Cowboys and punks

I've always struggled with the use of "Cowboy" as a term of derision for unqualified/unprofessional trades people. 

My childhood was dotted with John Wayne Westerns, where the Cowboy was the hero, followed closely by the preacher and the law.  And one would think that in a country of "settlers" we'd have embraced the term.  Why do we never hear something like -  don't use that plumber, he's a bloody "settler".

Another frustration with its use is that it is so easily abused. Large corporates love the term - to dismiss any smaller entity as a "Cowboy" is such an easy ruse, easily tarring anyone without their economic clout and political connections - regardless of the quality of the work.

But semantics aside, like it or not, "Cowboy" is the term in general use to describe an amatuer or unprofessional business provider - typically small business provider.

In IT the term, if not the word itself, certainly has a place.  We IT professionals work hard at our craft and enjoy the creativity and freedom it provides to prove ourselves. But were we to spend a similar amount of time and effort following a duller more conservative profession like accounting, law, or even as building engineers - we'd find ourselves protected and our pay rates kept in track with inflation.

Like it or not, IT is akin to the Wild West, where good money can be made over the short term, but where profit yields are hard to sustain over the longer term - the reason? Little or no regulation.

What does that mean to consumers of say web development/hosting services?  Should they always use a "larger" firm?  We'd argue not, and below are a few simple checks you should make before engaging someone's services.

 

  1. Do they have a professional qualification?  This is not a mandatory requirement. In IT some of the best people are self trainined. But taking the effort to get a qualification indicates at the very least commitment to their craft, and a good qualifaction will cover aspects of software engineering that the self taught genius will simply not get exposed to when working alone.

  2. How robust are their release and change management practices? Do they maintain seperate development, testing and production environments? Do they ensure customer sign off before making releases? Do they make unapproved/untested changes to a live production enviroment?

  3. How robust are their development practices? Do they insist on a robust design process? Do they keep all software artifacts under strict version control. Do they document their changes? Are they able roll back versions? Do they respect the intellectual property rights of the client?

  4. What is the quality of their code like? Is it clean and easily read by the next provider? Is it well architected? Do they use industry leading tools to ensure the long term value of your investment?
    (Of course establishing answers to these questions is not easy for the lay person, but they are worth keeping in mind).

  5. For hosting providers, do they use dedicated or shared hosting facilities? If shared, do they keep all their websites up to date with the latest security patches?  Do they monitor for rogue activites? Do they keep nightly backups of key files? Do they monitor security releases for their operating system, database, and Content Management systems? Do they guarantee the integrity of your sensitive data?

  6. If setting up domain name services, always ensure that the Registrant Details are correct? The amount of times I've seen poorly managed DNS configurations makes me shudder.

In summary, it is not the size of an organisation, it is their level of experience, and their commitment to quality,  Modern technoloy has allowed any fool to create quite complex websites with little to no formal training.  But are they secure? Can they be maintained or taken over by someone else? What if they hit a particularly complex problem?

They may promise the world and appear cheap.  But quality and peace of mind comes at a price.  Here at Bluff IT we try to do everything right.  We take our craft very seriously as professional engineers, and treat you the client as the most important person there is.  We don't make savings by offering short cuts, rather we get things right the first time, and protect your investment by avoiding nasty surprised and providing a quality product.

Shame about the term Cowboys though - we need people in this industry that aren't afraid to innovate and find new ground!  Let's change the terminology, perhaps we can call the amatuers "Punks" instead!