Fostering local software development talent

The talents of South African software developers is receiving a boost with the successful establishment of a local community of developers through the combined efforts of Microsoft South Africa and nVisionIT, a leading enterprise software development house and a Microsoft Gold Partner.

The community, which has its homepage at www.sadeveloper.net http://www.sadeveloper.net/, was established in May 2003 with the aim to provide local developers with a mechanism to provide interaction between developers and customers.

It also enables Microsoft to become more transparent and deliver better product integration by giving developers the opportunity to provide feedback in terms of products, while also providing more accessibility to resources. Developers note that the community gives them a further incentive to grow their skills through participative efforts.

nVisionIT played a key role in enabling the community through its technology contributions in designing and developed the online solution, which uses C#, asp.net and SQL. The company also actively participates in the community as one of the country`s leading Microsoft enterprise applications developers.

According to Kaylash Bhana, product marketing manager: enterprise and developer platforms at Microsoft South Africa, the idea for creating a local society of software developers was driven by the lack of community spirit that existed in the market.

"Many of our local developers were somewhat isolated in a local sense, yet participated actively in the international user groups and communities. Along with nVisionIT, we believed there was a need to foster this community within SA as it is an ideal platform for developers to exchange ideas, raise their profiles and increase their knowledge of software development through interaction with their peers," he says.

Bhana notes that with the formation of the sadeveloper.net community, the dormant Microsoft Developer User Group of 150 members was migrated, forming the basis of the new organisation. "The need for such a community was demonstrated rapidly as our initial number of developers that signed up quickly ramped to 388 members," he says, adding that it membership has already reached 2 577 individuals. The organisation features an average of two to three community leads in each province in which it is active: Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

Bhana notes that without the participation and commitment to driving software development in SA that nVisionIT has brought to the initiative, it is unlikely that it would have reached this level of success. "In providing technology that it developed itself on the Microsoft platform, as well as seconding a developer to create and maintain the Web site, nVisionIT has made an invaluable effort to the functioning of the community," he says.

Programmer Senkwe Chanda notes that as a member of the community, he spends far less time on international sites as the local content is more relevant. "When I first got into .NET development, I had to go to overseas sites, as that`s where the community was. Since the inception of the www.sadeveloper.net community, I`m spending less time on external sites, while there is the benefit of being able to meet people with similar interests and learn from them - within the context of working in SA," he says.

Arno Nel, a skilled programmer working with nVisionIT, is responsible for the www.sadeveloper.net community portal design and maintenance, and is also the sadeveloper.net community lead in the Gauteng region. He believes the establishment of the Microsoft .NET developer community has already created significant benefits for members.

"Sadeveloper.net is about far more than just a Web site, although the portal does play a pivotal role in the organisation. With the support of Microsoft, we have arranged several socials, are in the process of organising workshops, and have created a network of professionals who are able to rapidly gain access to knowledge and skills to help them resolve issues that arise when dealing with complex projects," he says.

Bhana adds that an important aspect of the community is the recognition it bestows on those programmers who excel. "Known as `Rockstars`, the software developers who shine in a particular area are recognised for their skills and expertise. This goes a long way to boosting the professional confidence of the individual, while other community members can quickly identify prominent experts in certain areas to gain speedy resolution to specific issues," he explains.

The community has also provided our local developers an opportunity to profile themselves. In the last 18 months, we have had five developers from our community elected as Microsoft Valued Professionals (MVP). They are Ruari Plint, Simon Steward and Ernst Kuschke, who have been named C# MVPs, and Kim Midgely who has won recognition as a security MVP. In an example of the outstanding talent in SA, 17-year-old Matric student Justin Lovell has been named an ASP.NET MVP.

The MVP Programme celebrates Microsoft`s best, most active customers who have demonstrated a technical passion and willingness to share their expertise with others. MVPs include authors, enthusiasts, developers, academics, business and technical decision-makers who carry with them the voice, strength and value of the Microsoft customer. They do this in the books, Web sites, code samples and utilities they publish; in the newsgroups, message boards and user group forums where they share; through the speaking engagements, Webcasts and chats they host, and in the feedback through alphas, betas and communities they provide to help Microsoft build better products that result in more satisfied, loyal and passionate Microsoft customers.

Comments Ruari Plint, a programmer who heads up the Western Cape regional chapter of the sadeveloper.net initiative: "The growth of the developer community has been great, contributing to personal growth for members in terms of confidence and market exposure. Through the community, we are able to share information, resulting in developers being more effective in their jobs, as the rapid response times have helped development teams increase their productivity," he says.

Plint notes that while there have been concerns from corporations regarding intellectual property, these are unwarranted as the community shares information at code level - and not business process level - to solve issues.

"We`re also impressed that Microsoft is providing a lot more information through the site than it had before; the company listens to our needs and with workshops planned, we expect to continue to increase the confidence of local developers," he says.

The initiative is focused on nurturing software development talent among the previously disadvantaged, encouraging diversity and the participation in the industry of women. "We have been focusing on emerging talent in the public sector, as well as gaining alliances with the ICT initiative. Within the community, we have created a special interest group focused specifically on the public sector, while we also work to foster development within previously disadvantaged communities," says Bhana.

He adds that through events such as Tech Ed, Microsoft has also brought in prominent female software development personalities such as Canadian-based Regional Director Kate Gregory, and Microsoft South Africa`s Academic Evangelist Lillian Serobatse to demonstrate that women can perform at the highest levels in the industry.

Both Bhana and Nel agree that through the sadeveloper.net community, it has been demonstrated that the quality of developers working in the South African market is on a par with the best in the world. "Talent within this country is at a very high level; the interaction that has resulted from the community drives this talent to become better developers, while the level of acceptance and use of the site indicates the high level of interest and contribution of programmers across the country," says Bhana.

The longer-term view for sadeveloper.net is to foster community development, skills advancement and initiatives to raise the profile of outstanding individuals. Bhana notes that there is a distinct path laid out for developers to foster development, beginning with the academic level with the www.projectfirelfy.net community portal targeted at students, through to the programmer level within the corporate world with www.sadeveloper.net, and finally, to the architectural level with the www.saarchitect.net community portal. Through the use of these community portals, and recognition programmes such as the MVP programme, we`re looking at creating local Rockstars to raise the profile and skills available within the South African software development industry," he concludes.