I'll be there.

Trent Shipley wrote:
> Then we will meet at this Saturday's Installfest at Noon to discuss
> employee owned IT consulting groups for small and medium businesses.
> 
> Gerold Knapp wrote:
>> I would definitely be interested in participating in said discussion.
>> It sounds like something that would be discussed down at GangPlank.
>> I just started going last week after the postings on this list and it is
>> pretty darned interesting.
>>
>> This is an intriguing idea!
>>
>> Ed
>>
>>
>> On 8/20/09 8:37 PM, "Trent Shipley" <tshipley@deru.com> wrote:
>>
>>> The major downside being that it involves getting up on a Saturday morning.
>>>
>>> Where are Installfests being held these days?  What is the last Saturday
>>> in August 2009?  Installfests last for several hours, so when would we
>>> want to start the consulting co-op discussion?
>>>
>>> Jason Spatafore wrote:
>>>> Sounds like a good discussion to take place during the next Installfest
>>>> since there's really no "agendas" at those. Plus, you may find those
>>>> "diamonds in the rough" of people that may be able to enlighten you on
>>>> the actual need in the market for such a venture.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, 2009-08-20 at 19:40 -0700, Eric Shubert wrote:
>>>>> I agree Trent. I'd be interested in hashing it over.
>>>>>
>>>>> Trent Shipley wrote:
>>>>>> I just finished the Master of Science in Information Management at ASU.
>>>>>>  I guess there's nothing wrong with hiring a junior level JOAT to run
>>>>>> LAMP, and there's certainly nothing wrong with doing this early in your
>>>>>> career.  The main downside is that unless the customer/employer gets
>>>>>> VERY lucky, they won't get the expert service a large firm would get
>>>>>> through specialization.  In theory what these little companies should do
>>>>>> is outsource the IT department. This is especially true of non-profits
>>>>>> and small government departments where IT isn't strategic.  Outsourcing
>>>>>> is more problematic for something like a b2c business where the IT is
>>>>>> strategic.  Then you need a way to reconquer IT if your company grows.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What this indicates is a need for professional, multi-disciplinary IT
>>>>>> consulting targeting small and medium sized businesses, non-profits, and
>>>>>> government units.  The big guys don't want it.  You can charge enough
>>>>>> and the meals are too small.  The little guys, like Red7 and Data
>>>>>> Doctors, started as repair shops and may have trouble getting into the
>>>>>> consultant/contractor rent-an-IT-department mindset.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I think there's definitely an itch here.  I think it would be fun to get
>>>>>> together and discuss it.  I'm thinking maybe a professional cooperative
>>>>>> as an organizational structure.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> <with snippage>
>>>>>> Michael Butash wrote:
>>>>>>> In my experience in big enterprise to small offices, either you have
>>>>>>> "the dude that kinda dabbles with everything", or you have quite
>>>>>>> separate roles.  Primarily you would have a SQL Admin/Engineer (just sql
>>>>>>> performance/operations/engineering), Linux Engineer (os, apache, sql),
>>>>>>> and a Web Dev/Admin/Engineer (php coding, cms, site management).
>>>>>>> Usually you also have Security and Network folk in the mix too to keep
>>>>>>> things sane.  Sometimes you have one person that likes to dabble in
>>>>>>> each, and can varyingly admin them all as so to *get by*, but they're
>>>>>>> subsequently "jack of all trades", and typically "master of none" kind
>>>>>>> of people.  
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Finding an environment where you can "dabble" professionally in
>>>>>>> everything is typically going to be a low-pay, thankless job I would
>>>>>>> say, as a company wants 1 person to do *everything*, but will pay low
>>>>>>> because they don't know what they really need.  They're often trying to
>>>>>>> find their magical unicorn employee that will do everything for little
>>>>>>> pay.  Government agencies tend to be fond of these roles, but pay low
>>>>>>> enough they really have no expectation of finding someone close, so they
>>>>>>> settle for the closest that will actually apply.  They learn and cope as
>>>>>>> they can, and move on once they pick one of those skills to focus on in
>>>>>>> bigger companies that have already learned the value of the separate
>>>>>>> skill sets among employees.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -mb
>>>>>> </snippage>
>>>>>>


-- 
-Eric 'shubes'

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