2.5 months of work and nothing

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

So I spent a month or so hardcore writing an employee directory and asset management program for my company. I told them this would be in PHP MySQL. They let me test stuff on an external web server (my own) and IT said they would setup everything in the end.

Obviously I can't setup the MySQL myself and I wuoldn't want to because we run support off of it. The idea was to get a new process of MySQL running so we could install the intranet stuff there but no one did it. IT trie dto get someone else to do it, but they never got it done.

Guess what. I'm leaving this Friday, and so everything I programmed went to waste. Gone. Good friggn game.

Ok, well some of the other non MySQL stuff I've done has gone live, but the chunk of my programming has gone to waste??

 

[robothouse77]

too bad...at least you could put it on yer resume

 

[Accipiter22]

so they paid you for basically nothing?

 

[mitmot]

free money. take the program elsewhere and have the new company pay big bucks for it

 

[FoBoT]

keep a copy of your source code.

 

[radioouman]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
keep a copy of your source code.

 

[tami]

if it's good, yeah, keep a copy of that source code and sell it to someone.

 

[MrKneecap]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
keep a copy of your source code.

Err... Isn't that the property of the company he worked for? I know taking copies of documents at my job is a major no-no, being trade secrets and all. Maybe programming is different.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I did the same thing. On my last ship, all of the files that everyone used were scattered all over the LAN, and I created web page to organize and load everything, and I didn't get a single thing for it. Granted your stuff was on a much bigger scale and all, but I know how you feel nonetheless...
Tas.

 

[doze]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Ok, well some of the other non MySQL stuff I've done has gone live, but the chunk of my programming has gone to waste??

Did you get paid for it? If so then how is it waste to you? just because it wasn't implemented does not mean that you cannot use it in a resume or portfolio.

 

[Jeraden]

I know how you feel. I've never spent 2.5 months on particular projects, but frequently I spend a good week on something and it never gets implemented. Usually because the requestor has decided they didn't need it afterall.

 

[SagaLore]

Take the code with you and resell it.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: MrKneecap

Originally posted by: FoBoT
keep a copy of your source code.

Err... Isn't that the property of the company he worked for? I know taking copies of documents at my job is a major no-no, being trade secrets and all. Maybe programming is different.

i didn't say anything about using the exaxt same code again.

but having it to refer to in the future should be ok since he wrote it.
i dunno, keep it anyway

 

[Pepsi90919]

Obviously I can't setup the MySQL myself and I wuoldn't want to because we run support off of it.

obviously?

 

[nakedfrog]

I spent about a year on one project, that due to some horrible mismanagement, never worked properly and would never work properly. But we had to keep trying as long as the client wanted... that was one of the few things I've ever worked overtime on.
Far from being unhappy that it was essentially a waste, I was relieved to have the albatross gone. I wish the people in charge hadn't essentially let the client dictate the database design (and this was an editor or something), and was disgusted at the usage of a heirarchal dB structure when it would have been so much more appropriate to have used a relational structure.

 

[cyberhap]

Sorry, but why didn't they buy an off-the-shelf package for something like asset management? It would have been cheaper than your 2.5 month salary.

 

[BoberFett]

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. To me, this kind of thing is related to the other IT thread here right now http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=38&threadid=1666194&enterthread=y. The bean counters think IT is a waste to spend money on, and it's partly due to things like this. And situations like this are solely due to the incompetence of management and their complete lack of respect for anything IT related. In my experience anyway.

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: cyberhap
Sorry, but why didn't they buy an off-the-shelf package for something like asset management? It would have been cheaper than your 2.5 month salary.

Again, just my experience, but sometimes trying to fit an off the shelf package to a particular companies needs can take just as long as trying to write something from scratch. It all depends on how expandable and well designed (or ill conceived and buggy) the OTS package is. All it takes to waste a month of work and end up having to write it from scratch anyway is to find out that there's an undocumented limit of 127 items in some list and you need 128.

 

[cyberhap]

I agree with you BoberFett, whether to create or buy is something that needs addressed at the project start. With something like a asset management package (which I'm assuming is a Fixed Asset System, but I could be wrong), there are 2-3 ots' that 99.9% of US companies could get away with using.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: MrKneecap

Originally posted by: FoBoT
keep a copy of your source code.

Err... Isn't that the property of the company he worked for? I know taking copies of documents at my job is a major no-no, being trade secrets and all. Maybe programming is different.

I did intranet junk. I did asset tracking programs and employee directory (facebook-like) junk. Not too top secret I think.

And yes I got paid for it. I've already spent like 1/2 of my money on my new system =P.

Muhahaha, but I just feel so bad that my work has gone to waste.

 

[DAGTA]

Take a copy of the source code with you to use for reference in the future. However, DO NOT attempt to sell that code. If you want to finish the project, go ahead and do so on your own time and then sell it, but make sure it is very different than the code you left with when you sell it.

You were paid to develop that code for a company. That company owns it. If you attempt to sell it, as is, they can and SHOULD sue you.

 

[AccruedExpenditure]

Originally posted by: DAGTA
Take a copy of the source code with you to use for reference in the future. However, DO NOT attempt to sell that code. If you want to finish the project, go ahead and do so on your own time and then sell it, but make sure it is very different than the code you left with when you sell it.

You were paid to develop that code for a company. That company owns it. If you attempt to sell it, as is, they can and SHOULD sue you.

=(

 

[theNEOone]

i'm actually quite happy that i don't know wtf any of that means.


=|

 

[MaxDepth]

Originally posted by: DAGTA
Take a copy of the source code with you to use for reference in the future. However, DO NOT attempt to sell that code. If you want to finish the project, go ahead and do so on your own time and then sell it, but make sure it is very different than the code you left with when you sell it.

You were paid to develop that code for a company. That company owns it. If you attempt to sell it, as is, they can and SHOULD sue you.

Yup. But since you are the original author, you can take credit and build modules from the source. Then sell off the modules if you want.