This week we have the pleasure of spotlighting Annie Cheng. Annie is a Software Service Analyst for RCS specific to the XL C++ and Fortran Compilers space and has some great insights to share about debuggers and what she sees as vital skills to success. Plus, don't miss some of her favourite websites as well; you may find them quite useful and enlightening in your own space! And, of course, check out our previous interviews too!


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
I am a Software Service Analyst for IBM Rational XL C/C++ and Fortran Compilers Support team located in Toronto, Canada. Our team help clients around the world to resolve complex compilation technology problems ranging from language standards, coding problems, compiler defects, linking, debugging, parallelism, optimization to questions and best practices on various platforms such as AIX, Linux, BlueGene and z/OS. We collaborate with clients and various system components across IBM to get to the root cause and solution. We also contribute in product release life cycle, product features, testing, documentation and process improvements.
Before joining IBM Canada, I worked in Silicon Valley as a developer on emerging mobile technologies after my graduate school study. I currently live in Vancouver, Canada with my husband and 4-year-old daughter.  

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
I joined the IBM Rational Compiler team in Toronto in November, 2005.  

Describe a normal day for you.
I live on the West Coast, my teams are mostly on the East Coast and my clients are worldwide. To get the most overlap, I start early.  The morning is usually packed with meetings and discussions with clients and development teams all around the world for problem analysis, brainstorming, collaboration and issue tracking. After a late lunch, I turn to individual investigation and a lot of the heavy work such as emails, mining data, gathering information for knowledge sharing, etc. I also check emails at night sometimes.

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
Overseeing our clients to succeed and realize their technical investment from using our products is my favorite part. Understanding client's pain points built my knowledge about their diverse industries. The complex nature of our client's problems makes everyday challenging and fulfilling. Working with a global team with incredible talent is also very rewarding.

What inspires you in your work?
The problems we face everyday and the people around  us. I am learning something new everyday.

What are you passionate about?
I am passionate about helping clients to succeed and realize their technical investments.

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
I love running. In summer, I run outside in the neighborhood or in the parks; and in the winter, on the treadmill. I participate in local fund-raising running events. I also enjoy hiking and skiing in the mountains.   

What type of gadgets do you use?
I am not a gadget person. My cell phone is 8 years old! But I love Amazon Kindle. When we moved from Toronto to Vancouver, we donated a lot of books. I now keep many titles and PDF files in the Kindle. My home is a lot cleaner now! No more half opened books scattered around and the space for the bookcases was replaced with a treadmill which I also love so much!

When did you first become interested in technology?
Maybe at 6 years old, when my 12-year-old brother was building a model ship with remote control circuit boards from scratch. I helped by passing him the tube-like transistors (It was more than 20 years ago and those things are still very bulky!). I sorted them by shapes and colors. I was scorched by the welder and I still have a scar on my wrist. But it was so cool to see the little ship sail in the pond with the remote control later!

What tools / skills have you acquired that you feel are vital to your success in this field?
Problem solving, thinking out of the box and maintaining a high level of curiosity are important in technical fields. However, communication, interpersonal skills, business skills (aka, soft skills) are the ones that make the difference in the long run.  

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?
In my Kindle, I am currently reading "Delivering Happiness" by Zappos's CEO Tony Hsieh. Tony has given some interesting insights about exceptional customer service.

What are you doing to make the planet smarter?
I work from home and do not commute.

How are you using social networking today?
I use Facebook to connect with friends, families and colleagues.  I use LinkedIn to connect with colleagues and clients and share product and support news. I also contribute to our C/C++ Cafe blogs for proactive support and knowledge sharing with clients. I am starting to use Twitter to follow interesting people that I could learn from.

What are some of your favorite websites/feeds/twitter accounts to follow?
There are too many to name. I found a lot of the IBM Lotus Connections blogs interesting! Among them are C/C++ Cafe and Notes from Rational Support, of course. And outside of work, I like watching minimalist chef Mark Bitman's cooking videos on NYTimes, and reading on marketing guru Seth Godin's blogs.

Any other fun tidbits of information about you, your job, or RCS that you'd like to share?
Many people may not know that the C/C++ compiler for AIX also ships a GUI debugger called IBM Debugger for AIX. It's a great tool for your debugging needs! And with Rational Developer for Power, it combines the whole edit-compile-debug experience together!
Also, I work remotely, so I don't get to see many of my colleagues face-to-face, so don't be afraid to call and don't be surprised if I call you to catch up!

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Tags:  rcs rational support people interview

Ah, Friday at last! As you've come to expect, our latest interview is below; this will have to last you for two weeks though, as we will be taking a break next week for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday (during which your humble authors/editors will be out of the office and likely up to our ears in house projects, and stuffed to the gills with turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, and dressing, not to mention the pies).

But what luck luck we have! Today we are honoured to feature Danny Mace, our Director of Rational Client Support Strategy and Business Programs. As a new addition to the RCS family, Danny has been busy getting up to speed with the various teams and business challenges. Of course I doubt it will take him long at all, as he isn't exactly a newcomer to IBM as you'll discover in his interview. If you find yourself in need of more interviews next week, take some time and look back on all our prior interviews this year, because as Danny notes below, the people of RCS are indeed exceptional!

Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
Director of Rational Client Support Strategy and Business Programs.  I have a wide range of projects from WW Client Programs, AVP, Support Planning, Support Business Intelligence, and Tools.

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
20 years at IBM, but only 3 with Rational.  

Have you had any other roles in Rational?
Yes.  I joined Rational as a 2nd line development manager in the Enterprise Modernization space.  After that, I worked as a Technical Assistant to Hayden Lindsey who is the VP of EM, ADC, and EA Development in Rational.

What are you currently working on?
Getting on board in RCS  

Describe a normal day for you.
My normal day is a full day meetings while worried about how to answer all the email!    While this can seem boring, I love interacting with teams in person and on the phone.  I would be happy to ban email and Instant messaging!

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?
Serious gadget person.  If it plugs in, I usually want one   I would have to credit my iPhone as the best gadget of all time for me.  I use it throughout the day and night

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
I'm still learning the parts of RCS, but clearly the people are joy to work with and exceptionally talented!

What are you passionate about?
My passions are driving positive change in an organization, and working with my team to make them successful.   I get frustrated when my time is taken up by daily operations, and I work hard to make time for setting future directions and strategies.  

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
My 'non-work' passion is my family.  We enjoy each other through active events,  occasional travel, and quiet evenings at home.

Have you worked on any projects that you feel were exceptionally exciting for you?
I've always been attracted to startup projects and teams.  I love helping IBM start a new business or product and especially creating a new team from scratch.

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?
I have Scientific American, Discover, and Mac Life on my night stand.  Yes, I am a technology geek

What is your favorite technology that fizzled or failed to live up to the hype?
I was sure IBM was going to conquer the personal computer world with the Power PC and a new operating system we called Workplace/OS.   10 years ago, we had the technology to run Mac, Windows, and OS/2 all on the same platform at the same time.  After a series of challenges,  the Power PC platform succeeded while the Workplace/OS operating system was shelved.  The combined product was never release to the world..   In the end, Microsoft and Intel had their heyday

Any new technologies that you think are about to break into the big time?
Mobile computing is in its infancy, and I think it will be a serious investment for software developers including Rational in the future.  I think we are going to see more than 50% of the current desktop computer market disappear in favor of a mobile computing platform (like the iPhone).

How do you grow your technical skills?
As an executive, my technical skills have drastically faded since leaving the technical ranks.  I learn best in a hands on environment, but my current role doesn't allow me the time for hands on activities.  As a substitute, I get my technical knowledge by talking and learning from experts during meetings and 1-1's.  I just have to ask a lot of questions!


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Tags:  support people interview rational rcs

This week we spotlight another "behind the scenes" guy: Mike McCawley. Mike, in addition to being a 'wicked smaht guy', also has a propensity for verbosity as you'll find in his interview below (and a trait shared by your humble editor at times). But don't be scared by all the words, Mike has some outstanding insights and advice to share, and he has even provided a multitude of links to help! So read on and discover what Mike really thinks about gadgets, search, social media, and so much more!


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
Hi, I'm Mike McCawley (yes, Beth McCawley's husband, you met her a few weeks ago) and I'm an IT Architect for eSupport applications.  I work on IT projects that IBM Clients use to get help, answer questions, and communicate with IBM engineers, once they own IBM stuff.
My official title, however, is Wicked Smaht Guy.  This was hung on me by my former manager Kelly Smith (thank you very much) and she put it on my business cards.  No, this is not your father's IBM.

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
Since 2003 / 2002 respectively.

Have you had any other roles in Rational?
I was the manager of the Downloads and Upgrades department, and of the telephony systems for the Rational Support worldwide organization.

What are you currently working on?
IBM Search systems.  I mean the big beastly Search applications that everyone uses at the Masthead of IBM.com, the one within the IBM Electronic Support Portal, and a variety of special purpose search applications we use internally.  Additionally, I consult for the content management guys (who write all those Technotes and so forth) regarding Search Engine Optimization.

Describe a normal day for you.
First, I wake up and ask Beth if I'm the "early" or "late" IBMer parent.  Since we are a two-IBMer marriage, we need to figure out how we stagger our schedules to care both for our agendas and our son.
Four days a week I commute the grueling 4.1 miles to the Littleton MA office, through one traffic light and beautiful New England scenery.  Sometimes on a bike.  One day a week I commute twenty feet to my home office.

My job is mostly bringing ideas together to solve a practical technical problem.  I work on a few teams that have people from all over the planet.  For instance, if I'm talking about Enterprise Search, my direct working team has IBMers from Haifa,  Moscow, Paris, Toronto, Chicago, Boulder, Poughkeepsie, and Rochester MN.  Scheduling meeting times is a chore!

I read email, arrange my schedule of meetings, get some fresh single-origin organic coffee, and get on the phone, which is still the primary collaboration tool.  10:30am every day is scrum, and we protect that time and always go, except when we don't.  When I get a block of a couple of hours in a row, I open up my Thinkpad W500 and use Rational Team Concert, find a couple of tasks on my backlog, and start writing code in Rational Application Developer.  If I don't find a lot of contiguous time, I work on conceptual plans for the next release or some new project vision, using Lotus Symphony.

I work until I run out of time, then I commute home, sometimes with a stop at the farm for fresh groceries, and plan dinner.  We eat as a family every night and don't talk shop.  Often one or both of us needs to cover an early or late meeting with IBMers in Europe or Asia, so we are pretty tightly scheduled.

What project are you the most proud of?
Well, this is hard.  I've had the opportunity to do some really cool, and some really useful, and sometimes even stuff that is both cool and useful.  I'm actually rather proud of something that was really simple, a robot (called Marvin <grin /> ) that would move files from one place to another within IBM, with the twist that the files were very sensitive (client support data) and everything had to be secure, encrypted, highly available, and bomb-proof.  I built it very quickly using old technology (lftp, Perl) and it was expected to only run for a few weeks, but it had a two year run in production with a perfect track record.  It never complained about aching diodes.  Not once.

Do you have an "on the job" hero? If you could "follow" anyone for 24 hours, who would it be?
Well, absolutely, but it's so hard to choose.  My position in IBM puts me in daily contact with some of the world's best and brightest people.  Dare I name names and risk giving someone a big head?  OK, I will, Matt Cutts at Google.

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?
"Gadgets" is so old skool.  There is only one gadget: the Smartphone.  I use an iPhone, myself.  We don't talk about gadgets anymore, we talk about apps.  (Can you tell I work in Software Development?)  Have you seen PayPal's iPhone check cashing?   

What's the coolest piece of tech news you've heard lately?
What's up with a 7" tablet and why does everyone need to make one?  You got a 4" phone, and a "page-sized" tablet, why on earth do we need something in the middle?  Cool?  Not so sure, but a whole lot of folks seem to be betting they will be.

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
Oh, now this is gonna be the part of this interview that raises eyebrows.  And it's not just a Rational statement, but an IBM statement.  
I love the peoples.  Everyone says "the people" but I do mean "peoples," as in diversity.  Here, in IBM Rational, I am surrounded by folks of every possible physical, ethnic, sexually-oriented, religious, national, economic, political, tattooed, and yes even blue-suited description you can imagine.  (Some  executives have tattoos and some engineers wear suits - whatever.)  None of those labels matter here. The only thing that matters, once an IBMer walks in the building, is what they got in their heads, how they can contribute to solving a client's problem and making the planet a little smarter.  I really mean it, the way we all inter-operate, work together, respect each other is, in my mind, a model of how the rest of the world should work.  I'm surrounded by the best people, and people at their best.  Sounds like a commercial, but it's real.  Almost unreal.  This is a very special place.

What inspires you in your work? What are you passionate about?
Oh, Search.  I mean, the next kind of search engines, the linguistically aware ones.  There is a problem with search as you know it now, and that is: you are a human and you need to ask a computer to find stuff for you.  You, the human, need to understand something about computers to be successful.  You need to know the right words to type into that little box.  Authors need to know how to classify and publish data so it will be found.  I want to reverse that.  I want to teach computers how humans work.  I want authors to do what they do, I want searchers to ask in plain language, and the machines have enough intelligence to understand not only what authors and searchers are saying, but what they mean, and connect the two.  
Ultimately I want computers to know what you meant to say, not just what you said. Then give you what you need, not just what you asked for. Fortunately, we are very likely to see this happen, perhaps very soon, and I'm proud and pleased to be working on these technologies every day.

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
Well, my spare time profile has changed dramatically now that we're parents.  However, in addition to being a professional nerd, I am a somewhat accomplished scuba diver, a private pilot, and a pretty good cyclist, however not so good as my wife.  At one point I've had seven salt-water reef aquariums.  I cook with passion using whatever ingredients show up from our CSA farm membership.  I play drums, guitar, and now bass with more enthusiasm than talent.  But not so much of that now; mostly I practice at being a good father.

When did you first become interested in computers?
Oh, interested ... around 1982 when I got my Commodore 64.  When I went through college (the first time) at Penn State, I had joined a research team in the Physics department (electron optics and high vacuum) and was infected with a passion for computers.  Ah, those were the days - late nights debugging FORTRAN with my punch cards spread out all over the floor .... When I got a PC/AT model 5170 in 1986, it very literally changed my life.  I fell in love with my test equipment and stopped caring so much about the science I was exploring.  I changed careers and never regretted it.

What tools / skills have you acquired that you feel are vital to your success in this field?
The ability to focus on something for hours/days at a time.  Seriously, IT is about problem solving; and it's a deadline oriented business.  As phenomenal as IBM is regarding work-life balance (and I mean it), there will be deadlines and promises you gotta keep.  So, sometimes you grab a problem and don't let go until it's solved, however long it takes. Sometimes you do it because a client has a severity one issue, or sometimes because you simply can't move on until you have closure.  To steal a line from another colleague, we reward RESULTS, not effort.

What message would you give to someone just starting out in the IT industry?
Learn another language, and let me suggest Chinese.  The importance of this cannot be overstated.  The planet is shrinking, and all this business of shoveling bits around is fundamentally about empowering people to do their thing.  Always remember - science is science, but technology is a humanity, and if humans don't benefit, you're wasting your time.

What specifically drew your interest to become involved in the IT Architect field specifically?
Well, I finally found the career that best suits a "jack of all trades" such as myself.  I am not the world's foremost authority on anything, despite trying, but I can command a 'B' average in a whole lot of different things.  This is fundamental to good Architecture - you need to know something about everything, not everything about something.  When I do need that deep skill, I reach out to my team - I can find an expert on any given topic in seconds via Sametime.

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?
A stack of stuff.  I mix up a bag of science fiction / fantasy (currently reading Patricia Briggs "Mercy" series) with self help (James Martin's "The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything") and classics (Hemmingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls"  -- again).

What has been your biggest surprise you have witnessed in the technology industry?
The Prell bottle.  No question.
What, you ask, about MRIs, the Jarvic heart, the polio vaccine?  Lemme ask you: if you drop an MRI machine down a flight of stairs, can you still use it?  OK, Mel Brooks aside, I'm still simply stunned that film photography died so suddenly.  I mean, I've got a great digital camera setup (I'm still a Nikon partisan) but film is art.  Now, E-6 is dead, dead, dead.  No one has enough business to keep the developer chemicals fresh.  When Kodak stopped production of Kodachrome, Paul Simon and I cried all night.  

Is there any technology that you think should get more respect and adoption but does not?
What does it take to get Linux on desktops?  It's good enough.  For anything.  Really.

What is your favorite technology that fizzled or failed to live up to the hype?
Segues.  Firewire.  SCSI.

Any new technologies that you think are about to break into the big time?
Within a couple of years, every telephone will have bidirectional video.  I'm not certain I'm ready for this.  I mean, do I really want to see who's calling me?  Will telemarketers now have to hire photogenic operators?  Do I want them to see me?  How do you turn your camera off socially?  (No, honey, I'm not at the pub.  My camera must be hosed again.)  Will there be a mass market for software that alters your appearance with real-time CGI?  What will my avatar be?  If I'm not seeing the real you, what's the point?  Makes my head hurt.

What future technology would make your life easier?
Professionally:  Really good machine translation, or a cheap real-time translating machine.  (er, app for your smartphone - gadgets are so old skool.)  I mean, I want Douglas Adams' babel fish.  And I expect he had it right (may he rest in peace), that something like that could be the greatest source of peace and prosperity in the history of the Universe.   Imagine if we didn't misunderstand each other so much?

Personally:  Putting technology in its place. I want things to take the drudge out of life.  Eliminate the repetitive, moronic, soul-destroying tasks, and generally let me focus on activities of value.  But, I have to say, I lead a rather privileged life already and I'm thankful for it.  I'd rather that inventors use their brains figuring out cheap ways to purify drinking water, or grow food with less fertilizers, or get from point 'A' to point 'B' without using so much fossil fuel.  I don't need a new gadget, thank you very much.  

What are you doing to make the planet smarter?
I used to teach people how to work with computers.  Now, I teach computers how to work with people.

How do you grow your technical skills?
My manager supports my addiction to O'Reilly Press ("Dojo, The Definitive Guide" is on my desk now.) and I take on-line classes at the University of Massachusetts.  Additionally, I complete a few IBM Global Campus training modules every year, but mostly, I get involved in a project where I don't know all the answers, and I gotta figure it out on the job.

How do you prefer to find answers to your questions?
Oh, need I say it?  Even a dude like me, who works on Search for a living, still uses Google routinely, but... additionally, I very frequently use my technology communities.  Much of my work is confidential, so I cannot use what you commonly call social media, but we have team-based equivalents inside IBM and I can use them to connect with experts on practically any subject.

Are you a blogger in the blogosphere? ... Are you a YouTuber? ...Are you an Author? .... Do you Tweet? ...
I was.  I would like to be, but you know, not so much anymore.  First off, it was a time suck, and my spare time is at a premium.  Second, as I was following along this curve, I decided the social media things (Facebook, Twitter, etc) were filling up with noise.  The value of the whole thing seems to be declining now, since the signal to noise ratio is decreasing.  I don't need to know what breakfast cereal you just discovered, thanks.  I am interested in really only a small amount of this stuff, like the fact Ubuntu decided to pick a different default UI in the next release.  I need some sort of way to filter all of the social noise out, so I can only see the stuff going on in my digital neighborhood I am interested in, without requiring me to slog through the useless (gratuitous, salacious, inflammatory) other stuff.  Yeah, yeah, social media is wet and messy just like real life.  Great, there is just so much of it, is my point.  I expect this will work itself out presently - I know I'm not the only one who feels like this.

Oh, wait, last point:  grammar matters, people.  (Or, maybe that's my problem.)

What publications / websites do you read / visit?
Wired.  Freshmeat.  Slashdot.  VeloNews.  Bon Appitite.  The Onion.  Wine Spectator.


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Tags:  interview rational support rcs people

This week we bring the spotlight to Sabrina Hippert / Wimsatt. Don't let both her names fool you, Sabrina really is just one person providing all that Accelerated Value support along with the rest of her team in RCS. You may THINK she is two people, though, as she seems to have her hands in a number of projects in addition to her role in AVP. I'm not sure where she even finds the time to travel, but she does! And while you're spending the time here, don't forget to see our previous interviews with our other busy peeps in RCS!


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
My name appears as both Sabrina Wimsatt and Sabrina Hippert. I am one of the Accelerated Value Leaders in Rational Client Support.

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
I have been with Rational since April of 2000. I started in Modeling support as a TSE for Rose, XDE, RSA, and RMC, went to a Staff TSE, team lead and then come to AVP about 2 1/2 years ago.

What are you currently working on?
I am currently focused primarily in the Requirement Management (RM) space, but I also assist in modeling and RMC. I am working with a particular client on helping them implement a short term (RM) solution.

Describe a normal day for you.
There is no normal day for me, they vary. I am generally on the phone in meetings with my clients, development, DPP /beta team, or support. 

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?  
Not really, but I can't live without my cell phone. I use it all the time and it helps me stay connected to what is going on.

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
I love working with all the different teams in support and actually talking to them face to face.

What are you passionate about?
I am passionate about keeping my clients happy, being close to my family/friends and I love to bake.

What tip or trick would you like to share with the class?
It is very important to network with people both in Rational and outside, don't be afraid to reach out to them and ask for help or ask if you can help them.

How do you define success?
Success means that I don't compromise my integrity, working with people who need my help, having time to spend with my family so an equal work life balance, providing value to others, meeting my commitments, and being happy with where I am today.

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
I enjoy traveling, I just got back from Aruba in September and that was such a beautiful island with so many nice people. I enjoy going antiquing, collecting vintage costume jewelry. I also love to bake, and play Texas Holdem poker with my husband.

Have you worked on any projects that you feel were exceptionally exciting for you?
I have been excited about a few projects (audit / internal tooling training) and also teaching client management modules. I enjoy teaching since it allows me to share my experiences, get to know people. And also, I get excited to bake.

If you were stuck on a technology deprived island, what single technology could you not live without?
My cell phone

How do you grow your technical skills?
I learn new things by participating with clients in the Betas and DPP programs along with attending the RCS training courses.


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Tags:  people rational rcs support interview

We're spotlighting Craig Sutliff today! Craig is another of our Littleton, Massachusetts superstars, acting (in part) as a Support Product Manager. A busy guy with family and work balancing, Craig has some great insights on success, skills, and one of the best tips/tricks I've seen! Read on to learn more about what makes him tick, and don't miss our previous interviews too!


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
My name is Craig Sutliff.  I'm 32 years old, living in Methuen, MA with my wife Erin (Who works for Rational's TeleSales team in Westford, MA) and 3 yr old son Aiden.  I'm currently on Holly Bloomer's Release Readiness team as the Support Product Manager & Global Enablement Program Manager for the Enterprise Architecture/Analysis, Design & Construction Segment.  I am also the Rational Brand Consumablity Strategist.

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?  
I started with Rational in 1999 and was with the company up through the IBM acquisition in 2003, when I was laid off.  I was hired back as a TSE in 2004 (more details below in next answer)

Have you had any other roles in Rational?  
I started with Rational as a Temp, working in the mail room in 1999.  I was hired on Full time on the Rational Facilities team shortly after starting, and managed the Lexington office shipping department through 2003.  During this time I was going to school at night, finishing my BS in Information Systems at UMASS Lowell.  When I returned to IBM in 2004 (after completing my degree), I joined the Integrations Support team in Lexington.  After 1.5 years with the Integrations team, I joined the SPM team, and have been there till this day

What are you currently working on?  
2011 Consumability Strategy for the Rational Brand, among standard SPMGE duties (enablement planning and delivery, Release quality tracking, interacting with Development)

Describe a normal day for you.  
Wake up at 5:30am, and either head to the office (or my couch if I'm working form home).  Have a coffee and then put my bluetooth in my ear for a long day of calls/meetings.  Pick up my son from day-care and hang out with him for a bit.  Then Dinner, and some TV (occasionally with the lap top open) before going to bed.

What project are you the most proud of?  
This is an old project, but in my early years with Rational, the company was growing/expanding and a very fast rate and outgrew it's 20 Maguire building.  The project of expanding our offices in the Lexington area (to the 12 Hartwell, 81 +83 Hartwell and 91 Hartwell buildings) was very fascinating and a big undertaking.

Do you have an "on the job" hero? If you could "follow" anyone for 24 hours, who would it be?
Hmm...Too many to count.  I'd like to have a round robin shadow opportunity for a lot of different roles in Rational for the learning experience and potential for identifying/defining my career path.

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?  
I guess I have to say no.  I try to keep up to date, but usually don't get to dive too deep into getting around to using them.  

What type of gadgets do you use?  
Blackberry is probably about it on a regular basis.  IPod/ITouch.  Does a PS3 count?  Considering a IPad or some e-reader to replace actually reading the physical newspaper each day (yeah, I'm old fashioned like that!)

What gadget, which you currently own, can you not live without?  
Since it's also my cell phone, my blackberry.  

What's the coolest piece of tech news you've heard lately?  
3D television.  Will be interesting to see if this really takes off or not.  

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?  
The people.  I know this is a stock answer, but since I started working with Rational when I was 20 years old, I really have grown up with many of the people in Rational and RCS.

What inspires you in your work?  
Challenges, meeting them, and getting the job done.  

What are you passionate about?    
Passionate might a strong word, as I like to view myself as pretty even keel.  Outside of work, I'm a big fan of Professional sports (NFL/MLB/NBA/Golf/Tennis).  I'm also a big music fan.

What tip or trick would you like to share with the class?  
If you don't know, don't be ashamed to ask

How do you define success?  
Understanding what is being asked of you, and executing to those requirements. 

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you? 
Being with my son.  I'm also a huge NE Sports fan and a Red Sox season ticket holder.  I love music and when I can, getting on my PS3 for some "sanity time".  In the summer, my family goes boating, and now that my son is getting older, we'll be starting to ski more in the winter.

What tools / skills have you acquired that you feel are vital to your success in this field?  
Negotiation would be at the top of the list.  Learning to understand and analyze business metrics, and presentation skills would follow.

What specifically drew your interest to become involved in your field?  
To be honest, not sure.  Just kind of fell into it.  Originally went to college to be a Veterinarian

Do you have any big plans for the future?  
I try not to look too far ahead, and not take the present for granted.

If you were stuck on a technology deprived island, what single technology could you not live without? 
Good question.  I think I'd have to have some form of music around, whatever form it takes.

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?  
"Caught" by Harlen Coben, latest Rolling Stone magazine and some section of a recent Boston Globe and/or Boston Herald

What is your favorite technology that fizzled or failed to live up to the hype?  
Mini discs.  Man did I waste money on a bunch of those!

How do you prefer to find answers to your questions?  
My own research whenever possible.  The process of doing it myself helps me learn/remember.  But usually due to time constraints, I find an SME and ask.

How are you using social networking today?  
Twitter and Facebook.  Mainly to keep up with old fiends, and gaming (on FB)

How could you see yourself using it in 5 years?  
Probably in the same manner

Are you a blogger in the blogosphere? no ... Are you a YouTuber?  not really ...Are you an Author?  no .... Do you Tweet? ..occasionally, but not much.

What are some of your favorite websites/feeds/twitter accounts to follow?  
Don't really have any.  Mostly just follow friends on Twitter

What publications / websites do you read / visit?  
Read the Boston Globe and Boston herald every day.  Typically visit ESPN.com once a day.  For Magazines, I read Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Spin, Game Informer

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Tags:  interview people rcs rational support

Today I have the distinct pleasure of highlighting Virgil Titarenco. Virgil is a bit of a renaissance man; skilled in many diverse fields, he puts his broad knowledge to use in his daily job as a Rational Support TSE. From web design, literature, digital arts or even the sciences, if it is an intellectual pursuit you can bet Virgil will be interested if not already researching it! Read on to learn more... and don't forget to check out our previous interviews to learn even more about the faces of Rational Support


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
My name is Virgil Titarenco and I work as a TSE in Rational Client Support mostly for the requirements management applications.

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
I have worked for IBM in Rational since the company I was working for previously, Telelogic, was acquired by IBM in 2008. I worked for Telelogic since 2005.

Have you had any other roles in Rational?
Yes. I was working as Customer Care Manager, a role that I performed both in Telelogic and during the first 2 years after the transition into IBM.

What are you currently working on?
I’m working, as I mentioned previously, as a TSE and part time I’m assisting the CSPO office with different client issues. The main goal of my activity is assuring the IBM Rational clients have a positive and beneficial customer support experience when dealing with our products and services.

Describe a normal day for you.
I think a normal day for me is no different than the normal day for any other TSE: nothing spectacular. Reviewing the PMRs that I need to work with that particular day, working them, contacting IBM clients via phone or email, testing different problems from the clients, creating technotes, finding time for the necessary training and enablement sessions. In my “spare time” I try to create some IEA modules or to catch up with lower priority emails.

What project are you the most proud of?
I am very proud of the Customer Orientation Webinars and Webcasts I did while in Telelogic and during the transition into IBM Rational. I received much positive feedback from clients for this. Also I’m proud to be the creator of the first IEA modules for DOORS in IBM Rational.

Do you have an "on the job" hero? If you could "follow" anyone for 24 hours, who would it be?
I’m afraid I’m still in search for that.

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?
Funny, the word “gadget” reminds me of my childhood; I used to receive the French “PIF Gadget” comic magazine and every issue contained a gadget you were able to build yourself. It was amazing.  In terms of electronic gadgetry I think I’m more settled now than I was 10-20 years ago. I still have one of the first handheld PSION II (model LZ) – one of the ancestors of handheld organizers of today. I used to program on it. I built many computers by myself, more than I can remember, including my last powerhouse i7. I also have an iPhone and I enjoy photography with a Canon EOS 40D. I still dream about a biological microscope to connect to my PC - a remnant of my love for microscopy during my university years.

What gadget, which you currently own, can you not live without?
Let’s be serious, humans lived without electricity and electronics for thousands of years. I’d survive without them. It would be much more difficult for me without paper and pen, or without books.

What's the coolest piece of tech news you've heard lately?
I think is the new driverless car tested by Google, and the 3G/4G wireless broadband mobile hotspots.

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
Discovering new people and things both inside and outside IBM.

What inspires you in your work?
The sacrifices I made to come to the US from my native country.

What are you passionate about?
Family, success, money, and discovering the essence of things.

Tell me about the biggest problem you've solved?
I don't know, there are several. Moving when you are 35 with all your family over an ocean and start a new life learning and absorbing the American way of life. Moving a whole website from a home made structure to Drupal CMS. Actually I like solving problems and managing the journey to success. I can be pretty stubborn when fixing my eyes on a goal.

Tell me about the biggest problem ahead for you?
Achieving a career in IBM. Buying a house in California.

How do you define success?
Success (from my perspective) is achieving what you are made for, against all the odds. I think each of us reaches the maximum potential when we are able to arrive at a place and a role that matches our internal structure and energy. Then is when we can say there is harmony between the external and internal universes. And in the same time there is harmony between our "cause" and our "effect".

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
Poetry, philosophy, theology, history, politics, web design (Drupal, mysql, php), literature, photo and digital art. I also built, own and manage an international 500 member literature website/e-zine. And sometimes fishing and painting.

Have you worked on any projects that you feel were exceptionally exciting for you?
I’m very proud of my first published book of poetry – Mirabile dictu, that won a national first prize in Romania. Also during my college years I was the first to take photographs of animal chromosomes in my university.

Do you have any big plans for the future?
Translating my poetry and publishing it in English, and writing prose. And, of course, as I said previously, a career in IBM.

If you were stuck on a technology deprived island, what single technology could you not live without?
My laptop.

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?
The Bible.

Is there any technology that you think should get more respect and adoption but does not?
Open source.

Any new technologies that you think are about to break into the big time?
I think this is as much a technology question as a socio-psychological question. I think technological success has to do economic and cultural circumstances but also with human nature. Generally speaking I classify the people in two categories: people who like to customize and control technology, and people who just want to us it. However, I think there are more people who just want to use things without the need to control them. So I think technologies that appeal to this human aspect will be more successful in the future. I also believe the technologies that will be able to fully integrate TV, Radio and phone into a fast and reliable wireless Internet service will have success in the future.     

What future technology would make your life easier?
4G (or more) and reliable house remote control. Or maybe something like a "home computing cloud". Also the holographic display. I also think the Internet is now full of poorly designed websites and services. Basically I think the whole Internet experience is in it's infancy. Something like the "iron age". There will be a time when computing will be not only science and technology but also art and skill, a real extension of human behavior, relations and experience. That’s why I think the future will bring up a new art/science of building a successful and reliable web presence. Also the way the web will be developed will be molded more around the human nature and not vice versa (as it happened until now).

How do you grow your technical skills?
Mostly reading and testing new tools and technologies. I like to experiment. Ask my grandma the way the old family "cuckoo clock" was taken to pieces. Or my father about the old pick-up radio or his wristwatch. All of them "enjoyed" the growing pains of my technical skills.

How do you prefer to find answers to your questions?
Dictionary.com, Google, Wikipedia, Refdesk.com, CEO Express. And the old fashion way of searching inside books.

How are you using social networking today?
Not very much. Sometimes I use Jumpino.com. I use mostly my literary website for this. It's where I post my literary texts and interact with others. I built it on Drupal CMS and it has all that a social network can offer. And of course I always can add more modules.

Are you a blogger in the blogosphere? ... Are you a YouTuber? ...Are you an Author? .... Do you Tweet? ...
Talking about all these, I was around and I remember using BBS, mail list, majordomo, etc. Philosophically speaking I believe technology is just a shell, a tool, a way of doing things. And history showed us many times that the scarcity and the technical limitations of our tools are beneficial for the quality of what we create. There was a time when digital photography didn't exist. During those times a single shot was expensive and time consuming. During those years the art of photography was in its prime. Now we can take brilliant thousands of digital photos a day. I don't know about the art of photography anymore, or the effort to make each one of these photos to be perfect. Talking about blogosphere and all the networking tools out there; they are great. We live in an amazing age. Our parents made the greatest leap in the history of the technology. Some of them remember electrification and the dawn of radio and tv. On the other hand their grandchildren can produce now an entire tv show on the net just pushing a button. The only question is about the real quality and value all this brings to human life and experience. How shallow or how profound we became as human beings. How much real value and progress for each of us individually and for the humanity as a whole. Homer, Shakespeare or Bach didn't have all these, and we (or at least some of us) are still reading or listening to them. I think technology is an amazing tool if it creates or enhances value in human experience whether individually or as society.

What publications / websites do you read / visit?
Hermeneia.com, Aldaily.com (Arts & Letters Daily), drupal.org, cnn.com, Wikipedia.org, Google news, etc.

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Tags:  rational rcs interview support people

This week we are back in the Littleton office to chat with Phil Wall. As the Rational Client Support Knowledge Management Team lead, Phil has a big hand in our KCS (knowledge centered support) program, but don't let that fool you... he's not just a techie geek, he also has a serious love for hands on work like welding and construction as you'll find below.  


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support? How long have you been working for IBM and Rational? Have you had any other roles in Rational? What project are you the most proud of?

My name is Phillip Wall and I am the Knowledge Management Team Lead within IBM Rational Software Client Support. I'm 28 years old and about to be 29 in November living and working in Easter Massachusetts. I have been with IBM Rational Software for the last almost 7 years (7 years in February 2011) and I have been in the Information Technologies field for the last 12 years in total even while still in High School and Shawsheen Valley Technical High School in Billerica, MA where I studied Electronics.

Within Rational I have worked in many teams, project teams and have held a few titles in my tenure. I started out as a Technical Support Engineer supporting Rational SoDA and Rational Project Console. This was a welcome change over the job I left in Varian Semiconductor of Gloucester, MA where I was working as a Electro Mechanical Assembler installing and calibrating Ion Implanters on the third shift.

I started in Rational one year after its acquisition by IBM and quickly progressed from a Technical Support Engineer to a Escalation Engineer working with development engineers to prioritize and rectify complex issues and defects that were reported by my client base. As I progressed into the Escalation Engineer Role Engineer. After being in the Escalation Engineer Role for a while, I think almost a year I heard of a new team starting up called the Information Development team. After putting my name into the hat I was selected as one of the members of the New Information Development Team.

Our Charter was to get knowledge into the Knowledge Base and to clean up the existing Knowledge to conform to our content standards... Fast forward three and some change years and you have the Knowledge Management Team were I am now the Team Lead.

Currently the Knowledge Management Team is tuning our Knowledge Centered Support methodology, our Social Media strategies and our Metrics Reporting vehicles.

Currently I'm working with the IBM Cognos products to develop Knowledge based reports and metrics to better guide Rationals investments in KCS and in our Knowledge Base.

Getting KCS into IBM is one of the projects I'm most proud of. It's taken almost three years to get KCS a foothold into IBM, but now Rational, Information Management, and Cognos are running KCS programs to better serve our clients with the knowledge they need and seek from support. We are getting KCS into the IBM organization but its had to start off as a grassroots effort.

What are you currently working on?
Currently I'm working on developing a new Cognos Insight Dashboard to help the Rational Organization better "see" how our investments in Knowledge, Knowledge Management and Knowledge Centered Support.

Describe a normal day for you.
HAHAHAH A Normal day? As a team lead I never have a normal day... Whether its getting tasked with a special project from my manager or its issues or opportunities presented to me by my teammates no two days are the same. Its always a craps shoot to what I'm going to be hearing or working on.

Do you have an "on the job" hero? If you could "follow" anyone for 24 hours, who would it be?
HHHmmm Stalking.... um, I don't really have the want to stalk some one but I do look up to people in Rational one of which is Dale Hobill. A mover and shaker, Dale is always working on something new, fresh, and important. Its Dale's personality that I look up to the most, he's a very straight forward and with the right company, a blunt person.

What gadget, which you currently own, can you not live without?
We live in a Gadget time I couldn't live without my BlackBerry and all the apps yes blackberry has apps just like you iPhone owners. I have too many gadgets, whether its the Ooma VOIP phone or the neatdesk scanner or the vtech direc 6 phone that links my cell phone in using bluetooth I love my gadgets.

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
The People! I love the People! Honestly I work work with many many good people.

What are you passionate about?
My passion is all around doing the best job I'm capable of in all the random situations I'm thrown in... My second passion is learning and teaching..

What tip or trick would you like to share with the class?
Its not a necessarily a tip or trick but its a saying I try and live by: "Wisdom comes from Fools and from Sages"

What's the coolest piece of tech news you've heard lately?
New advancements in graphene

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
Owning and operating my own construction management and general contracting business. 
I also do allot of buying and selling of equipment and tools through eBay and Craigslist I love fixing and building all sorts of things, from trailers to snowblowers to computers and java coding.

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?
The Welders Handbook

How are you using social networking today?
I'm using it to maintain my professional network via LinkedIn and Facebook. After all, it is who you know, not always just what you know. Keeping a great network is a key to success.

If you were stuck on a technology deprived island, what single technology could you not live without?
Electricity, its a keystone to many of the technology we depend on now...

How do you define success?
Success is relative. It all depends on what you are looking to get from what you are putting into it. Achieving goals, meeting goals, or even defining new goals based on the fruits of your labors.

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Tags:  interview support rcs rational people

Tags:  rcs week rational support service customer people

It's Friday, and time to share this week's meet the peeps interview with Denise McKinnon. As you'll find below, sharing is a key concept in Denise's life; from work to family, and of course friends. As one of Rational Client Support's Knowledge Champions, she exemplifies what knowledge sharing is all about. Outside of work she also shares her many gifts in the form of quilts and as a Big Sister role model. She is also a kindred spirit as a motorcycle enthusiast.... something which I know a few people who read (and were previously interviewed on this blog) will identify with. Gotta love those backroads!


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
I started with Rational as an associate support engineer on the ClearCase team and advanced to a more senior role which involved working with escalated issues.  I become passionate about sharing the knowledge that I obtained from the issues I helped to troubleshoot both internally and externally and became the first Knowledge Engineer in Rational Client Support.  The last 3 years I have spent my time in the knowledge sharing space where I am currently a Knowledge Engineer for the ClearCase product.

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
I've been with Rational Client Support since April of 2000.

Describe a normal day for you.
My work life is all about sharing knowledge.  I spend much of  my time assisting and coaching our support teams in developing and publishing technical knowledge for posting to the Web (such as technotes, white papers, You Tube videos or other forms).   New knowledge is being created every day, much of which requires a review and special handling to ensure they are properly worded and formatted for various delivery channels.  It is also important to communicate key information such as product news, alerts and updates to clients which I share through the various social media channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter,...).

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?
I'm not a big gadget person, however, I do love my GPS which keeps me from getting lost on long trips to destinations where I haven't been before.  I especially like the feature that allows you to locate stores and restaurants in the surrounding area.

What gadget, which you currently own, can you not live without?
Although I hate to say it, but probably the Microwave.  Funny how we want everything in our lives to go faster except the years in our age.

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
I would have to say the people I work with are my favorite part of working at Rational.  I've seen many changes to the teams in the time I have been here and I've had the pleasure of working with a number of friendly, knowledgeable and hard working people from various geographic locations.  I also enjoy the challenge of helping to solve issues, sharing the results when the solution is found and finding more efficient ways of communicating that information to those that need it most in the manner they would like best to receive it.

What inspires you in your work?
The hope that the work I am doing is helping people do their jobs better by providing them with the knowledge to help answer their questions, solve their issues and avoid roadblocks that would otherwise prevent them from being successful.  

What are you passionate about?
Helping others including my family and friends.  I come from a large family and have one son of whom I am very proud as he has developed into a responsible, decent and caring individual.  I also volunteered as a Big Sister with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization and developed a lasting relationship with a young girl who has since turned into a very nice young lady.

What tip or trick would you like to share with the class?
Live your life having respect for others and don't ever forget to tell your fellow co-workers and those who are close to you how much you appreciate what they do

Tell me about the biggest problem you've solved?
I would have to say that the most memorable problem I helped solve while here in support was in troubleshooting a ClearCase MultiSite issue.  It was an issue that involved a lot of replicated VOBs that had to be recovered.  Although the recovery procedures went well into the night, we were able to successfully complete the recovery and get the teams back up and running.

How do you define success?
In work, knowing that I am helping to make a positive difference in the work lives of my co-workers and our clients.  We can only succeed as an organization if our clients are successful as well.
At home, good health and a long happy life for my family and friends.   I highly value all the quality friendships I have made and those precious few I have maintained for a number of years.

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
I like to get away and enjoy the peace and serenity of camping in the white mountains in New Hampshire (as long as the bears stay away from my campsite of course).
I also enjoy sewing and quilting and have made many quilts for family and friends which they cherish.

If you were stuck on a technology deprived island, what single technology could you not live without?
I would have to say that I couldn't live without a phone to keep in touch with my family and friends.  

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

How do you grow your technical skills?
I try to surround myself with knowledgeable people, participate in technical discussions/meetings and take classes.

How do you prefer to find answers to your questions?
I like to do the initial searching myself.  I typically start by using Google or if it is a Rational product related technical question, I may use the IBM Support Portal to find the answer.  Otherwise, I may consult with a co-worker (often times using a Sametime chat) or phone a friend
If I eventually find the answer that wasn't easy to identify, I'll create and publish a technote to the Web to help share that knowledge with others.

How are you using social networking today?
In my work life,  I use social networking for sharing information with our clients regarding important news, alerts, updates and issues that may impact their use of our products.
In my personal life, I use social networking to stay in touch with family and friends around the world which allows me to keep up to date with the things that are going on in their lives.  Amazing how much I can find out on Facebook that I wouldn't otherwise know about.

How could you see yourself using it in 5 years?
I see myself continuing to participate in the social networking space both personally and professionally.  I hope to learn and use newer tools as they become available and as they help to improve the way in which we communicate.

Are you a blogger in the blogosphere? ... Are you a YouTuber? ...Are you an Author? .... Do you Tweet? ...
In my work life I have both created and posted YouTube videos and send tweets regularly on behalf of Rational Client Support.  You can identify my tweets as they are stamped with my initials "^DM".

What are some of your favorite websites/feeds/twitter accounts to follow?
I regularly follow and/or contribute to our IBM Rational ClearCase Facebook page, RationalSupport on Twitter, the IBM Rational ClearCase Group LinkedIn group and the Notes from Rational Support blog.

Any other fun tidbits of information about you, your job, or RCS that you'd like to share?
Along with my interest in the outdoors, on a nice cool day I love to take a long ride on my motorcycle along the back country roads of New Hampshire and Vermont.

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Tags:  people support rcs rational interview

This week's interview spotlights Jim LoRusso. Jim is a guy with multiple talents: Not only is he a successful support engineer, but also an accomplished musician, sports enthusiast, and software tools developer. Read on to see how broad his interests fall and likely how this breadth of skills has contributed to his successes thus far. Don't forget to checkout our archive of previous interviews while you're at it!


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
My name is Jim LoRusso.  I’m a 23 year old, sports loving, guitar-playing, computer savvy Software Support Engineer for IBM.  I work as a TSE on our Rational Testing Tools support team, troubleshooting products such as Quality Manager, Functional Tester, Performance Tester, etc.

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
I’ve been with IBM for over 2 years now.  I started as an intern while I was studying for my undergrad at the University of Hartford.  I worked as a Search Effectiveness Analyst helping to identify and improve the accuracy of search results delivered by IBM's w3 intranet.  After analyzing data we gathered, I would occasionally write software automation tools to help improve our efficiency.

What are you currently working on?
Currently I troubleshoot client issues with IBM Rational’s Testing Tools.

Describe a normal day for you.
On a normal day, I field and assess calls from clients who have issues with the Rational Testing Tools.  I then attempt to resolve these issues using technical knowledge, and troubleshooting skills.  Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I usually eat lunch.

Are you a gadget person?
I like gadgets, but I probably wouldn’t consider myself a gadget person.

What's the coolest piece of tech news you've heard lately?
Apparently, flying car production could start within three months.  Check it out.

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
I really enjoy the different challenges I encounter each day.  There has yet to be a day where I haven’t encountered a new problem to be solved.  Because the products are constantly being updated, you rarely see the same issue twice.

What inspires you in your work?
I’ve always been a very persistent problem solver.  If I can’t figure out why something isn’t working correctly, it usually intrigues me, and drives me harder to identify the root cause.

What are you passionate about?
Outside of work, I’m very passionate about music.  I’ve played guitar for about 5 years now, four of which were with my nationally signed rock band, Last Place Victory, and now with the R&B project Rove’.  I’m a song writer and composer as well.

What tip or trick would you like to share with the class?
Everything happens for a reason, so always stay calm and confident when something goes against you.  Other people’s perception of you will often generate confidence in yourself.

How do you define success?
Happiness

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
I enjoy playing guitar, writing music, and playing sports.

When did you first become interested in music and sports?
I’ve been an active musician for about 5 years, and I’ve been playing sports since I could walk.

What tools / skills have you acquired that you feel are vital to your success in this field?
The ability to analyze the path of a problem as it relates to the overall design of the product, rather than looking at specific symptoms and possible causes.  Essentially, I’ve found it useful to work backwards from the symptom and create a figurative road map of where the product came off track.

What message would you give to a TSE just starting out in Rational Client Support?
Never be afraid to ask questions, no matter how simple you think they might be.  Having a great understanding of the foundation of the product will help you far more as a troubleshooter than most of the advanced topics you’ll learn.

What specifically drew your interest to become involved as a Software Support Engineer?
I’ve always had a strong passion to be a problem solver, and this allowed me to do it professionally.

Have you worked on any projects that you feel were exceptionally exciting for you?
As an intern, I wrote a program to automate testing of our “Did You Mean?” function in IBM's intranet search.

Do you have any big plans for the future?
I’d like to do some traveling.  I’ve never been out of the country, so I’d like to see other parts of the world.

If you were stuck on a technology deprived island, what single technology could you not live without?
Probably the cell phone.  I can’t see how people used to operate without our primary form of communication.

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller… It’s not actually on my nightstand, by I’m answering more in the spirit of this question, rather than the literal.

What has been your biggest surprise you have witnessed in the technology industry?
Most medical technologies including surgeries really impress me.  When I’m developing a new process or program, I only have to worry about breaking a piece of software, which I can make a backup of anyway.  Essentially, I have as many shots to get it right as it takes me.  Medical professionals are dealing with peoples lives.  They pretty much have to do it right the first time they ever try.

Any new technologies that you think are about to break into the big time?
It looks like flying cars are getting close to hitting the market.  I can’t believe this hasn’t gotten more coverage.

What future technology would make your life easier?
Definitely teleportation.  I can’t count how many times I’ve wished someone had invented that.

What are you doing to make the planet smarter?
Working at IBM for starters
But also, developing my technical skills will help me engineer more efficient software, ultimately consuming fewer physical resources.  It’s a small step, but when deployed worldwide, can have a profound effect.

How do you grow your technical skills?
I try to take part in every training session I can attend.  I also plan on returning to college to earn my Master’s degree in the near future.

How do you prefer to find answers to your questions?
I like having conversations with people face to face.

How are you using social networking today?
I use social networking sites to keep in touch with people I haven’t seen for a while.

Any other fun tidbits of information about you, your job, or RCS that you'd like to share?
I sit in the Littleton office.  If you are an IBMer, feel free to look me up on BluePages and swing by.


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Tags:  support people rcs rational interview

Meet the Peeps is back and better than ever after a nice respite! This week, we we have the pleasure of speaking with Kim Ruggari. Kim is another one of RCS' many passion driven people, intent on improving every aspect of the business as she can manage. As the Asia Pacific GEO Executive for RCS, she gets to do just that! Read on to see just how diverse her background is as well as her passions and interest outside of work. Plus, if this is your first time reading this blog, be sure to check out our past interviews here.


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
My current role is Asia Pacific GEO Exec. for Rational Client Support, reporting to Wendy Toh.  I've had this role since January 2007.  I am based in Sydney, Australia, and locally report into the Australia Development Labs ("ADL").  Asia Pacific covers many languages, cultures and countries - which makes life very interesting and challenging.  For those that would like a Geography lesson,  AP GEO includes:
Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (GCG), Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam (ASEAN), as well as India, Korea and Japan.

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
I've been with Rational since November 1998.  I was the 7th person employed by RCS in Asia Pacific (#1, and #6 are also still in RCS by the way)

Have you had any other roles in Rational?
Most people don't realise that that I started with RCS as a bit of an all-rounder (I guess today you would call it "Operations").  Not long after I joined RCS, Rational moved its licensing to FlexLM, and thus began a slew of licensing PMRs a week: Yes! I also inherited the role of sole Licensing support engineer - those were the days - phew, busy!!.  In addition to the Operations function, I organically became the Licensing team manager.  Around 2003, I was asked to manage the DevTools team, then in 2005 the RPM, CC and CQ teams.  I finally moved to the AP lead role January 2007.

Describe a normal day for you.
I don't really have "normal" days - every work day is different.  They range from 7 hours to 18 hours of never-ending fun, frustration, challenge and excitement.  My days are NEVER boring, although some days I pray for a little boredom.  It depends on how many Critical Situations we have open, what meetings are happening and how many are scheduled outside of my local business hours (I particularly love the 5am MORs during Winter )  

Do you have an "on the job" hero? If you could "follow" anyone for 24 hours, who would it be?
Glenn Wightwick, Distinguished Engineer and Director of the ADL.

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?
I've long argued with my friends that I am NOT a "geek", on the basis that I am not a technical person.  I'm now realising that my friends win this argument.  I have just about every household gadget you can name.  Someone, please save me from the Home Shopping Network!

What gadget, which you currently own, can you not live without?
I'm currently going through a "smoothie" stage, so I'll say my Stick Blender.

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
Ask me on a good day, and I'll tell you my team are the BEST!  I love being around so many people who are so diverse, and ensure that each day is different.

What are you passionate about?
Of course my friends and family - but I have to be honest here and say really good food!  Sydney's has AMAZING restaurants, with Chefs who have almost reached rock-star status.  I am working my way through the Top 50 with one of my closest friends who shares my passion.

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but I'm having trouble getting started with it.

How do you prefer to find answers to your questions?
I am a Google junkie, my home laptop is always running, and I'm forever googling questions that pop into my head.

How are you using social networking today?
You can usually find me logged into Facebook.  Its such a great way to keep in touch with my friends all around the World.   I haven't caught the Twitter wave.  I had a Blog for a while, but found I could not prioritise time for it (I am a frustrated writer).

Any other fun tidbits of information about you, your job, or RCS that you'd like to share?
"Gung-Ho" and "Who Moved My Cheese" are 2 books that will ALWAYS be on my professional book-shelf.

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Tags:  support people rational interview rcs

In lieu of a "Meet the Peeps" post this week (due to vacations, holidays, etcetera) I thought I may wax philosophic for a moment about "community"and building connections.

Within Rational Client Support, we have been driving various efforts to help build our network of communities both internally and externally facing. Some of these initiatives have been more successful than others, but in every instance I have found some level of personal and professional growth because of the people I have connected with as a result of my involvement in each of those spaces.

In particular, the "Meet the Peeps of Rational Support" series has given me opportunity to connect with far more people than my typical day job would normally keep me in touch with. And that's a bit of the point of this series; to bring a face, an authentic voice, and connection to the real people who work everyday to make Rational Support what it is. So often we are all buried with work behind our monitors that the human connections between client and organization can be easily forgotten. "Meet the Peeps" is our simple attempt to bring that human connection back into frame and remind us all that while we are a business, we are also a community of people with a common thread that binds us.

So what does all this mean to you? If you're an IBMer it means you now have a name and a face to professionally connect with, and we all know professional connections are a great thing! Of course, if you are one of our external clients, it means there ARE real people here with a single goal of helping you resolve problems, to help you find solutions or answer questions, or simply assist you in any other way we can. It means you have a direct connection to the people who can help. It also means you are a part of a larger community of people in your same position; clients who are out in the ether, looking for information to help you in your own jobs... and if you stop to think about it, that is a very cool thing when realizing the potential for community-sourcing solutions!

Now (I can hear you asking yourself) where else might you find us? I am sure you know about our Twitter and Facebook presence (and obviously our blog here) but did you also know Rational Support has a Youtube channel or a regional Twitter account for Rational Support India? And those are just the accounts we 'own'; we also play on LinkedIn groups, and of course on developerWorks in some of the various product communities all with the intent of sharing knowledge and building community for both clients and IBMers alike. 

While some of the tools may indeed be a passing fad only to be replaced by the next big thing down the line, the overall concept of what they do is as universal a truth and critical to the future as you can find: bringing people together and enabling them to build relationships and connections with people and companies. If you aren't playing in the social spaces popping up all over the internet, you're likely missing out on highly valuable and useful information that can help drive your professional as well as personal goals to success.

So jump on in, join the conversation, and get connected!
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Tags:  people social connections networking rcs

  This week we visit the Littleton campus to chat with Beth McCawley. Beth is one of the driving forces behind knowledge management in the support content space for RCS and has a sharp eye as a grammar/spelling/punctuation guru. Of course she has a way with words as you may expect from a person who works with written knowledge everyday and a formal education in English. Read on for more interesting facts!


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
I am Elizabeth McCawley, but I still answer to Beth Carroll. I am a Knowledge manager in Rational Client Support.

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
I have been with Rational since April of 2000 and with IBM since the acquisition of Rational in 2003

Have you had any other roles in Rational?
I started in Licensing Support then briefly was in Modeling Support, until the creation of the team that evolved into what  now is KM in RCS.

Describe a normal day for you.
Besides my daily queue of approving documents for publishing, I might check in with the Knowledge Champions who report to the Support Delivery Managers to whom I am assigned to see how their teams are doing with content contributions. I process at least a request  or two to set up new user's permission to work with the tool we use for authoring documents. I  frequently edit the taxonomy for Rational products in that authoring tool. A few times every day I answer questions about the tool (and then I capture the Q&A to a shared space so the info is available like an internal technote of sorts.)

What project are you the most proud of?
It is a tie. I  successfully lobbied for our authoring tool and the publishing mechanisms to accept Japanese documents. This initial project opened the door for us now being able to produce content directly in several  languages, including three other multibyte languages. The other win was enabling and training the Development and Documentation teams so they could produce their release notes as Technotes. This makes Release Information documents easier to find and they can be updated with version additions and, later, fix information.

Do you have an "on the job" hero?
This will sound hokey but it is Carl Hero, my teammate. Carl creates and shares a lot of shortcuts that save us from hours and hours and hours of busy work.

Are you a gadget person?
I'll bet an eyelash curler does not count as the kind of gadget you want to hear about...

What type of gadgets do you use?
Besides the wisecrack above, I am delighted by my iPhone.

What gadget, which you currently own, can you not live without?
It'd  be a challenge to get  comfortable night of sleep without the baby monitor.

What's the coolest piece of tech news you've heard lately?
There is a doohickey can slice bread a whole loaf at a time.

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
The exemplary integrity of all the rational people with whom I work

What inspires you in your work?  
See  previous answer

What are you passionate about?
My family, bicycle riding, civil rights AND civil liberties, and proper English spelling & grammar

What tip or trick would you like to share with the class?
Its vs. It's   (Editor's note: clarity on the difference can be found here http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/its.html )

Tell me about the biggest problem ahead for you?
I'd prefer to call it a challenge: I am working with a group across the Software divisions to make Support  documents compliant with the latest IBM.com publishing standards. I want to do this with as little manual editing intervention as possible so that my teammates and document owners don't have to do the housekeeping.

How do you define success?
On time and not burned

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
I am nuts about bicycle riding and cross country skiing. I bake a wicked good batch of  homemade granola

What message would you give to a Knowledge Champion just starting out in the Knowledge Management industry?
Don't get too attached to any tool or practice or rule. Enjoy the opportunities for trying new tools and methods that will lead to enhancing the clients' experience with the knowledge your organization is sharing.

What specifically drew your interest to become involved in the Knowledge Management field?
I knew I could make a difference in the quality and usefulness and  accessibility of our Support content.

Aside from Knowledge Management, do you have any other passions?
The Boston Red Sox  would be the local politically correct answer

Do you have any big plans for the future?
Learn to play a stringed instrument

If you were stuck on a technology deprived island, what single technology could you not live without?
Gloryoski, if the baby and husband are not with me, then the iPhone to call home and to constantly look at pictures of the boy and his Daddy

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?
Analytics at Work. Also Infant Potty Training - it's a bizarre concept at first, and too late for this one, maybe we'll try it if there is a next one.

What has been your biggest surprise you have witnessed in the technology industry?
That online banking is safe enough for my husband to embrace it

Is there any technology that you think should get more respect and adoption but does not?
Electric vehicles - there need to be convenient recharging locations as easy to find as gas stations.

What is your favorite technology that fizzled or failed to live up to the hype?
None worthy of mentioning, but does anybody remember those tablets the dentist would give you to chew to see what spots on your teeth you weren't brushing enough?  I do miss writing letters with pen & paper and receiving snail mail via US Postal Service

Any new technologies that you think are about to break into the big time?
Harnessed wind power

What future technology would make your life easier?
Something like a Roomba for driveway snow blowing

What are you doing to make the planet smarter?
The obvious answer is that I am guiding people to sharing their knowledge - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, as they say.
Also, I intentionally live close to the office, carpool with my husband  whenever I can, ride my bicycle for transportation wherever I can, and generally don't buy bottled water. We have a share in a CSA this year so we are working on becoming locavores.
I now pay most bills online - green AND convenient!

How do you prefer to find answers to your questions?
I search Google

How are you using social networking today?
Long lost pals and I have found each other through Facebook - what a hoot!

How could you see yourself using it in 5 years?
Organizing kiddie soccer games and playdates without a million phone calls

What are some of your favorite websites/feeds/twitter accounts to follow?
http://www.theonion.com/

What publications / websites do you read / visit?
"The New Yorker" is the one print subscription I still keep; http://www.charmone.com/Company.aspx; http://www.massbike.org/aboutus/mission/;  http://www.onelook.com/

Any other fun tidbits of information about you, your job, or RCS that you'd like to share?
We appreciate it when you take the time to complete the Rate This Page survey at the bottom of every technote that you use!


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Tags:  support people rational rcs interview

Today we bring the spotlight to Ben Rubinger. Ben is one of our 'behind the scene' guys in Rational Client Support as a tools developer. Having been a support engineer himself, he has special insight into changes and features to internal tools which are needed on the front lines of support, and is busy making life for the TSEs easier one feature set at a time. But life isn't all coding for Ben, he's also active outside of work as you'll find below.


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
I'm Ben Rubinger, and my role in RCS is to find ways to help make TSE's work lives easier through building efficiencies (like EPS Sender, DCF Kickstart, etc.)

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
I've been with IBM 6 years, and in this job role 2 years.

Have you had any other roles in Rational?
I was a TSE supporting PurifyPlus for 4 years

What project are you the most proud of?
Probably EPS Sender. It's my first really impactful software development project, and it makes me feel really good when I walk around and see it on someone's screen. Plus, when it first came up, someone came up to me and thanked me for helping to ease his carpel tunnel syndrome!

Do you have an "on the job" hero? If you could "follow" anyone for 24 hours, who would it be?
I've always been really impressed with how Chris Flynn knows and connects with EVERYONE. I'm a firm believer that personal skills are just as important as technical skills.

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?
I'm really not a gadget person. I'm pretty outdoorsey, and so if I'm not in the office or at home, I probably don't need to be staring at yet another screen. I think that not saturating myself in technology is a big reason why I continue to love working with it.

What's the coolest piece of tech news you've heard lately?
There is a new 128GB blu ray disc coming out. That's a lot of storage on a disc!

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
The people. I love how much interaction I get with people who use software I build. Good people make a job really fun. Plus, it's always great talking with people from all over SWG (Software Group) and talking to them about what they do.

What inspires you in your work?
I love solving problems. I never know what challenges I'll deal with on a day-to-day basis which constantly makes my job interesting and varied. That variety keeps me inspired and motivated.

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
In my spare time (when I have some), I love to be active and outdoors. I feel like it's important to balance out the time you spend at your desk. I love volleyball (I played both sand and indoor while I was living in California), swimming (the pool at UCSB was beautiful!), running (I ran cross country all four years while I was doing my undergraduate work at Clark University), yoga, weight lifting, and biking. Beyond that, I love listening to music, and I'm starting to do more cooking.

What tools / skills have you acquired that you feel are vital to your success in this field?
Communication is really important. You have to be able to listen to what people want and need or they'll be stuck with something they won't use. Of course, technical skills are core to my job since I'm working deep in code every day. At the end of the day, I need to be able to take ideas and turn them into reality via code.

How do you define success?
Feeling happy with who you are, what you're doing and where you're going in life.

Describe a normal day for you.
Well, that changed dramatically. If you asked me that two months ago, I'd describe my life as a full time student living in Santa Barbara, California. Now, my days are really varied. For a good chunk of my day, my emails lead me. I never know who has a question about a tool I wrote or needs my help with some new feature request. For the other part of my day, I work through a list of features I'm in the process of implementing in various tools, or work building new ones. I also spend a chunk of my time interfacing with my stakeholders (often TSEs in Rational, AIM, IM, or Tivoli).

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?
In grad school, I had to read super dense technical papers, so I haven't done a lot of leisure reading recently. The last book I read for pleasure was probably Ken Follett's "A Dangerous Fortune."

What are you doing to make the planet smarter?
I'm giving IBMers their time back. By ensuring that computers do as much work as possible for people, we remove burden from people's shoulders so they can use their time better and ultimately be more effective in work and life.

How do you grow your technical skills?
I'm always reading. I read lots of technical journals and technical blogs. I also play with lots of code, and I'm often disassembling things.

How do you prefer to find answers to your questions?
Google!

Any other fun tidbits of information about you, your job, or RCS that you'd like to share?
When I was working in Lexington, I would bike 13 miles a day each way to get to work in the summertime. I'm going to see if I can bike once a week to work in Littleton from Cambridge! Wish me luck...

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Tags:  rcs support interview rational people

Today we cross the oceans once again to chat with Sumant Renukarya in our Bangalore, India office. As an addition to the Rational staff from the Telelogic acquisition, Sumant has been a consistent part of the Rational Synergy and Change product support teams helping clients adjust to IBM as he himself has had to do. But of course Sumant isn't all work with no play; he also enjoys a few hobbies (one of which is shared by your humble editor and has been a source of camaraderie between us as we discuss gear and road trips). and has a decidedly different view on gadgets than many of our prior interviewees!  Of course, don't forget to check out some of those previous interviews too!


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
I am Sumant and I work as a Technical Support Engineer for the Rational Synergy, Rational Change products.  

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
It's been 4 years now with Telelogic. Since IBM acquired Telelogic in August 2008, it's been almost an year and a half with Rational.

Have you had any other roles in Rational?
No.

What are you currently working on?
Currently, apart from assisting the clients with Rational Synergy and Change products, I am also learning Rational ClearCase, with training given by a ClearCase TSE.  

Describe a normal day for you.
My normal day starts with a cheerful hello to my co-workers. This helps me gauge the temperature on the issues, if any as well.
I look for any e-mails from customers, then based on the priority and severity of the issues, will work towards resolving them.

What project are you the most proud of?
I think moving to the IBM systems and tools, in itself was a daunting task initially.

Do you have an "on the job" hero? If you could "follow" anyone for 24 hours, who would it be?
Working with the US clients for close to 4 years now, my pick is Jeff Krause, Senior Support Specialist, Rational Synergy.
He is spectacular when it comes to the knowledge, the way he understands/resolves the problems and patience. He is an inspiration.  

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?
No. I am not a gadget person. I just have an iPod music player with me.

What gadget, which you currently own, can you not live without?
I can live without any, or rather be happy to live without any gadgets.

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
The on-going learning, the new technologies, and 'How to deal with a situation?' learning.

What inspires you in your work?
The challenge involved in resolving complex customer issues and the learning I take away from that makes me exciting.

What tip or trick would you like to share with the class?
While you work and assist the clients, keep a tab on your learning curve. Let that be on a growth path always.

How do you define success?
Success, for me, is the amount of satisfaction you've had, executing a job at any given time.

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
I am an avid biker/motorcyclist and Yoga practitioner (lately). I own a Royal Enfield motorcycle and go on solo trips to different places, on the fly.
Yoga has always been intriguing to me and I am on the path exploring that. Apart, any sports/games interests me and I love basketball.

When did you first become interested in motorcycling?
I was in my 12th grade (aged 17 years) and my cousin made me wash, push, apply polish, put the stand, start the bike for 3 months, just to take his Enfield motorcycle for a ride. Since then, it was a dream for me to own my Enfield.

What specifically drew your interest to become involved in the field of Yoga?
Yoga is a practice which been around for over 5,000 years. Exploring this science gives a sense of personal accomplishment and a way better life.  

If you were stuck on a technology deprived island, what single technology could you not live without?
Again, I would love to go back to the yesteryears and see/lead a life without technology.

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?
Currently I am reading 'The Walking Dead', by Gerald Seymour. Else, it will be 'The Reader's Digest'.

How do you grow your technical skills?
I try to do the certifications that are available within IBM and help me do better in my current job role. I am always on the prowl to learn/update my technical skills.

How are you using social networking today?
I am an active user on Facebook.

Are you a blogger in the blogosphere? ... Are you a YouTuber? ...Are you an Author? .... Do you Tweet? ...
I did start with blogging. Since I am more of an outdoor person, that has come to a standstill lately.

What publications / websites do you read / visit?
 www.cnn.com, www.royalenfield.com

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Tags:  rcs support rational people interview

This week we bring the spotlight back into Massachusetts for Aaron Cohen. Aaron is a code-slinger by trade and works to ensure Rational Client Support has the tools necessary to effectively and efficiently get the job done, be it in a technical support role, or in client self assist initiatives. One special editor's call out here to say that Aaron's twitter account, serving as his personal "Notes to Self", proves to be as amusing as it is useful.... you'll likely want to check it out. Now, without further ado, I present Aaron Cohen:


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
As a serviceability and tool developer, I am responsible for creating/maintaining a wide variety of tools that are both internal and external to IBM.

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
I first joined Rational after graduating back in 2003.

Have you had any other roles in Rational?
When I first joined Rational, I worked as a software engineer supporting Rational's Testing Tools. It was an outstanding team to work with and I learned a lot about working with customers. After 2 years, I moved to our Global Support Enablement in my current role.
However about 2 years ago I took a break from my current role and worked as the Jazz Support Team lead. It was a truly unique experience. The Jazz platform was in an open beta and open to everyone's feedback on how it should be molded into a flagship product.

What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on several project but only 2 of them are externally visible at the moment. The first is The IBM Software Support Toolbar. We built this solution in order to help clients better find the information they need on IBM.COM. The second solution is the IBM Rational Web Serviceability Tool. This is a web based tool which launches autonomic computing scripts in a minimal interface.

Describe a normal day for you.
Normal? What's that?

What project are you the most proud of?
A few years ago I created a tool called RDTE (Rational Diagnostic Tool For Eclipse). It would scan the filesystem and find/diagnose Eclipse configurations that had previously been run. It was a fun project that gave me insight into the internals of how Eclipse worked.  

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?
I am a gadget guy! There is no way I can deny it. I currently have an iPhone 4 and have been bringing myself up to speed on iPhone application development.

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
It has to be the RCS Community. There are a lot of outstanding people who work here.

What inspires you in your work?
I am consistently, pleasantly surprised with new problems to solve.

What are you passionate about?
I enjoy working with most shiny happy technologies and solving problems.

What tip or trick would you like to share with the class?
If at any point the problem you are solving looks fuzzy, talk to the customer or your stakeholders.

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
In my free time I enjoy scuba diving, cycling, and hiking.

If you were stuck on a technology deprived island, what single technology could you not live without?
Too scary... not thinking about it.

How do you grow your technical skills?
I am consistently curious. This drives me to read articles, forums, and books to keep my skill sup to date. I often attend presentations and listen to how others are solving problems. Recently I have gained a lot of value out of presenting deep dives into how I solve problems and listen to feedback of how others believe I could do it better.

How do you prefer to find answers to your questions?
Google first and reach out to a community if that fails.

How are you using social networking today?
I am on twitter (@aaronmcohen).

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Tags:  rcs rational support interview people

This week, we bring you Maeve O'Reilly.  As part of the Telelogic acquisition, Maeve has been assisting clients for over the past ten years in her role as a Technical Support Engineer out of the Dublin, Ireland office. She also has a unique perspective into support, having been a client prior to joining the support team as you'll read below. And don't forget to check out some of our previous interviews too!


Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
I'm a TSE based in Dublin working on the Rational System Architect, Synergy and Change product lines.  Recently I've started looking at Rational Publishing Engine as well.

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
10years.  Most of that with Telelogic.

Have you had any other roles in Rational?
No

What are you currently working on?
At moment I'm working on a stability issue at a very secure site, where communication is hampered by their security policies.  I'm also working on KT analyses of my open PMRs and knowledge transfers before I go on 7 months maternity leave.  

Describe a normal day for you.
I check my PMRs for updates and usually decide on a plan of action for the day.  At 9:45 I have a SCRUM where we detail what we did yesterday, what we'll be doing today and any blockers.  This is one of the ways we make sure our lines of communication are kept very open.

What project are you the most proud of?
Lately I've had a lot of success with difficult performance issues.  I like that type of case as there are so many potential factors involved.   

Do you have an "on the job" hero? If you could "follow" anyone for 24 hours, who would it be?
Stalking is illegal in this country.

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?
Not especially though I do love my robot hoover.  He is like one of the family.    I also have a smart phone and GPS but am inclined to think both a wee bit over rated.

What's the coolest piece of tech news you've heard lately?
A high tech medical analyser from Northern Ireland.  Apparently it can carry out about 3000 tests per hour.  I like anything that sounds like it is from the Star-Trek version of the future.  

What is your favorite part of working for Rational Client Support?
The variety in type of cases and customers.

What inspires you in your work?
I was a customer prior to joining support - I understand the pressure our customers are sometimes under and really do empathise with them.  

What are you passionate about?
Liberty!  I strongly believe that we need to fight the religious organisations, organised crime, and paramilitary groups at every level in society.  They cannot be allowed to to either attain more power or retain the power they already have over the individual.  

Tell me about the biggest problem ahead for you?
Sleep deprivation.  6 weeks of 3-hourly feeds.

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
Hiking is my favourite hobby, particularly in the French Alps.  It is a bit more difficult with children.  We have an off-road push chair and a ruck sack for carrying our one year old, but he doesn't want to stay in either of them for hours.  So we are restricted to short walks for the next few years.  

When did you first become interested in hiking?
I grew up at the foot of the Dublin mountains, we were always up in them.  But our mountains are ancient and low.  We need to go abroad to get some proper altitude.  

What specifically drew your interest to become involved in the technical field?
My first job after college was with United Parcel Services.  I was fascinated by their mainframe - the only thing that never, ever went down.  That inspired me to start studying IT at night. I still tend to follow any news item on mainframes and I'm well impressed that the IBM mainframe used for PMRs just 'swallowed' all of Telelogic - not a big deal at all.  No extra hardware, no local replicas needed, etc..  

Have you worked on any projects that you feel were exceptionally exciting for you?
I like to know what our customers are using our tools for.  Currently the two banks who have my money are customers of ours.

If you were stuck on a technology deprived island, what single technology could you not live without?
I really would not like to be stuck there but I reckon I could live without them all.  I have hippy tendencies.  

What is on your nightstand with regard to reading?
A maternity book.  I'm expecting my second child in 5 weeks.  

What is your favorite technology that fizzled or failed to live up to the hype?
Windmills.  Not that they are new, but still so expensive to install and maintain.  I have the ideal site for a small turbine but it just isn't worth it.  

Any new technologies that you think are about to break into the big time?
If necessity is the mother of all invention, a viable alternative to Oil has to be on its way and high tech will probably be central to it.  

What future technology would make your life easier?
Transport.  We are pushed and pushed to public transport, which even at its best is just not pleasant.  It traps us to schedules, fixed stop points and crowds.  I would like a radical Star-Trek type solution.  Click my fingers and I'm there.  

How do you grow your technical skills?
I'm a bit addicted to formal university education.  I've just finished an MSc and I'm wondering now what I'll do next.  

How do you prefer to find answers to your questions?
Google

How are you using social networking today?
I'm more of a social networking voyeur.  I check Facebook regularly but rarely update except for some photos.

How could you see yourself using it in 5 years?
Probably not very far from where I am now but with two school going boys instead of babies.

Are you a blogger in the blogosphere? ... Are you a YouTuber? ...Are you an Author? .... Do you Tweet? ...
No.  I tried blogging for a while but it turns out I don't have enough to say.  

What publications / websites do you read / visit?
irishtimes.com, theregister.co.uk, bbc.co.uk


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Tags:  rcs people interview rational support

Today we bring you an interview with Anthony Cooray. As a manager from our Melbourne, Australia office, Anthony leads the team of technical support engineers for the Japanese region. With a self-confessed passion for software, he stays busy working with teams all across the organization to improve the products as well as support. Of course he's as "driven" in his spare-time as he is on the clock, as you'll see below.  And don't forget to check out some of our previous interviews too!


About myself:
I am the Technical Support Manager for Japan.  In this role I have the responsibility of ensuring the efficient and effective delivery of support to our client base in Japan. Support is provided with the help of a number of support and development teams located around the world.  I work with all these teams.

When did I join:
I joined IBM Rational in 2006

Previous Roles:
Before moving to the current role, I was the Asia-Pacific Support Manager for Rational Clearcase and Clearquest.

What I am working on:
There are 2 areas that I am focusing on:  One is on creating more technical content in local language, the second is to provide more effective support when a large number of IBM products are involved in a solution.

Typical workday:
I usually start around 7:30AM and check my emails from the previous night and do any needed meetings with my colleagues in the US.  Then, I go for a swim or walk and restart around 10AM.  Most of my day will be occupied with emails and calls with clients, TSE's, peer managers, Sales and Tech  Reps, other IBM support teams, development teams etc.  I stop at around 6PM but work for 1-2 hours later in the night to take care of any issues that come late.

Project I am proud of:
When I came into this role, one of my major focus areas was to reduce our average time to solution given by support.  Over the past 2 years we have to managed to reduce this time by nearly half.  That is very satisfying.

Biggest Problem Solved:
In a support role we only have a few hours to solve a given problem and we handle hundreds of such problems.  During my days as a support engineer, I used to support a product family that had 10 support staff in America, 8 in Europe and only myself in Asia.  For over 3 years I handled all severity 1 issues from all over the world all on my own during my work hours.  There was a lot of pressure to recover the systems fast and I had no one next to my desk to pull some ideas.  However, it was also a great experience talking to clients from all over the world.

Biggest Problem ahead:
We have a lot of new and exciting products both created in-house and acquired.  I am sure there will be many more to come.  As the number of products and technology layers increase, we need to keep discovering new ways to effectively support those.

Are you a gadget person:
I would not say that I am a gadget person as such, but my Blackberry is great!

What types of gadgets do you use:
Not sure if it can be called a gadget, but I have built a Home Cinema, and watching sports and movies in large screen with surround sound at home has been a lot of fun.  I watched the Soccer world cup final and it was great in High Definition on a big screen.

Gadgets that I cannot live without:
Blackberry perhaps is the gadget that I will miss although I have now come to take it for granted.

Coolest piece of tech news:
The recent story about IBM Jeopardy machine was very interesting.  The way Statistics are used to arrive at the answers was very cool.

Recent Technologies that interest me:
I have always had an interest in man-machine interaction  I am looking forward to the day when I can get rid of my mouse and do everything by touch and voice or anything else that will be more natural. It is good to see touch devices become popular and getting into the mainstream.

Technology that should get more attention:
Voice Recognition has become really good recently.  I can use Dragon to do Sametime chats when working at home.

If you were stuck in technology deprived island:
Nothing that I currently own.  I have for the most part stayed away from the Apple bandwagon so far although I get to play with them since both my son and daughter use nothing but Apple..  I am planning to buy an iPad soon mostly due to the new UI and having all my books, magazines, movies etc., in one gadget and operating them by touch should keep me happy in the island.

Biggest surprise in the technology industry:
The speed at which Virtualisation has spread even to the middle and lower end of the market has surprised me.

What is on your nightstand for reading:
A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram ........We have gone past 500 years with the current method of building knowledge.

Spare Time:
Whenever I get a long holiday, I like driving very long distances.  In January this year I had 3 weeks off and drove 8000km's from Eastern Australia to Western Australia and back.  I am still not sure why I like this when air travel is so cheap.  I was born in a small island country and that may give a clue..  Also in summer I do kayaking in the weekends.  In winter I do a bit of hiking on mountain trails with my wife.

Use of Social Networking:
I am not an active user but it has helped me get back in touch with a lot of people I had lost touch with.  They are in many corners of the world.  In fact I was quite active in during the text only internet days.

Do you have any big plans for the future:
Nothing that big but one dream left is to write a book.  I have the outline in my head and don't want to go into detail here and it's not going to happen anytime soon either..

What am I doing to make the Planet Smarter:
In an indirect way, help clients build great applications that make the world more intelligent.  Sometime in the future I wish I can make a more direct contribution via analytics and leverage my past investments in learning statistics..

Publications Websites frequented:
The Economist is one thing I have been reading for nearly 2 decades.  It is not a pure economics magazine and has insightful articles on many general topics.  I also browse a couple of websites regularly to keep updated on what is happening in our industry.

Getting answers to my questions:
These days, first thing that come into the mind is Google. . I keep trying other engines but amazed at how Google returns exactly what I am looking for at the top.  How do they read my mind?   When I need more authoritative sources, I  go to a number of academic databases available online.

What inspires me to work at Rational:
The world is increasingly dependent on software.  To make even a small contribution to advance the world by helping build better software is a worthy cause.

Passionate about:
Software has been although more from a social perspective than a pure technology perspective.  After all, software can bring a lot of change to humans and society and it is my belief that a platform such as Jazz was inspired by the desire to improve productivity through better ways of human interaction.

Define Success:
In personal life it is Inner Happiness.  At work it is satisfied clients who make the best use of our products and solutions and grow with us.

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Tags:  support rcs people rational interview

This week's spotlight is shining on Ben Tran from our Sydney, Australia office . As you'll see below, Ben has his work cut out for him between his manager duties and his routine with home life and the challenges of children... He also has some valuable advice for the class to take away, in both his own words and as an example in his outlook on life for others. Read on to learn more about Ben and how a self proclaimed "not a gadget person" has much to say about the gadgets he has and what he'd like to see in the future of technology!

Tell us a little about yourself: who are you, what is your role in Rational Client Support?
My name is Ben Tran (Sydney, Australia), a front line manager in AP RCS. I manage Rational Desktop Support team with Charito Cruzado.

How long have you been working for IBM and Rational?
I have been with IBM AP RCS since August 2005.

What are you currently working on?
The never ending pursue of high performing self driven team, meeting the demands of doing business in AP.

Describe a normal day for you.
My normal day starts with work, where I do have control over the things I do... such as emails, administrative activities, monitoring, measuring, controlling, leading and be available for our clients, engineers and business. My second shift involves a small toddler and a baby with my wife at home carrying out the never ending list of chores, which is our small price we paid for the endless list of joy with the children. The toughest is the graveyard shift with baby crying throughout the night. It is the moment I look forward to do it all again the next day.

What project are you the most proud of?
My home renovation 5 years ago. We are still very proud of it and happy to call it home.

Are you a gadget person? What type of gadgets do you use?
I am not a gadget person; however I am very excited with my latest purchase, the iPad. I understand it’s not new, it’s just a bigger version of iTouch and so forth; for me it’s so practical, it is my note pad, my book, my internet, my movies, my online shopping, my games, my music, my news, my online banking etc. It's endless and has met almost all my home needs. The best is not needing to fight with my son for the TV or home computer as long as I keep him in the dark with my new found toy.

What's the coolest piece of tech news you've heard lately?
Not lately, but very cool is hydrogen powered car, zero emission.

What tip or trick would you like to share with the class?
It is what it is! Be positive, be constructive, and with time everything will fall into its rightful place.

How do you define success?
Umm… "ROI minus (Efforts plus Time)"? Lol… I think when you are happy or excited with the end results.

In your spare time, if you have any, what hobbies or activities interest you?
Remote control cars, old tube audio equipment, small figurines, comic, drawing or simply having a good long drive.

Have you worked on any projects that you feel were exceptionally exciting for you?
I was privilege enough to have built an L3 team that tripled the output of L2 team, but at only one third of its size for an infrastructure company. It was fun and exciting at the time.

Do you have any big plans for the future?
My future rests on what’s in front of me and no big plans.

If you were stuck on a technology deprived island, what single technology could you not live without?
A beam me up Scotty gadget to get me out of the island, otherwise internet access to get the gadgets I need to turn my situation around.

What has been your biggest surprise you have witnessed in the technology industry?
If we are to stop for a brief moment to appreciate all the technologies around us, there are many that could amaze us even for those that has been around for so very long time. For me, it's nuclear atomic energy: On one hand it can be very destructive and on the other it can be very beneficial if we could harness it without nuclear waste, wouldn’t that be a smarter planet?

Any new technologies that you think are about to break into the big time?
Hydrogen powered automobile.

What future technology would make your life easier?
A robot that could take care of all my household chores, including kids drop off and pick up.

What are you doing to make the planet smarter?
Start with myself, by being fully aware and conscious of my own actions.

How do you prefer to find answers to your questions?
I prefer to start with the internet, then seek help from the right sources; either from available materials or people with the knowledge.


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Tags:  rcs rational people interview support