Do my homework, LJ!

[rivka]

I'm Googling around trying to find an answer to this question, but it occurred to me that some of my friends probably have the information at their fingertips.

What's a fair hourly rate to pay a database engineer to write a script that pulls information from an already-established database? He estimates that the task will be "easy" and will take a few hours' work, less than a day.

Comments

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition, estimates the median annual salary of a Computer Software Engineer doing Management, scientific, and technical consulting services at $78,850, or about $38/hour.

If you look under Computer Scientists and Database Administrators, Database Developer, has a range of $73,500-$103,000, or about $35-$50/hour.

[beaq.livejournal.com]

That's about the range that recently came up in discussion with some friends in web/software development. ~$50 is M$ rates.

[beaq.livejournal.com]

(in response to lj-janetmiles)

[wcg.livejournal.com]

$60 per hour.

[txobserver.livejournal.com]

It is not appropriate to figure a consulting rate by dividing an annual salary by the number of full time work hours in a year. Consulting software engineers have to pay their own social security and benefits, maintain an office and their eqpmt and professional development. Also they don't work 40 hours a week for pay...they have to spend time talking to people like you and bidding for work. So I would say $75/hr is a minimum hourly rate you should expect to pay.

[txobserver.livejournal.com]

Also, the rate would be likely to vary for very short jobs (like this) versus hiring someone for an extended engagement. Obviously if you are giving someone 12 weeks of work, $50/hr is more realistic, because they haven't had to spend 5 hours to get a 2 hour piece of work. If you have a lot of work like this example, you might consider a retainer arrangement guaranteeing a day or two a month, and suggest a lower rate for that.

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

You might want to look at a lump-sum billing instead. Find someone who comes well-recommended, and offer him a flat fee to write the script and make sure it works to your satisfaction. Your available budget will of course be the ultimate limiting factor, but I'd be surprised if an offer around $300 wouldn't get the job done.

There's some degree of paperwork involved, and the University may have some people already vetted and in their system, which could minimize *your* level of paperwork. Does it have to be done by a database engineer, or could someone with a less-lofty pedigree do the job just as well?

[rivka.livejournal.com]

It's helpful to get this rundown of facts to consider, thanks.

I am hiring the guy who, I think, put the database together and maintained it for a while. The clinic had him on retainer, and since then they've had to cut back and only use him for super-essential things, among which my project doesn't qualify. So he's already familiar with the system and the people involved, and isn't having to bid on the project or anything. Nonetheless, point taken that consultants have to pay all their own overhead.

[bosssio.livejournal.com]

You didn't mention three key factors - language/script (i.e. php, java, .NET), output requirements (HTML, excel, PDF), and database (Oracle, Mysql, sql server). The combination of the three will significantly impact price.

Andy gets paid between $95 and $110 an hour to do this sort of work. He is probably a lot higher level than what you need, however. $75 an hour is not unreasonable in DC metro - you might get cheaper in Baltimore, however. I would look for someone who is doing this as a side gig - they usually charge less b/c it is not their main source of income.

Most contracts are hourly rate/expected LOE with cap - i.e. $75 per hour for 40 hours, billed based on actual time spent. You will not get an invoice for under the cap, btw.

Some people will take a FFP contract but only if they are very familiar with the requirements (i.e. have seen the database, very familiar with the output requirements, etc).

[dragon3.livejournal.com]

Something that small on a research grant I would just handle casually, as in "Hey Joe, what would it cost to do this?" "$350? OK, please do it and I'll run your invoice through the system." I don't know if your system will let you do that, but remember that the overhead cost exists on both sides of the fence and the time you spend figuring out what to pay him and how, is also time *you* don't have for doing useful stuff.

[txobserver.livejournal.com]

Since Rivka apparently has a person available who already knows the schema and the surronding infrastructure, she should just ask how much he would charge, and if it isn't outrageous, let him do it. Anyone else will spend more time getting used to the environment and take more of Rivka's time trying to optimize the last $100 of the contract cost. Not a good investment, in my view.

As a consultant, it is my experience that people spend too much time thinking about the hourly rate and not enough time thinking about the total cost. A more experienced resource may do the job in half the time. In this case, it sounds like what is wanted is well defined and thus well suited to a fixed price. Write down a detailed description of what's wanted, make it the "Statement of Work", and get him to tell you a fixed price. If it's under $500 you are wasting your time doing any more than this. Otherwise, send it to one or two other trusted people and pick the lowest bid.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Nod. A lump sum, for a decent hourly rate for a reasonable number of hours, can work out really well.

But before doing this, I'd advise you to be sure you can define the problem carefully. It'd be lousy for both of you if the problem was completed, and then found to be incorrectly defined, so it requires a rewrite.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

It's not that I want to shop around, it's that the head of the clinic asked me how much I was willing to pay the guy, and I didn't have the faintest idea of what to say.

I have subsequently done what I should've done in the first place, which is call my grant's financial administrator and ask her to find out how much he charges and set it up.

[laurarey.livejournal.com]

I hire subcontractors a lot for my business. I've now switched from an hourly rate to a fixed price. If it's a one day job..say 6 hours of actual work, then I'd expect to pay around $300-$400, depending on the experience level of the person involved. It would also matter what kind of database and what tools are installed...and how clear the specifications are for what data needs to be retrieved.

[laurent-atl.livejournal.com]

I would try and find out what this particular person usually charges for that sort of things. As other have mentioned hourly rates for very small jobs like that are not a very practical way to estimate things, but I think $75/hr is a reasonable starting point.