[thelist] developer ethics?

[Arlen.P.Walker at jci.com]

>Technically, the consultant filled the contract.  But... beyond going and
>hiring another consultant to fix the work, do you think the company should
>press the consultant to fix these issues at no extra cost or take some
other
>actions?

What's the contract say? If it's not in the contract, they can ask, but be
ready for the consultant to walk away. Perhaps the client wanted to
maintain the site themselves, so it was built with the same tool they'd be
using. Perhaps the client wanted it quickly, so the consultant bid
recognizing the time constraint and used a shortcut to get there. Lots of
reasons could apply; insufficient data for evaluation.

>Should independant, outside consultant approval become a norm in
>these times where companies are turning towards more and more freelancers
>instead of large consultancies?

No serious professional should have a problem with "second opinions." In
fact, it's commonplace in many business arenas for one consultant to be
hired to draw up the specs for a contract and then evaluate the performance
of the consultant/firm who gets the contract.

>  How would you feel if a company went to
>another consultancy to "verify" your work and would you consider that a
>worthwhile safeguard or a breach in confidence?

Neither. It's their perogative; they're paying for the second opinion, not
me. Sometimes third-parties are a pain in the butt (mostly because they
think they have to earn their fee by finding things wrong and won't be
satisfied no matter what you've done) but that's life. If *I'm* comfortable
with the work I've done, why should I care who else takes a look at it? You
take their findings, sit down with the client and explain just why and how
their watchdogs got it wrong, or admit they found something you missed and
take your lumps. It'd be nice if the client told you ahead of time this was
going to happen, as then you could arrange to build the time required for
this into the bid. If not, you mark it down for future reference when
dealing with this client so you'll know to build it in next time.

>If you did work that, upon
>immediately completing the work, the client wasn't happy with, what
actions
>would you take?  (keep in mind time == $$)

Wow, what an open-ended question. The only answer to that is one word:
depends. If pressed to expand on that, I'd say it depends upon what the
terms of the contract were, what the client isn't happy with, how much work
it'd be to fix it, how much more money could I earn from future contracts
with the client, and how big a pain the client was during the project.
(Hey, I'm human.) I think that covers it all.

The goal is complete satisfaction, but sometimes you have to cut your
losses and walk away.

Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 224

Arlen.P.Walker at JCI.Com
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In God we trust; all others must provide data.
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Opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.
If JCI had an opinion on this, they'd hire someone else to deliver it.