Charlie Arehart's ColdFusion Consulting Services

ColdFusion Troubleshooting Services

If you're a CF shop with any challenges, do you ever feel alone and stumped to resolve the problems?

Would you like someone to look over your shoulder (either on-site or remotely), who can solve many common CF server (and ColdFusion Builder) problems, often in less than an hour? Charlie is available and interested in helping. (If you're at all uncomfortable about remote support, please see the discussion below.)

Troubleshooting Consulting - Short-term, On-demand, Remote

With 15+ years experience working with ColdFusion shops and helping developers solve nagging problems, Charlie Arehart can help:

solve nagging crashes, restarts, etc
tune poorly performing systems
install, administer, and/or configure servers
troubleshoot code and configuration
recommend coding/config techniques
help developers work more productively with CFBuilder, other resources, and more

The rest of this page helps answer many of the common questions one may have in contemplating using Charlie's troubelshooting services:

understanding the remote troubleshooting approach he uses
understanding the pattern of troubleshooting techniques he typically follows
the various rate plans and satisfaction guarantees he offers

After considering that information to help ensure he's a good fit for resolving your problem, feel free to contact him to discuss your needs:

Email: charlie (at) carehart.org
Phone: (1) 678 358-3046
Address: 405 Red Jacket Way, Alpharetta GA 30005 USA

You can also find Charlie on:

Bottom line: if you have a problem related to CF (or Railo, BlueDragon, etc.), Charlie may be able to help, quickly, or perhaps can point you to someone else or other resources to get you going. He's available for short-term (hours, days) problem-solving, whether remote or on-site, at the hourly rate below (with discounts for prepaid hours, extended hours within a week's time, and more).

Contact him using any of the approaches above for a initial referral session to determine how he can help solve your most pressing challenges. Often he can be available to begin helping right away, via a secure, unintrusive remote connection. (He's open to completing whatever confidentiality/NDA agreements you may have.)

He can also help with training, whether custom or packaged, including Adobe CF training and more, as discussed elsewhere.

Of course, Charlie also contributes his knowledge and experience freely to many mailing lists, forums, and user groups, for those who prefer to use those avenues to seek help from the community.

Remote Consulting: Looking Over Your Shoulder

While Charlie's available for on-site support when needed, it's generally more economical to have him assist you remotely. Rather than incur travel costs and a commitment to a substantial allocation of his time, such remote assistance can usually be done very quickly, and often on demand.

You may be suspicious or even reluctant about remote consulting. If he's to help you look at your problem over the web, does that mean you need to open firewall holes/ports on your server or create an account, such as to use a remote desktop or VNC-type session? No! You don't need to open any ports or create any login for him. Instead, we'll use Acrobat Connect, which works over any browser and uses standard HTTP ports.

"Do we have to install any software?" No, Connect is browser-based and uses Flash, which is already installed on most computers. You may be thinking, "well it's not installed on our servers". That's ok: you can remote into your servers from your desktop and have the Connect session from there while Charlie watches you remote into the server.

"But he's remoting/logging into our servers, right?" No, he does not need to "remote into" nor obtain any authentication information for your servers in order to look over your shoulder while use work on those servers. You will login into your machines (remoting in if needed), and he will just watch over the web as you do that. This is about working together, all with the goal of helping you help yourself and become more self-sufficient. (Of course, if there's some situation where you just want to give Charlie some responsibility to take care of something for you, which may involve remoting into your machine, that's an option as well.)

"Well, still, can Charlie see something on the server we don't want him to during a shared desktop session?" He sees only what you choose to let him see during a shared desktop session. If you do show him something confidential, or give him access to your servers, of course he will keep that information completely confidential. And again, he's happy to complete an NDA agreement as well if you'd like.

"OK, but what about security of the channel of communications?" The Connect session is SSL-enabled, so communications are encrypted. Only Charlie can see what's being shown on your screen. No one else.

"How will we talk?" While we'll do the screen-sharing via Connect (visit carehart.org/help when he tells you), we can speak by phone (Charlie is happy to call you, or can provide a number for you to call him if you prefer) or via VOIP, including within Connect, or using Skype, Google Talk, etc. And it's no problem to have multiple folks on your end join in from different offices or locations for both the sreen sharing and phone call(and you're free to record the phone or screensharing session if you'd like.)

What if we need help and are in another country?

Your being in another country should not be a hindrance to Charlie helping (in fact, if your exchange rate is favorable you will find that paying Charlie in US dollars may be a bargain for you.)

Also, as for talking with each other, besides traditional phone calls, we can use either the Voice over IP solutions in the shared desktop solutions discussed above, or we can use something like Skype or Google Talk, if you'd like.

While Charlie is in the US Eastern time zone (GMT -5 most of the year), he's flexible in making arrangements (in advance) to work with you during what would be an odd hour for him.

What is the typical approach used? How is time spent?

While there's no fixed approach (since every customer's needs and situation will differ), there is at least a fairly consistent pattern to the approach Charlie takes when working with customers to help identify and resolve problems, while also seeking to educate them (see above) to be better able to solve such problems in the future, all in as little time as possible to keep the cost low. The following could be done in less than an hour, even for a problem that might have evaded resolution for days:

Review the most significant problems that have been identified by the customer, such as outages, poor performance, etc.
Identify (together) the available diagnostics that may help provide explanation/evidence of their cause (as found in CF and elsewhere, including server, web server, and database server if needed), or in additional monitoring tools if available (FusionReactor, SeeFusion, CF Server Monitor, their alerts).
If needed, enable (together) additional diagnostics that may provide further evidence (again, whether in CF or elsewhere). Some may require restart (and so can be delayed), others (like alerts) may require time for new evidence to be gathered.
If needed and agreed to, implement free tools to help speed the review of diagnostic data.
Review (together) the diagnostics, connecting the dots between the observed problems and their root cause.
Identify possible underlying explanations for the root cause problem (whether configuration, traffic, or--generally less likely--coding issues).
Discuss possible changes, and implement those we agree on (preferably not more than one at a time), nor or perhaps overnight if a restart is required.
Observe whether the original problem/s continue to exist, whether evidenced by user observation or diagnostics.
Note that getting to this point can happen quite quickly (as little as an hour) for many problems, even ones that have plagued a server for weeks. Certainly some situations may be more complicated, but they're rare in the hundreds of engagements that Charlie has per year.
Repeat the process to see if perhaps new problems may arise (that could have been hidden by the other ones now solved).
As desired by customer, review in more detail:
- how to understand and use the available (or newly enabled) diagnostics, so that customer is more self-sufficient in using them.
- how to understand the available configuration settings (CF and otherwise) that can impact performance, or aid/detract from diagnosis

Does that seem more than possibly can be done in a single brief engagement? Again, Charlie has often gone through all the steps in as little as an hour. Other times, a rare snag might preclude getting through all the steps in even a couple of hours. Many factors influence how much time it takes, including the nature of problems, the complexity of the environment, the level of experience of the customer, how many questions are asked, how many problems there are, etc. But again, the goal is to work as quickly as possible, and most engagements are of a very short nature, perhaps a couple of hours, and many are an hour or less.

It's in points 2-5 above where Charlie's vast experience helping so many customers really comes to the rescue. Even experienced CFers are often stunned to learn what diagnostics do exist, already. Or they saw them, but could make little sense of them. Or they had used what they saw to google for answers, and found many conflicting suggestions. Or they weren't sure of the likely effect of a configuration change, or how most safely to do it, or undo it.

Charlie's patient, calm, experienced guidance has often helped resolve even desparate situations, where income, jobs, or just a decent night's sleep were on the line. Customers report that he nearly always leaves them feeling far more confident about the problem, the solution, and how to better use diagnostics in the future.

Technical Background

If you've just found this site and are not familiar with Charlie, his 15+ years of ColdFusion experience and accomplishments are listed elsewhere here. You can also search the web for his name (charlie arehart coldfusion), or ask about him from folks in the community. Finally, he offers quoted references from past and current customers, and can provide contact information for you to speak with them or still other customers.

Rates

Charlie offers the following options:

Type	Rate	Minimum Time	Comments
Short-term/hourly:	US$175/hr	No minimum	Satisfaction Guarantee¹. Invoiced weekly, after engagement
10-hour prepaid block:	US$1500	10 hours, prepaid	Invoiced in advance. Can be used over 12 months²
Multi-day engagement/hourly:	US$125/hr	Minimum of 24 hours in 4 days	Discounted rate for extended short-term engagements. Invoiced weekly, after engagement.
CFBuilder fixed fee/single problem:	US$75 fixed	N/A	Refund offered if problem not solved in 2 hours³. Can be prepaid or invoiced after engagement.

In considering these rates, note that Charlie's generally helping you solve a problem in an immediate (and generally very short) term. Also, where many troublehsooting consultants require a minimum number of hours (if not days), Charlie's happy to help in as little time as is needed, with a 15 minute initial minimum per call/email. And he tends to be available within 4 hours of your request to start, if not sooner. Finally, you may be more used to lower rates for development consultants, but consider that you tend to hire them for weeks or months, not hours as with Charlie.

Most important, his goal is to help make you self-sufficient, so he's doing as much sharing of knowledge and educating as solving your problem, so you get more than just a solution, but an education as well. Indeed, because of this approach, Charlie tends to work himself out of the situations where he's brought in. Of course, he hopes you'll ask him back for more help on new problems when needed.

Combine the above with the fact that his expertise in solving problems helps him generally solve problems in far less time than folks who don't spend their days doing so (generally in less than an hour for most problems), and the rate actually becomes very good value. More important, keep in mind that since the approach used is to work with you, you're always in control of the time spent. No surprises.

Engagement/Payment

If you're ready to begin an engagement with Charlie, or just want to have an initial conversation to help decide, contact him either by phone or email. Since most of his engagements are very short term, it's nearly always possible that work could begin today if you're interested, or it can be scheduled in coming days.

If you're ready to pay for an engagement, note first that Charlie does not require prepayment (except technically for the "pre-paid 10-hour block" engagement type.) It's even optional for the fixed-fee CFBuilder assistance. For "short-term" or "multi-day" engagements, contact Charlie instead and after arranging the engagement, and after work is completed, an invoice will be provided for services at the end of the engagement week. (See the previous section for more details on engagement types, rates, etc.)

Payment may be made either:

by credit card (either using the "pay now" button below, or preferably via a link provided in any invoice Charlie may send, as just discussed)
by check (using contact details in invoice and below)
by electronic funds transfer (favored often by those overseas. SWIFT code, acct #, and other details available on request)

For the following credit card purchase button, please choose the appropriate rate, then enter your company name. If you're interested in either the "Short-term" or "Mult-day Engagement" type, no payment is required until Charlie provides you an invoice. Those pre-paying for the "10-hour Prepaid" or "CFBuilder fixed fee" type can either request an invoice or pay not (in which case they should contact Charlie by phone or email after purchasing to intiate the engagement).

Note that besides this form to pay by credit card, other forms of payment are acceptable, as discussed above, and prepayment is not required for hourly rate assistance.

Footnotes

¹About Satisfaction Guarantee:

If you choose the "Short-term/hourly" consulting, Charlie understands that it may not be clear that your problem will be solved in the time spent together, so he offers a satisfaction guarantee. If you don't feel that the time with him (some or all) was worthwhile, you can indicate that either during the call (again, controlling how much time is spent on any topic) or even after the fact, and the billing will be adjusted to your satisfaction.

The guarantee does not apply for the 10-hour prepaid or Multi-day engagement types, nor to on-site engagements. These are intended to be used by customers already familiar with and trusting in the value of Charlie's time, who are enjoying a discounted rate in exchange for committing to a block of his time at a lower cost (though in the case of on-site visits, he does not offer a discount because of the challenge on also assisting other clients while he's away.) Even so, Charlie will always reconsider any extenuating circumstances.

Finally, in the case of the "CFBuilder fixed fee/single problem" engagement type, the guarantee is different. In exchange for the lower (and fixed) fee, there is no prorating of the time if the problem is solved very fast, such as a few minutes. You're paying for the value of the solution, not Charlie's time with you. But if in fact the problem cannot be solved in 2 hours, then Charlie will refund your money (unless you choose to let him keep or all some portion of it in return for other value obtained in the call.)

²About pre-paid 10 hour block:

The 10 hours must be used within twelve months of purchase. In exchange for the discounted rate, there is no refund of unused time, though an extension of time may be offered in extenuating circumstances. (Note that prior to Jan 1 2012, the blocks expired in 6 months. From that date forward, they now last 12 months from purchase. Further, as a thank you to past clients, this extension will also be retroactively applied to any block purchases made in 2011: they will now expire 12 months after whatever date they were purchased.)

³About "CFBuilder fixed fee/single problem" support:

This option is for obtaining help in resolving any single problem with use of CFBuilder (such as getting step debugging or RDS to work, getting code insight to work, getting ctrl+hover hyperlinking to work, solving slow performance, etc.) This is a fixed fee option, whether the solution takes 2 minutes or 2 hours. You're paying for the value of the solution, not Charlie's time with you. But if after 2 hours the problem remains unresolved, you may choose to obtain a refund (unless you feel that you got other value out of the call to justify the payment.)

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