[thelist] Do they know what they are doing?

[the head lemur]

> It just seems, from what I'm hearing everywhere, that the complete
> solution providers (as opposed to the technical specialists) have an
> extremely high proportion of people who don't really know what they are
> doing> I'm not stating this as a fact. I'm just looking for confirmation
as to
> whether this proposition is true or false (with maybe an anecdote or two
> thrown in).

peter,
your suspicions are correct.

"complete solution providers" is an oxymoron.


sales will tell you anything to get you to sign
marketing will require sales to do anything to sign
the buzzword weinie will fill you with buzzwords to get you to sign
they like to do meetings,lunch and golf.

i have yet to find a 'complete solution provider'
that performs due diligence in terms of :
what the client wants to do,
who the competition is,
what the market size is,
if the product/service requires all the toys they wanna sell.
If a website is the proper venue for the product and service.
(i believe that everyone can benefit from a website, but i am also not blind
to the fact that some marketing efforts are better conducted in your face)


i get cruised by these folks on an annoyingly regular basis
the email: saw your site! we are a complete solution provider and would like
to offer/work with you.

the phone call: saw your site!
we are a complete solution provider and would like to offer/work with you.

upon interrogation, the mailer/caller is working from a script, has no idea
what website they are supposed to be talking about, and when asked why did
you call/mail me since you are a "complete solution provider", the answer is
the dreaded pregnant pause.........


everyone on this list has a specialty, color, form, function, design,
database, or in my case raving lunacy.

a complete solution provider will
hold your hand
perform due diligence in terms of :
what the client wants to do,
who the competition is,
what the market size is,
if the product/service requires all the toys they wanna sell.
if a website is the proper venue for the product and service

If a website is indicated, then
will build it with the minium neccessary to do the job, with an outline
based on return, not assumptions, projections or delusions of grandeur, of
more elaborate architecture and clear requirements for implementation.

also all of the details that are required pre-launch, and post launch
followup,
code ,graphics, submission, tracking, reporting, updates,
regular contact with the client,
information focused on the clients industry,
regular re- checking of code ,graphics, submission, tracking, reporting,
updates, etc.
(HTML specs. and browsers are both moving targets.)

"complete solution provider" war stories
=====================================
website company doing makeover:
no meta tags
no alt tags
no text navigation
 submission by submitting until bounced
theory here is then they know how many pages to submit
Then they charged the client 5000 clams for this service!
==========================================
solution provider charged 125,000 clams for proposal creation alone
(non recoupable)
============================================
DSL solution provider
one router for broadcast
router crashes
all customers down
(no Backups)
====================
website solution provider
issues press release
glowing account of accessibility features on new site!
site has 72 images
no alt tags
no text links
no text version
( i called designer and client- revising on going- 3 months on going)
====================

there are more but these stand out.

the head lemur-alan herrell
http://www.lemurzone.com
Member Evolt.org
http://www.evolt.org
Member Web Standards Project
http://www.webstandards.org