[Hidden-tech] Pioneer Valley Software Development Process SurveyResults

[Chris Hoogendyk]

Edbride-PR wrote:
> Understood, and I suspect that many of these are self-employed, so the
> survey might not have been directed to them. That is, one of the criteria
> for completing the survey was the employment of three or more developers in
> the shop; that's why I wondered about the makeup of HT.

Just as points of reference -- when I worked at Specular in Amherst, 
there were maybe 6 or 8 full time programmers, but the overall 
infrastructure of a commercial software company with mature products in 
the consumer and professional market meant that the company had about 50 
employees.

Prior to that, when I worked at Laserpoint Software in Ludlow, the 
staffing statistics were somewhat similar, although their product 
configuration was quite different. They sold CAD systems and sizable 
hardware that ran with them (laser die cutters, large bed plotters and 
sample makers for the consumer product packaging industry).

So, a commercial software company with at least 3 real full time 
programmers would be a company of possibly 10 to 20 employees, depending 
on what they were doing. It could also be a smaller company that had a 
more limited or less mature market. But, as soon as you start adding in 
accountants, book keepers, managers, receptionist, shipping staff, 
technical support, product testing, marketing, . . . you get the point. 
It's not exactly "Hidden Tech" at that point.

But then there's the whole spectrum of smaller stuff. I'm full time 
employed, but I'm also looking toward being able to support myself in 
retirement as well as augmenting my income now. So I do part time 
consulting with a software company in California that's involved in 
commercial support for open source software. Maybe that will grow over 
time. Maybe it will lead to other things. But it sort of fits the 
smallest scale of the "Hidden Tech". It's extra income working out of my 
home over a broadband connection with my own computers.


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Chris Hoogendyk

-
   O__  ---- Systems Administrator
  c/ /'_ --- Biology & Geology Departments
 (*) \(*) -- 140 Morrill Science Center
~~~~~~~~~~ - University of Massachusetts, Amherst 

<hoogendyk at bio.umass.edu>

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Erdös 4