I'm a newbie that just got hired in tech, need some advice.

[SnafuZerg]

Hello,

I am very new to web development and recently got hired at a small enterprise to create a website for them among other tasks like managing their social media and providing technical assistance. I am the only IT person there and I work alone. They also contracted an outside company to create an e-commerce website for them and told me that I will be managing it down the line. So basically they have two websites in the pipeline.

 

Since I never touched web dev after learning it four years ago during university, I decided to not use any front-end or back-end framework and have been grinding my way from scratch, learning as I go. During a meeting with the owner of the enterprise, she mentioned that she would like to move everything online and it would be very good if we could also apply e-commerce to the site I was developing. I agreed, however mentioning that I don't have any expertise in e-commerce and applying security norms that are involved. So we came to a compromise of initially developing the website with not much of a backend and having it up and running before the end of April , this will be mainly used for promotional stuff initially. We then agreed that I would be working towards implementing e-commerce later on (target would be around august). My thought-process, like with the front-end and a couple of simple backends, was also building the e-commerce from scratch and not using any framework.

 

However, I have read multiple threads mentioning that reinventing the wheel is pointless and you should always use frameworks, specially for an e-commerce website. I am now worried, what is the best way forward from here? Considering my lack of experience, that I am working alone and that there's the potential of money being involved. To learn a back-end framework and apply it to the website I built from scratch?

Or should I just go with a CMS and create a new website again if the enterprise is still bent of having e-commerce? Since I am on a temporary contract and I was told I can leave anytime if I find better prospects, I am thinking this will be better and easier for someone else in the enterprise to update it too.

 

Any help would be much appreciated, I feel loss.

[GodofGrunts]

In the Enterprise, you always want to use an off the shelf solution if possible. The reason for this is two fold.

 

1) They are generally easier to get up and running

 

2) If something goes wrong you have someone else to lean back on if you can't solve it yourself.
 

Also, if you ever build your own solution and it breaks, your job will be on the line because it will 100% be your fault and if the customer loses a lot of money you'll be an easy scape goat to save face.

[krakkpott]

Outsource it to a well known company.

[RockstarBruski]

I've been an IT manager of a small office of about 20 empliyees for over 25 years and also I own a small business which is an IT services company which I'm the only employee.  My advice is outsource the website you describe but find a company that will let you be involved in the process with the design and a company that has techs that will show you how they are building your website.

 

As a sole IT manager it's not your job to be an expert at any one thing (because you won't have enough time) but it's your job to overall manage IT for your office and get expert help when needed. 

 

What I mean by that is you need to decide what things to outsource and what to do yourself.  Don't try to take it all on by yourself as that will 100% lead to stress and failure for you and your company.  For example when your first starting out in IT management focus on the service your employees need day to day such as workstations, printers, software, etc and grow your skills as you assist your office. Make your employees happy and they will be happy with you. 

 

Another example If you are managing Microsoft server(s) and you don't have server experience then ask your boss to pay for some microsoft tech support package where you can call and get assistance over the phone when needed and ask your boss to pay for classes you might need to get better.  

 

The main thing to keep in mind is that you need to know who to contact for help when the task at hand is above your knowledge as you will learn and save time and will be successful.

 

Best wishes in your new IT management career which will be challenging and rewarding. Cheers!

[skunkmunkey]

I started out in tech about 3 years in an IT Manager role, like you I didn't have much prior experience. From the very beginning I've told them that I don't deal with anything web design related, you get enough challenges in the day to day management of the infrastructure that you don't want to be dealing with other stuff on top of that. You're better to focus on one aspect or the other or you'll never pick enough knowledge in one area to further your career afterwards as most places will have dedicated teams for each role or will outsource one aspect or another.