Confessions of a ColdFusion Telecommuter

 
May 14, 2001
by Eron Cohen, Staff Writer

I work from home. People have a difficult time accepting that. They hear that and imagine me wearing a dirty undershirt, spread-eagled on the couch watching soaps and collecting unemployment?while they are hard at work. They are hardly ever right.

I am a web developer, and yes, I have an office in my home. And if that?s not bad enough, I use ColdFusion to get the job done. The way they look at me when I say that, I know what they?re thinking ?You do WHAT with WHAT WHERE?!?? First comes the usual explanation that I am in no way involved with nuclear physics, but the idea that you can work efficiently and productively at home is much harder for many people to grasp.

I?ll bet that everyone reading this article has probably at least considered the idea of working from home. Although it is still a bit unconventional, the benefits of missing the morning commute are attractive. If you have tried to pursue the idea in your current job, you may have run into the person who often has the most trouble with this idea -- the corporate office manager. This is starting to change as he or she realizes the money the company can save and often the tax-breaks that the company can get, but nevertheless it?s a hard sell. They don?t want to give up direct control of their employees and can?t get past the images of the day-time TV mavens, cranked up on pop-tarts and coffee. I always concede that they are at least partly right?there are many people who just need to have someone physically watching over them at all times. These people usually identify themselves after a few weeks on the job anyway. I argue that with the right employees, there is more productivity, not less, when working from home. And if the conversation happens to be with someone who is working with ColdFusion developers, then I dig in.

"You can develop ColdFusion applications from anywhere with a decent Internet connection," I tell them. Usually they will agree with me in principle here. If they disagree, it's often because they feel that the development team must be no more then a fooz ball table away from each other at all times. Indeed I do think that face-to-face meetings are a good idea now and then ? and in fact I rarely agree to work when I haven't met with the clients face to face. But I feel no need to be constantly within throwing distance of the Database administrator. I continue, "The proof is in the pudding! With most projects there is a time allotment, and either the work is done correctly or it's not, so why does it matter where I am when I do it?"

Resources for Telecommuters

Project Management:
OnProject: http://www.onproject.com
Microsoft Project 2000: http://www.microsoft.com/office/project/default.htm

Instant Messengers:
ICQ: http://www.ICQ.com
AOL Instant Messenger: http://www.AOL.com (comes with Netscape)
MSN Messenger: http://www.MSN.com
Trillian: http://www.trillian.com

Collaboration Tools:
Equill: Http://www.Equill.com
NetMeeting: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting

Remote Server Control
Remote Adminstrator: http://ww.famatech.com
PCAnywhere: http://www.symantec.com

Other Resources and Support
International Telework Association http://www.telecommute.org

Every now and then, there are nay sayers who are somehow still in the ice age of web development. Usually these men and women aren?t aware of the wonderful tools Allaire and Microsoft have given us to work on web sites remotely. For instance, ColdFusion Server comes with a Remote Development Service (RDS), which allows a developer using ColdFusion Studio to access her files directly on the server from any Internet connection. Its better then an ftp connection for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that RDS also lets you hit your database connections and do things like drag and drop database table field names onto the text window in ColdFusion studio. Every datasource that is connected to your ColdFusion server is listed in a tree structure. You can open the datasource and see table and view names and then open up the tables and see the field names and types. Even if the server happened to be in the next room, or on the same machine, this is still a fantastic feature.

Unfortunately, this still doesn?t give you the ability to alter the databases. Luckily, all of Microsoft?s SQL Server tools can access databases remotely over an IP network. "I can use the SQL Server enterprise manager to design customer databases while I brush my teeth," I joke. Then I add, "But usually I prefer to use the Access 2000 interface so I can keep one hand free for the toothbrush." Access 2000 is an excellent way to make working with SQL Server a snap, especially if you started off on regular MS Access databases.

If they are still listening, I get serious. I remind them again that there are basically three things you need to develop your ColdFusion remotely: good Internet connectivity, a computer with the appropriate software, and motivation. It?s really the same must-haves that you would need in an office setting. Still, in a remote setting, the software tools do become somewhat more essential. I go on to point out that there are other essential tools to keep a remote worker, or a team of remote workers on track?but none of these are extraordinary. In fact, it would probably be ideal for any ColdFusion developer to have the same tools.

For instance, first you need some kind of tool to keep track of your progress. One of the more popular ones is Microsoft Project. I prefer to use a ColdFusion-based software package my colleagues have developed "in-house." This application keeps track of initial assignments for the project and then, later in the project?s life, outstanding bugs, problems and questions from the customers or other people on the development or design team. It also tracks how much time was spent on each task. This is essential for billing and for future planning. This may be stating the obvious, but it?s extremely useful to know how much time was really spent on a project compared to what was allotted. Once you have this down, your project proposals and bids will become more accurate. For a remote worker, it helps you prove that you probably aren?t keeping up with your soaps.

Another essential part of telecommuting is keeping the lines of communication open. Of course, each team member needs to be reachable by telephone, but that?s not how I conduct most of my day-to-day work. Instead, unless there?s something very pressing or very hard to explain, I use either email or an instant messenger. Instant messaging software is indispensable. My team uses ICQ. Not only does it allow us to send messages to each other in real-time, but also we have it set up so we can see when we are online. This way we know who?s in and who?s out, without anyone going to any special effort. If someone is away from their desk their icon in the ICQ interface changes to let us know.

Also indispensable is some sort of collaboration tool. My favorite is Equill (WWW.EQUill.com). The software is a short download that integrates with Internet Explorer. Once you have it installed, you can mark up a web page using a highlighter, a marker and post-it notes. If you want to share your markings, you can "send them" via email to coworkers. They will receive a URL which when clicked will open up a marked up replica of the EXACT page you were working on. ?Exact? is a very important word when working on database driven sites, since you could potentially go to the same page and view different data. With Equill, they will see the same HTML and same data the original viewer was working on. Caching the page on Equill?s servers does this. Alternatives like Netmeeting are also good, but have the disadvantage of needing a real-time connection between the collaborators. We only use Netmeeting for heavy-duty planning.

Every now and then someone (usually a customer) wants to send me a fax of a diagram or something they can?t email. For this we use a free fax number from Efax.com. They give you your very own fax telephone number! When someone sends a fax, it immediately gets turned into an email message and sent to a designated email account. You then use a free fax viewer that Efax provides to view the fax. From there, you can export it to a JPG or print it. For sending faxes, I use Netmoves.com, but seriously, why would anyone want to send a fax?

Finally, you?ll want to make sure you can control the server. Sometimes the ColdFusion Administrator isn?t enough. Although this isn?t always applicable or necessary, oftentimes being able to get control of the server?s desktop is a real timesaver. We tend to use either PCAnywhere or Remote Adminstrator from Famatech (ww.famatech.com). Both of these products allow you to see and control the server?s desktop in real-time as well as upload files and cut and paste between your local computer and the server. There are lots of similar products, including some that are free?like VNC.

Developing websites with ColdFusion is a high-tech job and it calls for high-tech measures. If you haven?t already done so, the next time you?re in your office working on a project, ask yourself what it would take to do the same thing from home or a remote office. Aside from convincing your superiors, odds are pretty good that you could skip the commute. We have the technology.


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