Choose a company from a region that specializes in what the company does?
I recently chose a programming company that was in an area that specialized in wine and small farms. I found that the skill of the programmer was quite good. However, the attitude about getting things done, and getting back to me was very lackidasical. Perhaps this is the culture of the area they are in which is famous for wine, and a great place to take a weekend away from home if you live in the big city. The area has wonderful family owned small farms with all types of produce. There are wonderful small restaurants, bars, seashores, oysters, and much more. Is it bad luck that I had bad luck with this company, or did I break a rule of life?
My last programming company was in suburban Los Angeles. The head programmer was quite good, and the boss was excellent. But, once again, they were not completely focused on programming, and had only two programmers. Now, they have zero since the market for programming got slow nationwide. I’m thinking that they are in an area which is not focused on programming. Our area is focused on Hollywood, and the clothing industry, and other things, but not IT work.
I talked to some smart young guys I bumped into at an Indian fast food joint. They were in the social media and programming business in the management end. These guys told me that in the Los Angeles area, only one out of ten programmers is good and hard working, while in the Bay Area (silicon valley) which is famous for the computer industry and where the the computer and internet was invented, that 80% of programmers up there were good in their opinion. I think these two gentlemen summed it up, and proved my point.
If you want to hire a wine expert, go to an area famous for wine. If you want to hire a great cook, look for one in an area famous for food. But, if you want to hire a programmer, hire one in an area famous for programmers. Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Silicon Valley, and Phoenix Arizona are places that come to my mind.
The company I am using now for programming has been working on projects with me for five years. They are in Pune which is an up and coming programming hub in India. This company has 45 programmers. This proves how serious they are about the industry in contrast to companies in America that have one or two programmers who are perpetually late completing projects, etc.