web notes - a blog

Many web development projects are done outside conventional version control environments. The overhead of version control simply can’t be justified for a small application or the customization of a site. However, it the development is performed by a team, particularly a distributed team, common etiquette should be observed.

• Don’t change other people’s code. Either request they change it to your specifications, or ask if it is okay for you to make the change. If you receive such a request, reply promptly and act promptly, otherwise, you should assume the requestor will make the change.
• Keep your own backup. This is a good practice anyway. This includes the database.
• Use a site architecture that makes it easy to separate design and logic, and communicate it to the team. For example - all CSS/HTML/templates are the domain of the design team, all PHP/applications/installations are engineering.
• Identify an authority to resolve any conflicts, and clearly document any likely exceptions to the file architecture above.

• Let the client see exactly what they will be purchasing. Have an online demo, where they can upload a logo or image (must have enough colors for good results) and see an example.
• Offer logo design services for clients without a logo. Set a time limit for the designer and make it clear to all parties. Low cost means exactly that.
• Provide clear pricing for services beyond the initial installation.
• Grant the client access to cPanel like functionality and allow them to manage their email acocunts by themselves. Again, provide a demo (perhaps a link to the hosting company demo).
• Be upfront about the service being provided - which is a low cost design integration. Credit the sources of the software and explain why you use it. Suggest the client attempt to do the work on their own if they would prefer. You may lose an independent client, but you may also avoid a dissatisfied customer who challenges the cost of a system based on free software.
• Make support limits clear. Support can be extremely expensive. Ensure the client understands that once the site launches, support will cost them.
• Provide a ticket system (existing companies should have one already) and request that all support requests go through it. Phone calls can be extremely expensive.

Caveat - without careful management, these projects will be very prone to cost overruns.

Know what it costs before you offer it! Allow the technical team to define the process and determine EXACTLY how much time it takes after the NRE (non-recurring engineering) has been done to put up a site and grant access. If it won’t be profitable, don’t do it.

If you are considering a web company, check their site. Do you like it? Does it look good? Does everything work well?

If you don’t like their site, you may not like the one they build you.

If you do like the site, ask them the following questions:

About how many person hours went into the site?
If they can’t answer this, they may not manage their projects well. Usually, the company site is handled as an informal project, interleaved with client projects. Professional service organizations are selling labor, and should be tracking ALL hours - whether they bill them to clients or not. That’s good business.

About how much would you charge a client for a similar site?
This number should be reasonable, and in line with the earlier answer.

What percentage of the project hours are management/overhead?
High caliber technical teams need less management.

There is a vast amount of information on the web, publicly accessible. Qualified observers can assess the technical skill of a web company by looking at a site and the page construction, they can perform complex analysis using validators and sites like http://websiteoptimization.com. They can easily determine the versions of software in use (unless security was done carefully), they can check how many sites have the same IP address (same server).

Clues:

Old versions of everything - site is not currently being maintained. Opportunity for maintenance and hosting upgrades. This can be very low risk if a robust application is in use, and it hasn’t be heavily customized. Same is true for copyright notices.

Broken link to web company - see above.

Poor design and application integration, broken links, missing images - site visitors have high expectations. A bad site can cost a company alot in lost business. A quick link to a demo may help the site owner see the value of your proposal.

Glaring security issues - it is easy to quickly check a site with non-destructive SQL injection testing and invalid data testing, as well as simple certificate checks. Alert the site owner with a screenshot or URL that demonstrates the vulnerability as well as a quick description of possible resolutions.

Scanning sites for information such as older versions of Apache/PHP and applications is reasonably cost effective. A few innovative email templates should allow a professional message to be delivered to prospective clients.

Finally, most sites last about 3 years before they need to be refreshed, improved, redesigned.

LinkedIn (and other professional networking sites) make alot of information available.

Want to know the organizational structure of a company? You can probably build a pretty good org chart using just LinkedIn.

What to know the interaction patterns? See who is connected to who. Who has alot of connections. Who has only a few connections.

Want to learn about the company? Look at the descriptions, what people said about the work they did and do.

Want to assess the qualifications of employees? Many people post their education and experience.

Want to know about turnover? That information is there as well.

Check the links posted, particularly blogs, to gain more insight.

Want to know more? Search the web for those names.

This information would be helpful for prospective employees, people that are considering purchasing a company, and people involved in ownership transfers, as well as potential customers.