Cheap Software Development

GreGorGy

GreGorGy

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Another thread that bored me very quickly did manage to contain this poser:


dequadin said:
Why is the misconception that software development is cheap still around....? :confused:

*Sigh* I suppose that's a whole thread unto itself.
Click to expand...


And dequadin is correct - a thread unto itself. Why does this persist? What makes someone think that my quick solution to their complex problem should not come at a premium?

My first clue to this is "my cousin knows computers and s/he says..."
This one is a bitch. The cousin who knows computers is actually 17 and surfs facebook all day and gives the impression he knows stuff because his rig is in pieces because he is forever fine-tuning it for that excellent gaming experience. The cousin probably has too many other things going on to solve the problem (including the very likely lack of ability) to actually fix it but s/he has created this expectation that it is a simple problem and should be quick to fix, so it must be cheap. To these people, I say, call your cousin...

Then the street pole adverts "Websites complete R999"
Aaargh! The bane of my existence. I get asked why the ecommerce/client database/event management/large headron collider system is so expensive when the street pole guys can do the site for 1K.

Any others out there? I have many...
 
Then they call you to add a database to that cheap html static web page that they bought for R999 and can't understand why you have to redo the hole thing because the cousin says it's easy but has not got time to do it
 
Ag rubbish. Any fool can do it. You get yourself one of those Frontpage for Dummies books and then you....
 
... and download one of the over-used themes and have a site looking as generic and boring as everyone else. But you do it because it's cheap and you're surprised when you don't get the attention and popularity you thought you would.

The old Afrikaans adage is very true: "Goedkoop koop is duurkoop."
 
FarligOpptreden said:
... and download one of the over-used themes and have a site looking as generic and boring as everyone else. But you do it because it's cheap and you're surprised when you don't get the attention and popularity you thought you would.
Click to expand...

and then you realise that you have to register and search optimise your site, create incoming links, constantly seed your social media, actually come up with relevant and new content, that your shared host server is about to fall over, that the plugins you were wanting to use need tweaking and you don't know how to code, that everything looks like a dog's breakfast because you don't know design, that the problem that took you 6 hours to fix was as simple as changing permissions on the upload directory..
etcetera etcetera.

you're paying for somebody else's time because you don't have the time to faff around for three weeks teaching yourself.
if you really want to do it yourself, be my guest. it'll take you just as long, if not longer to do it, and even then, it'll still look carp.
 
murraybiscuit said:
you're paying for somebody else's time because you don't have the time, knowledge or skill to faff around for three months teaching yourself.
if you really want to do it yourself, be my guest. it'll take you longer to do it, and even then, it'll still look carp.
Click to expand...

There, fixed it for you.
 
murraybiscuit said:
thanks. i was trying to be diplomatic, but you're right, fsck that.
Click to expand...

There's no diplomacy in the world of Software Development. Clients are tyrants abusing the humble developers.

I honestly wish software architects can be lifted to the level of building architects in the working world. Then we'll get paid the truck-loads of cash we're worth and gain the respect of clients we deserve. Who ever fights with a reputable architect and tells him to "move that column there" and "paint the bathroom yellow and purple", just because they believe they know better?

/end rant
 
agreed. but i do think the market is starting to turn.
well, i've certainly noticed that with my clients.
they've started to understand that they'll never be able to understand the landscape of software in its entirety.
they're happy to defer to somebody who knows better.
they know enough to not be misled by the bs peddlers out there.
a client asked me last week why my thumsuck cost was so cheap. it was a welcome surprise.
 
What's the going rate per hour for software development? Generally speaking.
 
In very broad terms it would be around R400 per hour, considering that highly skilled professionals would cost more and lower skilled developers would charge less.
 
FarligOpptreden said:
In very broad terms it would be around R400 per hour, considering that highly skilled professionals would cost more and lower skilled developers would charge less.
Click to expand...

Exactly. A large company will happily spend R400 an hour on a software developer for an extended period and think it's a bargain yet a small company would see that as expensive and expect the developer to deliver miracles in record time. Software development on it's own is a very broad spectrum imo.
 
A well seasoned developer once pointed out that a lot of the blame isn't on the client or boss' shoulders, but on the developers themselves. Developers usually don't care too much about the business world, so all they want is some cash for pizza, a cool project and some internet bandwidth. But they are in the business world, and because they refuse to play the game, they get a beating every time... and things tend so snowball.

On the other hand, anyone who ever tried to recruit programmers (developers), will tell you how hard it is to find someone who's worth his keyboard.

It all adds up eventually...
 
When I started at the company I'm with now I was given a very broad functional spec and couple of pages of hand-written notes belonging to my soon-to-be predecessor and was told to go forth and develop. I asked if there was a technical spec to work with and was told I didn't need one and I could put one together myself after development :erm:

I requested some time with the client to get a better understanding of the finer details. The client insisted they had already been through this schlep with the BA so that's who I should go see. The BA said everything I needed was in the functional spec :wtf:

...and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Sometimes everyone involved in the project is at fault.
 
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