Google today announced a new certification program for development agencies.
The idea behind the program is to recognize agencies that “have undergone the required training and have demonstrated excellence in building Android applications,” a Google spokesperson tells us.
In total, 13 agencies in India, Russia, U.K. and U.S. have already been certified since Google first announced its plans for this program last December. These agencies work with both large enterprise clients and startups.
While Google notes that it does “not endorse, or offer any warranty, regarding the certified agencies,” the idea here is obviously to highlight some of the agencies that Google itself considers among the best in the ecosystem (and that use Google’s technologies, too). While the focus here is on Android apps, Google tells me that the program also includes support for agencies that work on web apps, too.
“The Agency Program is an effort by Google’s Developer Relations team to work closely with development agencies around the world and help them build high quality user experiences,” Google’s global lead for the agency program Uttam Kumar Tripathi writes today.
Google will provide certified agencies with personalized training, dedicated content, priority support and access to the company’s developer relations teams. Certified Agencies will also get early access to upcoming developer products and help with UX reviews.
How do I get started doing contract work as a software developer, and how does it even work? I've 10 years of experience but I know nothing else but full time employment. Unless I get in the Valley, I don't think I will never be satisfied with my salary, and specially the amount of work and time required. Sounds selfish, but you need to understand I've been in leadership positions for the past 3 jobs and I don't seem to have a lot of room beyond that to see the unseen if I continue on this path. I work remotely so I might not be getting the full deal, but is the way that I prefer it and logistics will make it stay that way for a while. I wonder if switching to what appears to have more flexible times in contract work would at least take me to my current salary (~6k/mo) without spending at least so much time on it, as I assume rates tend to be much higher. If it would, how do I even get started? I've an active Github profile and know few freelancing sites (maybe even the wrong kind of sites), but other than that I've no idea where to begin. Pointers as well as experiences more than welcome. Thanks.
I never made it to 6k/mo before giving up on contracting. A few years ago I quite my job at Adobe in San Francisco to travel and thought I might as well try contracting while I'm at it. My logic was it would keep my skills fresh and if I didn't have work, hey, I can just enjoy the cool places I'm visiting that much more. A year ago I folded up the contracting business to just do my own thing... may my own "app"... 'cause I'm super original. :) I consider it a failure, but the kind of failure one is supposed to have in life to prove that you're pushing yourself. So I'll give a few places why I failed, which won't 100% answer your questions, but kinda will.
(1) Starting a new business is not a part time endeavor.
My plan to travel and build a contracting business in between was doomed from the start. One has to be dedicated and willing to work *extra* hours to build a successful business.
(2) Contracting is about contacts. It can't be done well in isolation.
I was in Europe 9 hours ahead of my contacts in San Francisco and 6 ahead of those in NYC/Boston. This just generally makes business relationships hard. Meanwhile, friends who had quit their jobs to start their own company and stayed local were getting pounded with offers for contracting work. They were being seen. Often from fellow small businesses in the same co-working location. Or just friends of friends they get to talking with on weekends. You say you work remotely, too. I've found that there is a little lack of trust for remote workers, and there is also for contractors. Put the two together and no one wants to take a risk on you.
(3) It's not so easy to cut out the middle man.
Software Engineers can get contracted out to companies for roughly a bazillioooon dollars an hour. And we know this as well as the fact that we are the only ones *doing* any work for the client, so why can't we just make the bazillion ourselves?
Ok, we don't simplify it that much. But that's roughly the idea when wanting to do your own contracting business. We also know that we engineers are smarter than your average middle manager, so we can do their jobs, too. No problem!
In the end we underestimate how much time goes into finding clients, building relationships with them, answering their asinine questions, setting up the contract, so after all that the engineer can show up and do her thing. As well as refining your image as reliable, expert, valuable, and all that goes into branding a company.
This crap will easily take half your time. And it's mostly not billable.
(4) You need to attract a client who can afford you
One of my problems was I made no effort to all that mentioned above. I got all my jobs from a friend of a friend and these were mostly small companies. The work just found me, and that seemed cool. But software engineers are expensive. If I wanted to keep with it, I would get myself certified and set up to work as a government contractor (talk about bottomless pockets). The small clients who found me did not want to pay a software engineer rate. They couldn't pay that rate.
(5) No generalists welcome.
When someone hires a contractor they want an expert in X who will solve their immediate problem with X. I had a hard time with this. I'm a software engineer with a computer science degree and years of experience doing all kinds of software related work. I had always worked at big companies and I was used to being expected to learn a little for any project. I also had a "I can solve any problem" mindset. Clients don't want a generalist (in my experience, maybe a more successful contractor would have another opinion), they want a specialist. And you can'y be a specialist in 20 things. You get one or two. So, you have to pick.
By contrast. I've recently gotten a bit of a reputation as a Web Designer -- which is kinda funny b/c I couldn't design my way out of a box. But I started throwing quick WordPress sites together for people I knew who needed a website (using lovely templates or "Themes"). These are real things that a person can see and understand. So clients tell their friends, "you need a webpage? Kait does webpages". As a general computer scientist / software engineer, I couldn't explain my abilities well enough that other people could sell for me. Having other people remember you and that you do X is so important b/c they remember and mention you when their friend talks about their problem with X.
And even though I don't want contracting work now, I've started doing this on the side. But I would never make 6k/mo with that, these clients just can't pay that. But while I'm making 0k/mo working on my own projects, it's a nice bit of pocket change.
Lessons learned.
So it was a failure, but I learned a lot. I was also reading and watching all I could on business at the time, which is handy now that I have a new business. Lynda is my favorite recourse: lynda.com library | Trial Subscription
You actual questions.
No, I don't think freelancing/contracting is a good way to make more money than you are now or about the same with less time.
No, contracting isn't really more "flexible". It's true as a contractor I didn't have to work any set hours. But I always had to reply to emails. It was more like being on call 24/7. The work and the threat of work never go away. I often had no work, but at the same time I couldn't confidently plan a vacation. A client could have an emergency at any time. And even more likely, after not having any work for weeks, suddenly this new job needs to be done NOW NOW NOW and I have to work crazy hours for weeks. During those weeks, I've no time to look for other clients, so as soon as this job is done, work's dry again.
Freelancing sites are mostly crowd sourcing. You may not feel like a commodity with your 10 years experience, but you will when you see kids, and people in other countries, and even experienced developers bidding on programming jobs for $7/hour. Seven! I made more than that as a lifeguard in high school.
Again, if I wanted to keep at it, I would go the government contracting route. All the info for that is at The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA dot GOV).
Summary
Again, I was a failure. I have to assume there are people who do this more successfully and they would probably give you a more positive answer. But I don't think I've even ever met a one-person-shop contractor making over 6k/mo. I think the only way to do that (especially working short hours, like you want) is to be the world renowned expert on some specific thing. And those I think are mostly old retired dudes who are the last left who still know X legacy technology. If you're making that money working from home now, I don't know of any way to get a situation significantly more comfy and flexible. Definitely not an easy way.
Best of luck ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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Know every one of the things? No chance! Here's the vital stuff.
What number of programming engineers are there? Millions! What's more, I'm speculating you are one in the event that you are understanding this. Indeed, the precarious part about picking five things to concentrate on is that there are such a variety of various types of you chipping away at such a large number of various activities, from versatile applications, to executioner databases and IOT devices, to huge base. What you'll read here is my thought on the things that are changing being a piece of programming advancement. Appreciate the accompanying and let me realize what else you believe will be imperative in 2016.
1. Flexible and secluded structures pick up force
Might I venture to solicit, have you gotten notification from microservices? (If not, Martin Fowler separates it for you.) Some parents believe that it's only another name for administration arranged designs (not I). No more should programming models be solid structures that should be fixed and constructed onto at your risk. Microservices separate your engineering into littler, free applications that can be consistently updated, changed out, and enhanced. Case in point, when one bit of your framework is being saddled, you can concentrate on shoring up its execution while alternate pieces relax. Presently, microservices are not the answer for each situation. I anticipate that the stone monument will be around for quite a while, as it can be the right approach. In any case, this year, it is particularly justified regardless of your opportunity to look at if microservices bode well for your organization.
O'REILLY SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE CONFERENCE 2016
Look at Building Microservices and The Principles of Microservices for some direction from Sam Newman or in the event that you are simply beginning, come to Mark Richards' Software Architecture: From Developer to Architect Training.
2. The consistent conveyance and organization transformation proceeds
Some individuals trust that microservices are the primary "DevOps" engineering. I concur, however the upheaval of DevOps goes a long ways past another design. It has been and will keep on being a distinct advantage for everybody who creates programming, from framework chairmen to programming engineers. From Chef to Kubernetes, a pack of new instruments to discharge, screen, and enhance programming applications has landed. Furthermore, if shipping programming early and frequently is the new typical, then everybody from the group pioneer to the discharge designer is influenced. Truth be told, the line amongst improvement and operations has viably been smirched to the point of being indistinguishable. In my perspective, this is all extraordinary news—programming doesn't need to be static, it can proceed to enhance (and is even anticipated that would) and there is a framework set up to make it so. What used to be a popular expression—DevOps—is presently a reality, though one that is as yet being tuned and refined. On the off chance that you haven't as of now, investigate what this implies for how your group is organized and how you can pick the best apparatuses for you.
Look at Effective DevOps, Kubernetes: Up and Running, and Programming for SysAdmins.
3. Programming advancement impacts the whole organization
Programming designers do as such a great deal more than create programming. They can be in charge of numerous things:
I could go on, however the fact I'm making here is not that you are the focal point of the world, yet that your work is fundamental to basically everything your association does. Making programming of any sort goes a long ways past ensuring the ideal Python code gets composed (however that is basic!). It implies creating an item that takes care of an issue, answers a need, or encourages an administration. Understanding and adding to the outline, advancement, and sending of programming that really succeeds for clients is a great deal more included and intense than just written work code. Venture up to that administration position this year.
Look at Hello, Startup and Beyond Blame for knowledge past coding.
4. The consideration and encouraging of reasonable open source ventures
Something I'll be contemplating this year is—the thing that happens now that open source has ended up pervasive? All product dialects, structures, and so forth are open source, so do we simply ease up on the gas? In the wake of talking with individuals who've been with open source subsequent to the starting, and in addition those new to it, plainly we can't simply say "Mission Accomplished." We have to keep on nourishing this group, characterize how both people and endeavors can best contribute and team up, and react to changes in the innovation environment that effect how open source programming is produced and kept up.
Look at these free reports as a beginning spot for some great level headed discussion.
5. Keep a decent adjust—The New Shiny versus Attempted and True
Here at O'Reilly we get exceptionally energized and diverted now and again, in all honesty, with "The New Shiny." The possibility of a developing dialect, to me, is just so cool. I consider how it mirrors the universe of programming today like Java and others never could.
On the other side, I want to consider how engineers manage legacy programming: when to update; considering if the COBOL code is alright as may be; and so forth. I was chatting with somebody as of late who said that NASA utilizes more seasoned programming design since, when you are floating past Pluto you either work or you don't—and well, we now have awesome pictures of Pluto. My point here—we will dependably have heaps of "New Shiny" methods, systems, dialects, and so on., yet bear in mind about the old standbys and how they can tackle your issues pretty much also, if worse, now and again.
