I’m Robert Merrill. Thank you for your interest in my consulting and technical services.I’m going to begin with a three-minute introduction of where I’m coming from. If you just want to know if I have this-many years of experience with such-and-such technology, I’ll be blunt. I think you’re asking the wrong question. You have a purpose in mind, and you want to know if I can help you get there. So bear with me. We’ll get to the list of services and skills on the third slide—there are only four slides in all, and the last one is contact information. I know you have a lot going on, so thank you for taking the time, and hope that I give you the right information to make the choice that’s best for you.
I’ve been around computers, programming, and software since 1977, when I submitted my first Fortran card deck on an IBM mainframe. I’ve kept up with technology—the pace of change is staggering—but I’ve also noticed that there are some things that haven’t changed at all.
People still create software to accomplish some purpose. When you’re making software for someone else, or having someone else make software for you, you have to be intentional about keeping that purpose in mind. It’s easy to get distracted by all of the computer stuff, especially when you enjoy that aspect of software work, and everyone I know who’s great at making software, or great at anything else, enjoys what they do.
We also have to know how to talk about software without misunderstanding each other. If you’ve been in the business any length of time you know what I mean. If you’re new to software, don’t worry. You enjoy and know how to meet new people and learn new things or you wouldn’t be here. And you’ve probably found that people who understand something really well can explain it simply, without over-simplifying it, and they make sure that you “get it” too before moving on. It’s structured common sense, involving some new words and pictures. You can learn what you need to know as you go.
Even with a clear purpose, people still struggle with knowing exactly what they want the software to do. As long as I’ve been around software, I’ve heard the complaint, “If only they’d just tell us what they want” or “If only we had stable requirements!” I got over that a long time ago. Even when making software for myself, I change my mind. Why? It’s simple. I’ve learned some things about how to achieve my purpose that I didn’t know when I started. We’re never more ignorant about a software project than we are at the beginning, yet some of us are still surprised when plans and promises from that beginning don’t work out. But we won’t panic or get upset. We’ll just re-visit the purpose, adjust, and keep going.
Finally, software takes longer to make than we expect. Every time I finish a project, I look back and wonder, “What took me so long?” I’ve also learned that it takes even longer when we’re in a hurry, because the more of a hurry we’re in, the more mistakes we make, and now we have to fix mistakes as well as do the work itself. Estimating project costs and schedules is a fascination and a specialty of mine. Maybe it’s because I started out trying to forecast hurricanes. I learned that a forecast doesn’t have to be perfect in order to be useful, which is a good thing, because people have been complaining about software project estimates just like they’ve been complaining about changing requirements, namely forever. So I’ve picked up and created a lot of subjective and objective tools for planning and running projects so that we can get to that purpose without running out of time or breaking the bank.
I have three main practice areas, software project set-up for small businesses without in-house development capability, software process improvement for firms with in-house capability, including software companies, and data ETL and analytics.When it comes to skills, I’ve either done it, have recently done it, am actively learning it, or can learn it. If it’s something I’m interested in or think there’s a broader market for, I’ll clean off the rust or learn it on my nickel.There’s more to effective application of a technology than skill with the specific technology. There are sound software design principles that apply to all technologies, and there are all of the other abilities that go around the skill that make a person an effective contributor to achieving your purpose.
I have three main practice areas, software project set-up for small businesses without in-house development capability, software process improvement for firms with in-house capability, including software companies, and data ETL and analytics.When it comes to skills, I’ve either done it, have recently done it, am actively learning it, or can learn it. If it’s something I’m interested in or think there’s a broader market for, I’ll clean off the rust or learn it on my nickel.There’s more to effective application of a technology than skill with the specific technology. There are sound software design principles that apply to all technologies, and there are all of the other abilities that go around the skill that make a person an effective contributor to achieving your purpose.
I have three main practice areas, software project set-up for small businesses without in-house development capability, software process improvement for firms with in-house capability, including software companies, and data ETL and analytics.When it comes to skills, I’ve either done it, have recently done it, am actively learning it, or can learn it. If it’s something I’m interested in or think there’s a broader market for, I’ll clean off the rust or learn it on my nickel.There’s more to effective application of a technology than skill with the specific technology. There are sound software design principles that apply to all technologies, and there are all of the other abilities that go around the skill that make a person an effective contributor to achieving your purpose.
I have three main practice areas, software project set-up for small businesses without in-house development capability, software process improvement for firms with in-house capability, including software companies, and data ETL and analytics.When it comes to skills, I’ve either done it, have recently done it, am actively learning it, or can learn it. If it’s something I’m interested in or think there’s a broader market for, I’ll clean off the rust or learn it on my nickel.There’s more to effective application of a technology than skill with the specific technology. There are sound software design principles that apply to all technologies, and there are all of the other abilities that go around the skill that make a person an effective contributor to achieving your purpose.
I have three main practice areas, software project set-up for small businesses without in-house development capability, software process improvement for firms with in-house capability, including software companies, and data ETL and analytics.When it comes to skills, I’ve either done it, have recently done it, am actively learning it, or can learn it. If it’s something I’m interested in or think there’s a broader market for, I’ll clean off the rust or learn it on my nickel.There’s more to effective application of a technology than skill with the specific technology. There are sound software design principles that apply to all technologies, and there are all of the other abilities that go around the skill that make a person an effective contributor to achieving your purpose.
I have three main practice areas, software project set-up for small businesses without in-house development capability, software process improvement for firms with in-house capability, including software companies, and data ETL and analytics.When it comes to skills, I’ve either done it, have recently done it, am actively learning it, or can learn it. If it’s something I’m interested in or think there’s a broader market for, I’ll clean off the rust or learn it on my nickel.There’s more to effective application of a technology than skill with the specific technology. There are sound software design principles that apply to all technologies, and there are all of the other abilities that go around the skill that make a person an effective contributor to achieving your purpose.
I have three main practice areas, software project set-up for small businesses without in-house development capability, software process improvement for firms with in-house capability, including software companies, and data ETL and analytics.When it comes to skills, I’ve either done it, have recently done it, am actively learning it, or can learn it. If it’s something I’m interested in or think there’s a broader market for, I’ll clean off the rust or learn it on my nickel.There’s more to effective application of a technology than skill with the specific technology. There are sound software design principles that apply to all technologies, and there are all of the other abilities that go around the skill that make a person an effective contributor to achieving your purpose.
I’m Robert Merrill. Thank you for listening, and I hope to hear from you soon.