Lefavi Systems, Inc. : Consulting

CONSULTING

See below below for 10 Tips to Selecting a Custom Programmer

Custom Programming Services Visual Basic, HTML, COBOL, PDA (Palm OS & Win/CE) & CD-ROM development

Legacy System Integration Windows connection to: Novel, Unix, WorldWide Web

Win/NT/2000/XP Administration Perform daily, weekly, and monthly housekeeping tasks

Advice on Computer Systems Hardware layout and purchase, Software evaluation and selection, Operation procedures

10 Tips to Selecting a Custom Programmer

Begin by making sure that there is not a program that does what you are looking for. It is usually cheaper, with fewer problems, to use an existing program. Use your trade association, trade publication, or business associates to find an existing program that fits your needs.
Design the layout of what you want done. Before talking to a programmer (or programming company) you must establish the scope of work to be done. A brief sketch of the reports and/or the screen displays, is a good starting place.
Establish a budget. To get an idea of the costs involved, talk to other companies that have had custom programming done. Custom programming is more expensive than most people realize. With an under budgeted project, you well end up with incomplete/unusable programs.
Look for a company with experience in your field. Programmer(s) having experience working in your field of business, well help avoid many of the misunderstanding in designing and developing the programs.
Avoid the temptation to use the first programmer you find. The person is a programmer and they know more about computers than you, so they must be good? Wrong. Check out their previous work and experience. If this is a big job make sure that they have worked on jobs at least this size.
Avoid selecting the cheapest programmer. Price should not be used to determine which programmer you should use. You need to look at their qualifications.
Try to find someone locally, then expand your search. to state-wide, nation-wide. Face-to-face communications can be helpful, when problems arise.
Limit the job to be as small as possible. This will reduce the expenses finding out if this programmer can do the job and whether you can work with them.
Ask your business associates about their experiences. If your business associates have had custom programming done, they have horror stories. Take note of the problems they had, and make plans to avoid them.
Let your experience with people tell you if you get along with this person or company. Does this company seem professional to you? If there is a problem, do you think you can sit down with them and maturely work it out? Your experience with people is one of the most important things in finding a custom programmer.