So with an increase in Linux consulting work coming my way and a finite number of hours in the day, I've taken to subcontracting and referring away work. Still, money grubbing capitalist that I am, I can't stand to let a business opportunity slip past unexploited, so I've been thinking about a low risk way of expanding to take on more work. I could go the normal route of hiring more employees, but then you have the risk of keeping them on the bench when times are slow. My idea is to keep a pool of freelancers that are paid on a per job basis. I will interview and test candidates to make sure they meet my standards, and then they will have access to a job server where they can sign in and claim particular tasks. It will all be telecommuting work, and access to client systems will be through a centralized server that will provide security and track time. I am basically basing this on an informal system that has been working quite well with my ISP clients. So what do the COLA regulars think of the idea? Would a bit of telecommuting freelance work interest you or anyone you know? Would the organization you work for ever consider tele-support of this kind? I've been bouncing the idea off a few business associates I know and the response has mostly positive, but I am interested in opinions wherever I can find them. Thad -- Yeah, I drank the Open Source cool-aid... Unlike the other brand, it had all the ingredients on the label.

thad05@tux.glaci.delete-this.com wrote: <snip> > So what do the COLA regulars think of the idea? Would a > bit of telecommuting freelance work interest you or anyone > you know? Would the organization you work for ever consider > tele-support of this kind? I've been bouncing the idea off > a few business associates I know and the response has > mostly positive, but I am interested in opinions wherever > I can find them. What kind of jobs do you have? Is it all C/kernel/embedded programming?

DFS <nospam@dfs_.com> wrote: > > What kind of jobs do you have? Is it all C/kernel/embedded programming? No, this would be mainly system admin type work. Stuff that I already mostly subcontract or refer away now that I have more than enough programming work to keep me busy. I already have two clients with a couple dozen servers between them. I would protoype the system with them and hopefully expand with additional clients as the system proves itself. Thad -- Yeah, I drank the Open Source cool-aid... Unlike the other brand, it had all the ingredients on the label.

* thad05@tux.glaci.delete-this.com fired off this tart reply: > I am basically > basing this on an informal system that has been working > quite well with my ISP clients. > > So what do the COLA regulars think of the idea? Would a > bit of telecommuting freelance work interest you or anyone > you know? Would the organization you work for ever consider > tele-support of this kind? I personally am too busy, and not qualified for system admin work, though like many Linux dudes, I do some ad hoc admin <grin>. Our company and customer both have their support infrastructures sent down from on high, and there's local dudes to fill in (sort of) the gaps. -- Tux rox!

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:31:24 -0600, thad05@tux.glaci.delete-this.com <thad05@tux.glaci.delete-this.com> wrote: > So with an increase in Linux consulting work coming my way and a > finite number of hours in the day, I've taken to subcontracting > and referring away work. Still, money grubbing capitalist that > I am, I can't stand to let a business opportunity slip past > unexploited, so I've been thinking about a low risk way of > expanding to take on more work. I could go the normal route > of hiring more employees, but then you have the risk of keeping > them on the bench when times are slow. > > My idea is to keep a pool of freelancers that are paid on a > per job basis. I will interview and test candidates to make > sure they meet my standards, and then they will have access > to a job server where they can sign in and claim particular > tasks. It will all be telecommuting work, and access to > client systems will be through a centralized server that > will provide security and track time. I am basically > basing this on an informal system that has been working > quite well with my ISP clients. > > So what do the COLA regulars think of the idea? Would a > bit of telecommuting freelance work interest you or anyone > you know? Would the organization you work for ever consider > tele-support of this kind? I've been bouncing the idea off > a few business associates I know and the response has > mostly positive, but I am interested in opinions wherever > I can find them. > > Thad I have done and still do that sort of thing, the company I work full time for now wouldn't do it, simply because we need onsite stuff, it's pretty dynamic here, (or I'd be spending more time telecommuting :) I don't know how well it would work as a service, but as a contractor, it works pretty well once you have a client base built up. The problems I run into are mostly that once you've "proven" yourself, the clients start to want you full time. After a while, the offers get too good :) I like consulting, but have been doing the full time thing for a couple years now, and it's ok too. The problem with outsourcing that stuff, at least at the admin level, is the ramp up time. Similar with bespoke programming, at least in my limited experience, but for some projects, it definately can work. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFHarV3d90bcYOAWPYRAkN6AKCdSd/vOGhCRO2d0SzBP2N9upelXQCdFjBj EgUmaWAL2Lph1OLreWvLYww= =CjuW -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Jim Richardson http://www.eskimo.com/~warlock Just because I'm moody doesn't mean you're not irritating

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:31:12 -0600, thad05@tux.glaci.delete-this.com <thad05@tux.glaci.delete-this.com> wrote: > DFS <nospam@dfs_.com> wrote: >> >> What kind of jobs do you have? Is it all C/kernel/embedded programming? > > No, this would be mainly system admin type work. Stuff that I > already mostly subcontract or refer away now that I have more > than enough programming work to keep me busy. I already have > two clients with a couple dozen servers between them. I would > protoype the system with them and hopefully expand with additional > clients as the system proves itself. > > Thad Most of the sysadmin tasks fall into 3 catagories. 1) Ongoing updates of core OS/Apps, easy to subcontract, easy for part time and telecommute. 2) Interfacing with Dev team for bespoke app developement. Not so easy to subcontract, and telecommute is okay if the devs already do, but generally, it's better onsite. 3) Putting out fires. This is the sticky one. I wouldn't want to be an on call admin for a couple of clients unless they are paying through the nose each time they call. On call is best done by making sure 1) is covered well, and that doesn't catch every thing. From the company perspective, it's difficult to get the level of trust in an on call responce, from a third party. It can be done, and is done by many, but it's an issue of concern. Here, I spend about 90% of my time on 1 and 2, balance varies, at the moment, we are making a lot of changes and straightening up some poor architecture choices of the past. 3 is what keeps my ear tuned to the on call phone when I have it, and my eyes on nagios when I don't :) I am pretty obsessive about that stuff, which is good I suppose. If you are aiming at picking up #3 stuff, make sure to get a good monitoring system up, something you can add new clients to easily. Nagios is my first choice, as I have been using it for years, but Zenoss gets some pretty good reviews, and by all accounts, is easier to add new systems for. Monitoring is *critical* and make sure your monitoring email/sms alerts don't rely on an exchange box... -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFHareUd90bcYOAWPYRAuslAKC/7BI3kuP/CkFudyhsscvwFsqSIwCgmsor 9KA9FVGmvLXi3g/IOgikq+U= =Go8R -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Jim Richardson http://www.eskimo.com/~warlock A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

Erik Funkenbusch <erik@despam-funkenbusch.com> wrote: > > Isn't that a security issue? I mean, in most companies, the information > you would want to keep "common" among your "freelancers" would contain > sensitive information that would usually be on a "need to know" basis. > > Making it "public" to everyone in your company would seem like a breach of > customers trust. Data is not made public to everyone. In our current implementation, various parts of the wiki are restricted to specific groups of users, and of course things like passwords are not kept in the knowlegebase. A freelancer would only gain access to server specific info when taking on admin responsibility for that server. We are also exploring ways of making the security much more granular, including use-once password systems and complete keylogging of all admin sessions (this is also useful for capturing solutions to dump into the knowledgebase). Of course it goes without saying that you still need to fully vet your freelancer candidates and cover your bases from an indemnity/ liability standpoint. Thad -- Yeah, I drank the Open Source cool-aid... Unlike the other brand, it had all the ingredients on the label.

Jerry McBride <jmcbride@mail-on.us> wrote: > > If you find it appropriate, could you apprise me of your final decision on > wiki software? I'd be very interested in what you decide. > > Thanks. Sure, I'll probably write up something on the entire suite of tools that we assemble and post it on my website. I'll let people know about it hear when I do. Thad -- Yeah, I drank the Open Source cool-aid... Unlike the other brand, it had all the ingredients on the label.