[AccessD] Possible employment opportunity...

Hi All,
 
  Possible employment opportunity and apologies up front for the long winded
post, but I want to put enough detail out so that you can decide pretty much
right off if this is something that might interest you or not. 
 
  I have a client that I have been working with for the past seven years who
has grown quite a bit.  As a result, I've been after them for a couple of
years now to get someone to backup myself as I, like many others, am a one
man shop.  It's gotten to the point where if I stepped off the curb and got
hit by a bus, they'd be in a world of hurt.  
 
  While I am by no means indispensible, I'm the only one that currently
knows their environment inside and out.  I've also slid into an operations
role rather then a pure development one as they have grown, so if I was out
of the picture, it would be a major problem for them. They've worked too
hard at their company making it a success to have something like this kill
them.
 
  Basically on the software side, I am the IT department for them.   They do
have 3rd party support for the hardware, networking, and OS's, but outside
of that I take care of everything else, which includes their ERP system,
customized code, EDI, communications (FTP, AS2, etc), and what not.
 
 They currently have an older release of an ERP software package called
Traverse, written by Open Systems, which has been customized.  It's based on
Access 2000 FE's with ODBC connectivity to a SQL Server 2000 backend.   I'll
be upgrading them to a newer release in the next few months, which will move
the environment to Access 2003 and SQL Server 2005.  This is dictated by
Open Systems and there is no choice in the matter.   Yes, they are behind
the times somewhat, but maintaining a solid and stable production
environment is critical to their business.  They don't need or want the
latest and the greatest and have problems as a result.
 
 They will probably stay on that update for a couple of years and then
decide if they want to stick with Traverse or move to something else
entirely.  Sticking with Traverse beyond this next update would be a new
environment as Open Systems has ditched Access and is now using Dot Net and
doing everything in C# (SQL Server is still the BE though).
 
  They also have a large amount of custom code all written in Access to act
as the "glue" between Traverse and the EDI systems and do things the
Traverse software itself doesn't take care of.
 
  Skills they are looking for is this:
 
1. Strong Access development skills - Couple years development in Access at
least.
2. Good to strong SQL Server Skills - Traverse is heavily based on stored
procedures and this next release even more so, so a working knowledge of
T-SQL is a plus.
3. Any EDI experience and more specifically use of Sterling Gentran for
Windows and nuBridges AS2 software.
4. Knowledge of shipping logistics (bar coding and labeling - you should
know what a UCC128 label is).
 
 They will allow this person to be remote, but want someone based in the US.
Preferably on the east coast, and if local to them (they are located in
Cleveland, Ohio), that would even be better.  They use 3PL for shipping and
the warehouse is in CA, so availability in the evening hours ET might be
required at times.
 
  The overall scope is to serve as a backup for myself.  There would be some
hours for initial training on the environment, then 8-10 hours of work per
month to keep your fingers in it and up to date with changes.  Occasionally
there might be additional work if I get overwhelmed, but the primary focus
is to serve as backup for myself.
 
 They actually have a ton of work that could be done, but they are more into
a mode of doing things on a "as needed" basis.   
 
 This is also a company that puts customer service first above all else; if
the customer wants it, they get it (they are in retail sales and
distribution) and they like to be very nimble.  So like many small companies
like this, they don't do things in a very formal fashion.  Projects are not
outlined in detail, spec'd out, developed, tested, user acceptance testing
done, rollout, etc.  Stuff often gets done in a matter of days, not weeks.
They actually can be very demanding at times, but are a nice group of people
to work with.
 
 You'd be working by the hour and they are looking for reasonable rates.  If
your expecting anything over $70/hr, forget it.  
 
 Contact me off-line at jimdettman'at'online-computer-services.net if your
interested or give me a call at (315) 699-3443.
 
 And please, I'd only like to hear from you if you are seriously considering
this.
 
Jim.