Resume Details:

1996 - 1999: Compaq - Tandem Division, Cupertino, CA:

Assigned to manage Software development teams to do a strategic Windows NT Operations Management (OM) application port + enhancements and implement a Clustered systems Operations Management Web Application. The port evolved over 2 years and was terminated due to a takeover of Tandem by Compaq in 1997. In 1998 the team was requested to implement an NT Cluster management feature using Java applets and servlets on top of Compaq's in flight implementation of WBEM (Web Based Enterprise Management, more about this later). This was successfully completed before I left Compaq in 1999.

NEC ESMPRO Port Project:

The Port project was based on an "English" version of NEC's ESMPRO operations management tool for Windows NT management. NEC had converted much of the Japanese language to English and worked with Tandem to finish the project and resell the product to Tandem's NT customers. We also added realtime support management and bullet proofed the code and language translation. It required that we come up to speed on the ESMPRO architecture, design and code details in much of the code base and construct a build process that we could trust and hand over to release control and QA.

This project started with "negotiations" with the NEC software development management in charge of ESMPRO. I did the technical negotiations to establish what we would do, what team communications interfaces we would use, what support we would get at the development level and at the customer level, and how we would transfer software back and forth. As soon as it became clear that we were going to do this project I put together a development team and we started figuring out how we were going to do it. We had 3 major Project objectives: 1) add some features, 2) construct a supportable process for maintaining this product (this was the Tandem divisions first significant NT based product), 3) successfully train and hand over external support of this product to Tandem's support organization. The development environment was based on Microsoft's Visual C++ package. Tandem's standard software development process was used (typical documentation, reviews, development and test) with the added wrinkle of NEC supplying source updates every once in a while that were to be used as base to any new features we were adding. We reciprocated, sending back our enhancements, fixes and language corrections. The project took a year and we developed a good relationship with the NEC software designers - a team from NEC came out periodically to Cupertino to work with us and build a support relationship.

Interesting technology; We created a message monitoring feature for ESMPRO that would dial out to the Tandem support organization immediately and transfer a block of information based on the Windows message intercepted. The support org could then use a standard Windows NT "dialin" path to get access to the NT system that was having a problem. The details of this implementation include an updatable Urgent message table that could be installed periodically from a central location via dialup or from a central location in the NT network being monitored. We took some of the lessons we had learned from building a very robust message management environment in the Tandem Proprietary OS and applied them to this implementation such as queueing of the messages locally for forwarding to a central monitoring location and compression of information to be logged at the central site.

WBEM based NT Cluster Management App:

Compaq requested the Tandem division to implement a web based NT cluster management application based on Compaq's WBEM platform. The WBEM standard had been developed through an agreement between Compaq, Intel, Cisco and Microsoft to make it easier for small device vendors to provide robust management tools for their devices attached to a network. WBEM provided services (such as a general data base, SNMP access and a display console) that allowed the device vendors to focus on their device specific management functionality. The NT Cluster management app was going to be one of the first device management apps made available to Compaq customers. This application was initially to monitor, signal and clarify unhealthy conditions for Compaq PCs clustered together using Microsofts Cluster Server software. We added recommendation functionality as well (if this is the problem then try this to fix it). The application was built in two components, a browser based Java Applet and a Server based Java applet integrated into the WBEM infrastructure. The application was built simultaneously with the development of the WBEM software and depended strongly on the WBEM development timings and documentation. There were several WBEM/Cluster OM app team meetings and close cooperation between the Houston based WBEM designers and the Cupertino based Java application designers. We received several copies of the WBEM software before our application was completed.

During this period we also designed and implemented a software driver for Tandem proprietary MSCS cluster systems that cross monitored power, availability and temperature tolerance variables inside the clustered systems cabinet. This driver provided data to the web application that was displayed (if this was one of Tandem's special systems) in the application as additional information.

Technology:

We used Jbuilder Pro 3.5 (and library), Sun's Java Swing package and proprietary Java technology from Compaq (via WBEM)to implement this innovative application. We used SNMP to communicate with the cluster health monitors. We used the WBEM based data base to save off OM data and share it with other applications (should they need it) and the WBEM based initialization/termination facility to initialize and terminate the application. Documentation on the app can be found on the web at: http://www.compaq.com/solutions/enterprise/highavailability-clustermgmt.html. Documentation on WBEM as implemented at Compaq (Compaq Insight Manager XE) can be found at http://www.compaq.com/products/servers/management/cim-xe.html. Documentation on the WBEM Standard can be found at http://www.dmtf.org/standards/standard_wbem.php

My Responsibilities while at Compaq/Tandem:

Typical administration duties:

• Hire/fire/performance reviews/provide constructive feedback
• Encourage effort and growth of engineers
• Make project asssignments
• Review and make regular status reports
• Continue to improve technical/management skills
• Acquire assets (software and hardware) needed for software development
• Provide periodic program reviews to upper management

Make sure project can be and is delivered on time with quality:

• Validate requirements meet business needs and adequately define what's needed
• Provide task breakdown with resources defined and timing
• Adjust other assignments to meet project priorities
• Assess and report progress and effort being applied to project
• Make sure the necessary level of effort is applied to meet the feature, quality and time requirements
• Keep Project management, Quality Assurance and other software development management informed of progress
• Assure proper software development processes are followed

Ensure good Software development process for all projects that require Java programming;

• Enforce process steps, requirements, specs, design, code, test, maintenance
• Work with product/project managers to document requirements for projects and guestimate implementation times/dates, work up any tradeoffs and risk definitions.
• Guide Software engineers in requirements definition and good design solutions,
• Draw up planning docs (MS Project, Excel etc.), work with engineers to validate task times and resources,
• Review/contribute to engineering response and design documents,
• Work with engineers on resolving difficult implementation problems, providing liason with project mgmt if requirements need to be reset,
• Review Unit Test Plan and observe execution of unit tests with engineer(s) prior to integration
• Review integration plan and observe integration testing with engineers prior to hand off to QA

Participate in improving the health and effectiveness of the technology department;

• Get engineers trained in new technologies as they become "viable" for consideration
• Participate in design/technology discussions with design teams
• Work with project management to understand future application projects
• Work with other Dev Labs, release management, Project management and QA engineering groups to improve working relationships and interfaces

Technologies used:

• Typical Microsoft Office suite, plus MS Project
• Microsoft Visual C++
• Borland Jbuilder Pro v3.5
• Compaq Insight Manager XE
• Java applets, "servelets",