Enterprise Software without the BS An ongoing politically incorrect e-book Yakov Fain Last updated: June 2008 Enterprise Software Without the BS by Yakov Fain Copyright © 2008 Yakov Fain. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or by any, without permission in writing from the publisher. Cover design and illustrations: Yuri Fain Editor: Joey Azoulai April 2008: First Electronic Edition The information in this book is distributed without warranty. Neither the author nor the publisher shall have any liability to any person or entitle to any liability, loss or damage to be caused directly or indirectly by instructions contained in this book or by the computer software or hardware products described herein. Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Windows is a trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other product names and company names are the property of their respective owners. ISBN: 0-9718439-1-0 Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. 8 What’s this book about? .......................................................................................... 9 Part 1: Getting into IT ........................................................................................... 12 Do you want your child to be a programmer? .................................................. 13 What happened to enrollment in CS and IS ...................................................... 15 Out of college: the catch-22 situation ............................................................... 18 How to look for a job. Can you trust online postings? ..................................... 19 What real estate agents and recruiters have in common ............................... 20 How to pass a technical interview with flying colors ....................................... 21 Getting the interview..................................................................................... 21 Passing the interview .................................................................................... 22 Considering the offer .................................................................................... 24 Interviewing enterprise developers ................................................................... 25 Give a second chance ........................................................................................ 28 And he hung up during the interview ............................................................... 30 Your first Employer .......................................................................................... 31 An unofficial history of programming – ’95 - present ...................................... 33 Part 2. Living in IT ................................................................................................ 37 Some recommendations to young developers ................................................... 38 Managing your software development career ................................................... 39 When to take a new job ................................................................................. 40 Rules of resignation ...................................................................................... 40 Who are these IT contractors, anyway? ............................................................ 43 Work as an employee or a contractor? .......................................................... 45 Comparing the incomes ................................................................................ 47 Another Brick in the wall ...................................................................................... 51 Polyglot programmers minus SQL ................................................................... 56 Why hire an IT contractor ................................................................................. 59 Will high-paid contractors become extinct? ..................................................... 61 Living with outsourcing .................................................................................... 62 Corporate IT training ........................................................................................ 64 Who Is Teaching ........................................................................................... 65 Finding quality training................................................................................. 66 Enjoy your technical conference ................................................................... 68 The cost of attending a technical conference ................................................ 69 How comfy is your cubicle? ............................................................................. 72 S/he or cherchez la femme .................................................................................... 75 Sexism, women and IT ......................................................................................... 76 Arranged marriages in IT .................................................................................. 78 The honeymoon ............................................................................................ 78 The family life (a.k.a. corporate politics) ..................................................... 78 The family budget ......................................................................................... 80 Divorce is not an option ................................................................................ 80 Increase your visibility ...................................................................................... 81 Manage your manager ................................................................................... 81 Have you published your book yet? .............................................................. 81 Outsourcing ....................................................................................................... 94 The world is round ........................................................................................ 94 What CIO should know about outsourcing ................................................... 96 Ten tips on dealing with offshore developers ............................................... 99 Dead souls from overseas ........................................................................... 101 Outsourcing to students............................................................................... 103 Soviet Programmers .................................................................................... 106 And Pedro said, “Move over, Ravi!” .......................................................... 110 Visiting an offshore training camp for programmers ................................. 111 Lack of management in outsourcing ........................................................... 113 Me goes to America! ................................................................................... 115 What a country!............................................................................................... 116 My H1B story ............................................................................................. 118 Are H1B workers abused? .......................................................................... 120 Have I taken your job? ................................................................................ 122 How to select a software vendor for your next project .................................. 126 What’s your salary? ........................................................................................ 129 Underpaid? Quit! ............................................................................................ 133 Overpaid? Hardly ............................................................................................ 135 Poor advice to laid-off people ......................................................................... 136 Is life in startups any different than in corporations? ..................................... 138 Why people work overtime ............................................................................. 141 SOA, RIA and the Human factor .................................................................... 145 SOA Ground Up ......................................................................................... 145 SOA Top Down .......................................................................................... 146 SOA as a burner .......................................................................................... 147 SOA Maturity.............................................................................................. 147 Technical Benefits of SOA ......................................................................... 149 ESB Infrastructure ...................................................................................... 150 To SOA or not to SOA................................................................................ 152 Making Business Users Happy ................................................................... 154 SOA+RIA ................................................................................................... 154 Agility is a tough sell in enterprises ................................................................ 157