With the rise of big data, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality, the IT world is set for another massive boom. The demand for talented and knowledgable coders has never been higher. However, amid all the demand, the current talent pool system is flawed.
Most managers and IT professionals have been stuck at some point. A project due date is fast approaching, and a sticky spot or a tough piece of code stops the progress completely. The first reaction is to try to reach out to a team member, or push through with open source solutions, but of course the end product will suffer without support and expertise.
And for professional coders, it can feel immensely frustrating to continually be providing solutions that are company-changing, and only receive a pat on the back from upper management. Fantastic IT professionals often find themselves pigeon-holed into narrow scope positions, unable to really use their skills, and benefit from what they produce.
The fundamental problem beneath both issues is support. Companies can turn to open source solutions, but these solutions generally come with little or no support and are often complex to implement. Of course, enterprise-level support is available, but it is often cost-prohibitive. The vacuum between these two personnel extremes has left many companies and coders searching for solutions.
FundRequest at the crossroads
Enter FundRequest. FundRequest provides an integrated platform where IT professionals can receive compensation for work and where users and companies can provide real incentives to these professionals to fix issues, deal with bugs, or design a specific feature for an open source project.
This platform is possible only through ‘decentralisation’, or the removal of a centralised hub corporation that has control over what projects are posted and which professionals are allowed to contribute. By decentralising access to projects and professionals, FundRequest has epitomised the true nature of peer-to-peer (P2P) open source programming.
The decentralisation is possible through blockchain technology (simply put, think of a database on a network where every entry is both transparent and immutable), the new darling of the tech world. Blockchain technology is fast becoming the go-to solution for business platforms that require close cooperation among users, but where centralized control can be eliminated.
It’s all about control
FundRequest puts the control back into the hands of decision makers. Through the FundRequest platform, IT professionals are in absolute control of their contributions and the tasks they choose to address. Contributors are able to select the jobs that best meet their needs, and at the same time, offer high level solutions to companies without requiring the company to hire a full-time employee.
For project managers, the FundRequest platform provides a vehicle to reach out and find support for open source coding that is far better than current open source support, but is far more cost effective than enterprise-level support. And, rather than purchasing a ludicrously expensive ‘support package’, managers can tailor-make their requests so that tasks are fulfilled with precision, rather than the traditional shotgun approach.
What’s more, funds for payment on a project are escrowed using a ‘smart contract’ – think of a digital agent who protects both parties until the job is complete – protecting both the contributor and the project manager until the job is truly complete.
FundRequest has created a platform that fills a vacuum for both IT professionals and project managers alike by providing a P2P system that puts control back into the hands of decision makers and talented coders. The result is cost effective solutions and incentivised coders – a match made in heaven.
Comment on this article below or via Twitter: @ VanillaPlus OR @jcvplus
