Presented at CodepaLOUsa 2011 The economy is still tight. Companies continue to reduce costs across the board. With outsourcing and off-shoring achieving success, how can today’s in-house technical professional prove his value to the business? Technical expertise is valuable to product and technical management. However, it’s the understanding of the business and your role in generating revenue that’s invaluable. This presentation explains various techniques we can use to increase our business savvy and show we are providing value and not just an expense.

1. More Than Just A Commodity Presenter:Joe Kuemerle / @jkuemerle Session Number:212

2. Code PaLOUsa 2011 Sponsors

3. Code PaLOUsa 2011 Sponsors

4. Background of Joe Kuemerle Lead Developer at PreEmptive Solutions Over 15 years of development experience with a broad range of technologies Focused on application and data security, coding best practices and regulatory compliance Presenter at community, regional and national events.

5. Commodity Function: noun 1 : an economic good: as a : a product of agriculture or mining b : an article of commerce especially when delivered for shipment c : a mass-produced unspecialized product 2 : something useful or valued 3 : obsolete : quantity, lot 4 : a good or service whose wide availability typically leads to smaller profit margins and diminishes the importance of factors (as brand name) other than price 5 : one that is subject to ready exchange or exploitation within a market

6. Understanding If one does not understand a person, one tends to regard him as a fool. -Carl Jung

7. What’s on our mind?

8. What’s on the boss’s mind? $Revenue – $Cost = ?

9. Driving Factors What drives the boss What drives us Clean Architecture Automation Normalization 100% Coverage SOLID Elegant Patterns Dynamic Languages Compile without errors Craftsmanship …and so on… Dollars Deadlines Deliverables

10. Dollars

11. Deadlines

12. Deliverables “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” - Theodore Levitt

13. Communication http://www.thousandtyone.com/blog/UnderstandingSoftwareDevelopmentDisastersPart1.aspx http://www.thousandtyone.com/blog/UnderstandingSoftwareDevelopmentDisastersPart2.aspx

14. Self Catalog

15. Documentation

16. How does your boss perceive you?

17. Changing Perceptions

18. Visibility

19. Visibility

20. Know the Enemy Teammates

21. Know the Enemy Teammates

22. Politics

23. Professional Networking “You have not done a good enough job with professional networking if within 5 phone calls you would not land on your feet.” -Shawn Upchurch, Upsearch

24. Networking Events

25. Choices and Directions Developer Support Operations Database Quality Assurance Telecom Junior Mid Level Senior Architect Team Lead Manager Executive

26. Resources Career Tools: http://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts/career-tools Manager Tools: http://www.manager-tools.com/ Ask The Headhunter: http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/ Upsearch: http://www.upsearch.com/ Business of Software: http://blog.businessofsoftware.org/ From 9 till 2: http://www.from9till2.com Esther Derby: http://www.estherderby.com Management Straight Talk: http://mgtstr8talk.wordpress.com/ NOOP.NL: http://www.noop.nl/ Five Whys: http://5whys.com/

27. @jkuemerle / joe at kuemerle.com http://www.speakerrate.com/jkuemerle

28. Photo Credits http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-cbi/3253086344 http://www.flickr.com/photos/66164549 http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonbisson/156901708 http://www.flickr.com/photos/buck82/129408997 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pressure_points.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/phauly/236340065 http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheilaellen/111377949 http://www.flickr.com/photos/wing-mui/389171028 http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/delivery.png http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dragon_boats_crossing_finish_line_at_2008_SFIDBF_09.JPG http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/DOE_Org_Chart.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnygoldstein/3752101709/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/hopemeng/3708216109/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/killermonkeys/128619313 http://www.flickr.com/photos/colinkinner/2200500024/