Re: advice on current market database consulting rates

pheonix1t <dangeru98dousdt_at_ATsbcglobal.DOTnet> wrote in message news:<3F650517.7030107_at_ATsbcglobal.DOTnet>...
> Daniel Morgan wrote:
>
> > pheonix1t wrote:
> >
> >> hello,
> >> I'm located in houston but also do work in other states when required.
> >> What are the typical consulting rates for doing oracle work in the
> >> southwest area of the country? The figure I've been quoted was $125
> >> per hour. (at least in the houston area). But I just want to confirm
> >> this with a broader spectrum of people.
> >> Also, what are current for "fair" rates for microsoft access/sql
> >> consulting. I'm assuming access would be less than sql, but ms-sql
> >> would be around the same as oracle? Last summer I got $95 per hour
> >> for an Access project...but that was last summer! Has the market
> >> changed a lot since then? Basically..should I adjust my rates?
> >> My friend in nyc said the consulting firm he works at bills out at
> >> $175 per hour...but that is in NYC.

The difference between a consultant and a contractor: the consultant got $175 an hour once.

I range from $53 to $120, but then again, I get lots of hours and undercut everybody else by not splitting it. Of course, Daniel probably wouldn't hire me :-)

> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >>
> >> Oskar
> >>
> >> ps. Also, on longer projects (400 hours, for example), what are good
> >> rates to go down to? For example, if you got a $20k project, would
> >> going down to $75 per hour be prudent? Of course, it's best to just
> >> stay as high as possible, but today it's hard to get that anymore.
> >>
> > What are you smoking? $95/hr. for MS Access? Perhaps I should rephrase
> > my question. What were they smoking? And where can I get some for my
> > clients? If you can get half of that in Seattle for MS Access you should
> > laugh all the way to the bank.
> >
> > The other rates you quote are possible but without a clue as to your
> > skills and experience I wouldn't pay you minimum wage. What do you bring
> > to the table?
> myself: I'm an NYU graduate, info. systems. 12 years experience,

"I go to NYU" - Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex.

> operating systems (hpux, solaris, windows (9x, NT, 2k), linux (suse,
> redhat), oracle 7.3, 8/9i, ms-access/sql (7/2k).
> scripting (unix and windows). Heavy mail server experience (unix and
> windows). My "weak spot" is development.

Most growth is development.

>
> my friend who works with me: princeton graduate (originally law, but
> changed to Comp. Science), 20 years of experience, same skill-set as
> me...but add ibm db2, java, heavy development experience with windows
> and unix (vb, asp, java, .net, cold-fusion). Also cisco IOS. He's
> what I aspire to!
>
> so....I have to lower the rates for access, and probably sql server.
> oracle can also be lowered a bit but still stick around 100? Around
> houston a lot of the "consultant" shops charge 125 for work that doesn't
> include programming (just technical work - cisco, windows, etc)! I do
> it for 75 and we've been pretty busy. (but we are new...5 years in
> business, 2 in houston, 5 in nyc) I just want to get a good idea for
> making long term "package" deals/maintenance contracts for data centers.

Most companies that target such a market go under. Someone bigger can sell it cheaper.  

> We've built up a very good client base for references....now I want to
> go higher up the scale. We want to start marketing to companies that
> have good sized data centers.
> fyi, any web development work is passed off to a friend's consulting
> company that specializes in this stuff....based in nyc, they have a team
> of 6.
> Also, what is good way to get sales lists/leads for companies with
> enterprise class databases? I've been going to chambers of commerce and
> BNI meetings....this has brought in work so far, but it's very time
> consuming to get business from a chamber of commerce membership. Just
> wondering if there is a quicker way....

That's funny, I get all sorts of spam claiming to list those companies. Huh, if non-Oracle people don't get it, it must be good.

*snarl* stay away from my customers *snarl*.

jg

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