MS Access Database

[acfbobcat]

Hi All,

I'm paying a freelance database designer to create a database for me that involves some coding and design work in MS Access. His fee is $80.00 / hour.

Is this unreasonably high or is this normal for this type of work? Any comments would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[Joe4]

Where is the world do you live? It will vary not only by country, but by city as well.

If you are in the USA, I would say that rate appears to be pretty good, maybe even a little on the low side.

Maybe some people who do consulting work can chime in...

 

[SydneyGeek]

It depends on the developer's skills and who the client is. My hourly rate is less than that for individuals and non-profits, more for corporates.
But in the end, value for money comes down to the quality of the work. If the developer does a good job and meets or exceeds your expectations, it's a fair price. Otherwise you paid too much, whatever the price.

Denis

 

[Andrew Fergus]

Hi and welcome to MrExcel!

Some good points so far, but it also comes back to what you are prepared to pay. If you aren't prepared to pay that rate then it is too high, but if you are then it is ok. Remember that you get what you pay for, so if you want a cheaper developer, then you can't necessarily expect the same quality of work. Plus the more experienced developers should be able to complete tasks relatively quicker - so you should also look at the total cost of the project, not just the hourly rate.

Just my opinion...
Andrew

 

[Richard Schollar]

I agree with Andrew (and Denis and Joe) that it is the total cost that's important - is your developer working to an overall budget/project cost? If so, is there an agreement in place to handle any potential cost overruns? I think you should be having regular meetings with your developer where you can monitor the progress to date.

As an aside, if this guy is experienced (Andrew and Denis can corroborate this if I am correct) then it is likely he will have a lot of stock code/database templates that he has already created so that what he is doing for you is basically tweaking his existing material to work in the way you want. This probably means he can provide a reasonably accurate estimate of the time it will take him to put the project together. I wouldn't expect this to mean he will give you a cheap deal (he's had to put the time in to create his existing material) but he should be able to provide a reliable estimate.

 

[Andrew Fergus]

Some fair comments Richard except with this point...

This probably means he can provide a reasonably accurate estimate of the time it will take him to put the project together.

...I often find the client doesn't know what they want so the list of requirements / requests keeps growing. As you expose the client to more and more functionality/information, they often want more and more features which weren't part of the original project. It is important for both parties to agree on a project scope before commencement and to allow for some degree of flexibility in case the needs / requirements change.

Just an observation....

Andrew

 

[Richard Schollar]

Yes that's a good point Andrew - projects frequently suffer drift in scope as they proceed...

 

[SydneyGeek]

I have found that changing scope can overwhelm a project, so my usual approach is to
1. Agree on a scope / specification
2. Give the client a fixed price to get to that stage. This is a point where the database is usable but doesn't have all the final features in place.
3. Once they are happy with the first phase, let them use it for a couple of weeks. This helps them to clarify what they need, and also opens up other possibilities.
4. Any further work is done at an agreed hourly rate.

Denis

 

[syswizard]

It depends on the developer's skills and who the client is. My hourly rate is less than that for individuals and non-profits, more for corporates.
But in the end, value for money comes down to the quality of the work. If the developer does a good job and meets or exceeds your expectations, it's a fair price. Otherwise you paid too much, whatever the price.

Denis

Interesting rate setting methodology. It does make sense however.
In the USA right now, Access/Excel VBA programmers can only get $40-50 USD max thru the agencies. Apparently they are marking-up these rates to about $70-80 USD and pocketing the difference.
You guys who go "direct" are making out like bandits in comparison !

 

[Andrew Fergus]

In the USA right now, Access/Excel VBA programmers can only get $40-50 USD max thru the agencies. Apparently they are marking-up these rates to about $70-80 USD and pocketing the difference.
You guys who go "direct" are making out like bandits in comparison !

It is the same here in New Zealand. Going direct is much more lucrative. If you simply say 'no' to the agencies, who else are they going to employ? If I got a job through the agency I would negotiate the rate up - if they squealed then I invited them to seek someone else who could do the job as well and as quickly and who could start on such short notice. The clients never complained, it was always the agencies trying to squeeze every drop out of each job......I would end up getting the jobs anyway, and if you are good enough, often the clients would ask if they could cut the agent out of the loop. So long as the end client is happy then that is all that matters.

Andrew