David Lambert
This is the obligatory “who is this guy and what makes him tick” page. I understand there are some people who couldn’t care less, and if you’re one of them, I encourage you to click away as fast as you can so I don’t waste any more of your time.
Now, for the rest of you, I’ll hit some of the high points of my career thus far. I have over fifteen years of software experience, beginning with COBOL development at a little insurance company in Oshkosh, WI, and evolving into management roles building some great commercial software applications.
My first experience with commercial software development was at a phone company, where I was hired to build a cutting-edge phone bill reporting system. Yes, I know, that doesn’t sound very “cutting-edge” now, but at the time, the bills for business customers were sent as cases of paper, so any electronic distribution was cutting-edge. And yes, I know I’m dating myself.
The best parts of that position were working with some really outstanding people, and the chance to experience a form of shrink-wrapped product. We sold the tool I wrote, and I got to experience genesis, growth, extension, maintenance, support, and troubleshooting on a platform that people were paying real money to use. It was a rush.
I also got my first taste of management – first by retraining some COBOL developers to help on my product, then by hiring. I built a team I was really proud of, and we accomplished some pretty cool things, including taking over the billing system for our company’s London subsidiary.
Since then, I spent some time implementing CRM systems for a small consulting company, where I got to learn the technical aspects of CRM construction and the business aspects of managing a sales team. It turns out that closing deals didn’t require voodoo dolls, and forecasting didn’t require a crystal ball. Who knew?
The CRM work led to another commercial software gig building a Business Rules Engine. I had another chance to grow a software product and a team from nothing to production release and beyond, and once again, I enjoyed the job immensely.
Our product was a Business Rules Engine (BRE) called Centrifuge (later, the iR Platform). Building this product was a lot of fun. I began work on this app when it was just a glimmer on a Visio screen. I built a demo-capable program, and then began to grow a team to accelerate the software over the finish line. I love architecture and design, and I love team building, so this was a great evolution for me.
Today, I’m an Application Architect for a local consulting company, working mainly in .Net technologies.
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