Re: Saving the System i: Fight Rather Than Switch -- MIDRANGE-L

Steve,

Perhaps it is more of an issue of some assurance that the contractor isproperly vetted for the job. My 19 year old is about 15 months into a 4year degree in Computer Science and was just recently hired, through anemployment agency, for a 3 week, short term project implementing aSharepoint solution at a large, local IT development company. At$25.00/hour, it is a pretty good gig for a guy with his experience (atleast, in Utah) but I can pretty much guess that if he was pitching hisservices directly, he wouldn't get many offers. Fewer still at$25.00/hr. Don't get me wrong, he is a rippin' genius with thisMicrosoft stuff (he "grew up" on it) but I am not sure if I would pay$25/hr for a 19 year old guy, sight unseen. So that may be part of it.

Doubt if it is a "you earn more than me" issue. I own this business Irun and I am the last to get paid, the least paid for the skills Ibring, and I always make sure that everyone is properly compensated,even contractors, primarily because they "produce" the goods andservices we deliver. I don't begrudge anyone better pay than myself.

Market forces will drive prices, not greedy companies (unless it is amonopoly). The only thing that will "kill off" the System i is lack ofcompetitive strength in the market place, which has been the primaryfocus of this thread. As long as there is a System i platform todevelop solutions for and a marketplace that will buy that solution, itwill survive.

Pete Helgren


Raby, Steve wrote:

Just had a thought as I am coming to the end of my current contract, why is it that most (well virtually all that I have come across) managers would rather pay twice or three times the amount to go through an agency or software house than take out a contract with people like me directly?
Is it;

a) The knowledge that a software house or agency can do the job much better 
than the humble freelancer?
b) Some sort of security (i.e. getting the job done) issue?
c) Resentment that the contractor may be earning more money than they are?
d) Something else?

a & b) I know the answer to, Yeah right!! c)Going on the comments of some 
people I come across YES (tho they never seem to take into account the job 
security(not much of that anywhere tho'), tax, pension, healthcare, expenses 
issues).
Is this very expensive attitude part of the problem with the perception of the iSeries? Is it that they cannot find programmers for the right price rather than not find programmers at all? I know that some agencies heap as much as 50% or more on top of what the contractor receives, for what? How do they justify that? A software house I worked with increased their prices, quite a lot, and when one of us asked how they came to that figure the reply was "We think that is as much as we can get without the customers complaining too much."
So are grasping agencies and software houses also killing off the iSeries?

Just opening a conversational oppertunity window. :-)

Steve