Pre-IT Jobs
1980-1983
Like most young people, I had multiple jobs before getting into the information technology profession. The job reflected above was working with an Electrical Supply Company my last few years of High School and my first few months attending Columbus State University.
Starting My Career
1983-1988
Mid-way through my freshman year, I got a job as a Nighttime Computer Operator at The Georgia Company (Mortgage Banking). I kept this job throughout my time at Columbus State University as well as a few years after graduation. I was able to move up to role of Assistant Vice President of Technology.
B.S. - Mathematics and Computer Science
Career Churn
1988-1990
After leaving The Georgia Company, I found myself into several different companies that found trouble from a business perspective; two filed for chapter 11 while the other one simply sold the business. I was always able to find another job quickly but the constant transition was a challenge.
M.B.A. - Information Systems
Stability
1990-1996
After the churning period, I found myself at Coca-Cola as a Senior Systems Technologist. My tenor there lasted almost 6 years and provided the stability I needed to focus on other activities like meeting my future wife. Unfortunately, the company and my consulting company moved in different directions.
New Direction
1996-1999
After a short period of time at Georgia-Pacific, I started my next 20-year journey with the Bell Companies. Cingular was the first stepping stone that laid the foundation for me moving from developer/analyst to an technical architect role.
Baby Bell
1999-2007
The work we did in Enterprise Architecture at Cingular caught the attention of BellSouth executives. It didn’t take long for them to see the need of bringing in a more enterprise view of data, metadata, and collaboration. For the next 7 years, we built solutions that won us awards from industry experts and vendor organizations.
Ph.D. - Information Systems
Ma Bell - Phase 1
2007-2012
In 2007, AT&T bought Cingular and BellSouth; Ma Bell was getting the band back together. My role moved to Collaboration Technologies. Our efforts deployed thousands of collaborative paces as well as over a hundred customized departmental websites. Microsoft commented that our implementation was the best they ever seen.
Ma Bell - Phase 2
2012-2021
As time progressed and our collaboration space matured, I moved the role Enterprise Software Architect where I owned the vast majority of desktop software. In addition, online ordering came back into view and we took the opportunity to be the lead designer and architect for the internal online ordering systems.
Retirement - Big Canoe, GA
2021-Present
Late 2021, my time in the corporate world ended with retirement. After 39 years of service in the technology field, it was time for a new chapter. Today, I spend my time helping non-profit organizations with their web presence, online ordering systems and technology architecture. We love to travel, play golf, and volunteer for the local community. All in all, I would say technology was a good career choice.