Possible perm opportunity to learn Biztalk - worth it?

[ChimpMaster]

Hey all

Mexico have won 3-0 , I'm a few beers in and now on the vodka so thought I'd throw this out there: the client has asked me to go permie. Now the differential between consulting rate and permie salary is huge (~4:1), but the option is looking like either that the contract ends at some point in a few months or I go permie at a senior team lead tech level and then get the chance to learn some new products, the main one being BizTalk.

My current main contract market is niche (old) and I don't expect to remain in it after this contract. So if I don't do permiedom then I will take time off to re-evaluate my life goals. Or find another perm job where I can earn a good salary and still learn something new - you might recall that I was offered a job at Salesforce last year, for example, but for x number of reasons I didn't go for it.

Generally it looks like there is a market for BizTalk and it pays reasonably well, not great but OK. Are there any BizTalk guys here that have a view on this?

[xing]

Hey all

Mexico have won 3-0 , I'm a few beers in and now on the vodka so thought I'd throw this out there: the client has asked me to go permie. Now the differential between consulting rate and permie salary is huge (~4:1), but the option is looking like either that the contract ends at some point in a few months or I go permie at a senior team lead tech level and then get the chance to learn some new products, the main one being BizTalk.

My current main contract market is niche (old) and I don't expect to remain in it after this contract. So if I don't do permiedom then I will take time off to re-evaluate my life goals. Or find another perm job where I can earn a good salary and still learn something new - you might recall that I was offered a job at Salesforce last year, for example, but for x number of reasons I didn't go for it.

Generally it looks like there is a market for BizTalk and it pays reasonably well, not great but OK. Are there any BizTalk guys here that have a view on this?

BizTalk is a dead end. It's likely used only in dull MS shops where the clueless managers are acting as MS salesman.

[jmo21]

Salesforce would have been a better niche to get into.

If you want a MS product niche, Sharepoint would probably be worth more (its a total nightmare, so experts in it can charge a lot)

[ChimpMaster]

BizTalk is a dead end. It's likely used only in dull MS shops where the clueless managers are acting as MS salesman.

Salesforce would have been a better niche to get into.

That's pretty much where my line of thought is too. The way I look at it, if I'm going to move into a new line of technology then it might as well be something that is interesting and has a future, with good earning potential. What confused me on BizTalk was the Jobserve check which threw up loads of jobs/contracts - still something I need to investigate further.

Salesforce is something I may well chase down again, if given the opportunity. Having researched it to some depth last year, I found it interesting and with the scope to learn so much more on the Cloud front.

[TheFaQQer]

Salesforce is something I may well chase down again, if given the opportunity. Having researched it to some depth last year, I found it interesting and with the scope to learn so much more on the Cloud front.

If it's a sales job, then make sure you want to be in sales - when I was permie, I was always happy to evangelize about the product and reassure the client they had bought the right one, but couldn't see myself going out to sell and lie for a living.

That said, you only have to look at how different Larry Ellison's OOW presentations were between 2012 and 2013 to see how seriously Oracle are taking the Salesforce threat.

[ChimpMaster]

If it's a sales job, then make sure you want to be in sales - when I was permie, I was always happy to evangelize about the product and reassure the client they had bought the right one, but couldn't see myself going out to sell and lie for a living.

That said, you only have to look at how different Larry Ellison's OOW presentations were between 2012 and 2013 to see how seriously Oracle are taking the Salesforce threat.

Salesforce is a software provider and this is the name of the product too. It's SaaS etc.

The job is technical, possibly pre-sales if I fancy it.

Not sure I can handle consultancy again though - to avoid long term travel was one of the reasons I jumped into contracting in the first place, so that I could choose where to work rather than be told.

[TheFaQQer]

Salesforce is a software provider and this is the name of the product too. It's SaaS etc.

The job is technical, possibly pre-sales if I fancy it.

Not sure I can handle consultancy again though - to avoid long term travel was one of the reasons I jumped into contracting in the first place, so that I could choose where to work rather than be told.

Misread your original post - thought it said "a sales job at Salesforce..."