3) If you're doing .NET development, what kind of things are you doing? Has it lived up to the hype? Last year about this time I was searching the want ads for positions before I decided to stick with my own business. I was amused by the ads that profiled the "ideal" candidate as one who had deep .NET experience. The stinking product had only officially been on the market for one whole year with another year in beta before that. Sheesh! Have you seen any real live .NET implementations that are worth bragging about...or have you created any? > > In short, what have you had to do to make yourself useful as an independent developer? I know that William works quite a bit with SBS and LANs. Have any of you developed proficiency with cabling and routers and such to increase your marketability? > > Do you do any security consulting, say? Do you build custom-order PCs? Do you do LAN management, e-mail server management and setup, web site development? > > One final thing: Years ago when I started I took advantage of the swing of the pendulum that put PC power in users' hands. That is, the PC was a great analysis tool for mainframe data. Lotus 1-2-3, dBASE III, Paradox, etc., were the tools that enabled users and departments to fiddle with the data without having to wait for the IT department to get around to their little pissant application requests. > > Now the pendulum has swung the other way. Security concerns and scalability and distributed networks / VPNs and web-based database applications have all made the pendulum swing back towards centralized control...and the IT guys are loving it. Or am I reading it wrong? What do you think? > > Regards, > > Steve Erbach > Scientific Marketing > Neenah, WI > 920-969-0504 > > Security and Virus information: > http://www.swerbach.com/security > > -- > _______________________________________________ > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > -- _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com