IT Career History
I have been consulting for close to 20 years now. Started this business as an associate in Nashville, TN and have been going ever since. I was a Programmer, Programmer/Analyst and now a Sr. Analyst/Application Developer. Of course titles don't always reflect the amount of effort put forward in a job nor do they completely define someone.
The Eigthies...
In the early 1980's my role at client sites required that I wear multiple hats. This was in the time before projects had multiple participants such as a Team Lead, Business Analyst, QA & Administrative Support Group, Systems Test Group and such.
I was given several computer systems that spanned over multiple business areas and expected to research, design, code, test, document and implement with minimal assistance. There would be one Systems Administrator who I reported to and one or more business area contacts from which requirements were gathered and results verified to satisfy the request.
I even had to learn to be my own Computer Operator. I started my test, headed down to the Computer Operations Room, responded to prompts at the Operator's console, mounted my own tapes, switched my own memory disk packs, loaded my own computer paper and printed out my own reports.
The Nineties...
In the 1990's things changed in the industry. Projects were now stocked with many participants and the various roles became individual jobs. No more access to Computer Operations. Security, seperation of duty to ensure checks and balances were implemented. I had to learn to interface. This meant understanding role and scope each time I took on a new project. Giving up the control I was used to in having all the resouces to be a one man army was an adjustment and challenge.
I had to learn how to coordinate and exchange information with more players. My previous experience laid a solid foundation in knowing what each person was expected to do having done it all myself. It did present a new problem. You know the saying about too many hands in the soup spoiling the taste. More people involved meant having to meet more often and ensure that the information being exchanged for the project's success was valid and useful.
Y2K....
Remember the big scare over Y2K. Everything was going to come to a screeching halt on January 1st 2000. Almost all development projects stopped and we were all put on projects to seek out and modify dates. I did this for most of 1999. A rather uneventful period much as the actually realization of this threat when 2000 finally arrived.
The New Era...
After 14 years of mainframe coding it was time to start learning a few new tricks. More on that to come.