Happy Holidays from YOUR LUCRUM Recruiting Team!
December 24, 2008
Happy Holidays! It has been terrific working with so many outstanding professionals in 2008 and we are excited about what 2009 holds. Our recruiting team IS HERE during the holidays - at least one member of the team is working every day (except for Christmas and New Years Day), so if you are seeking an exciting new opportunity, or know someone else who is, please email me at jmatthews@lucruminc.com.
Java Developer (Downtown Cincinnati, OH). This is a 12 month contract role for an experienced java developer to become part of the Trading and Marketing Application Support team at our Client in Downtown Cincinnati, OH. Primarily responsible for supporting and enhancing CommoditiesXL (the trade capture, settlement, and accounting system). The developer will be interfacing with business users on a day-to-day basis. This role also includes periodic hands-on and on-call monitoring of the production system and jobs, which will require off-hour and weekend duty. This position requires three years of significant Java coding.
Software Quality Assurance (Columbus, OH). Our client is looking to bring the right candidate in on either a contract-to-hire or a permanent basis. We need someone with a strong quality assurance/software testing background. This is a Team Lead position - this person needs to have started and grown a QA team! This client uses manual testing tools and wants someone with a minimum of 5 years experience. (CR)
SharePoint .Net Developer (Downtown Cincinnati, OH). This is a three month contract-to-hire role with a large, successful insurance company. The primary required experience is as follows:
- 8+ years experience gathering requirements, understanding business, meeting customer needs, and leading small project development.
- 4+ years of experience with Microsoft SharePoint or comparable software development experience. Knowledge of MOSS 2007 is a plus.
- 4+ years working in the Insurance or Financial section.
- Knowledge of project life cycles, requirements documentation approaches, and interview techniques.
- Knowledge of industry best practices and design patterns.
- Knowledge of the Insurance industry is a plus. (SL)
CRM Program Manager (Columbus, OH). This is a direct hire opportunity with a healthcare logistics company. We are looking for someone who has three years or more experience in program management. This role requires someone who has experience with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Systems and who has a record of working with process documentation and continuous improvement. This is an exciting role in an exciting and stable industry! (CR)
Infrastructure Specialist (Greater Cincinnati Area). This is a direct hire opportunity ith a large, national restaurant chain that is able to weather the tough economy! The average time a person has worked with this client is 20 years. This is an opportunity for connection and stability when stability is tough to find. As part of the Infrastructure Technology department, this person will be responsible for the configuration, installation, and support of all network servers and related client services. Assist in the design and implementation, troubleshooting and support of Enterprise servers, including network infrastructure and mission-critical applications. Implement and integrate new software and provide ongoing support for installed software and hardware platforms. (CR)
Account Executive (Downtown Cincinnati, OH). LUCRUM is growing! As a result of this growth, we need more Account Executives to join our Business Development Team. This is a full-time position with a base salary plus commission. We are looking for experienced sales people in the Cincinnati area. Do you meet the criteria below?
1) You live in and have worked in the Cincinnati, OH area.
2) You have experience selling IT consulting services.
3) You have an active Rolodex of clients. (DD)
XML Developers and Architects (downtown Cincinnati, OH). One of our valued clients is a large insurance company located in Downtown Cincinnati, OH. This company is looking for XML Developers and Architects to start IMMEDIATELY for a 6 month contract-to-hire opportunity. We are looking for a number of XML Developers that can do XSLT beyond user interfaces and XML/XSD beyond configuration files. We are also looking for an XML architect to define the direction from a strategic and business perspective. Requirements: Must have 2 to 3 years experience in XML schemas and transformations, and in XSLT. (SL)
Enterprise Data Architect (Greater Cincinnati, OH area). This is a 6 month right-to-hire position with one of valued clients. This position is responsible for evaluating the use of data and relating data directly to the goals and practices of the client. Working with the Data Center Manger, this position must ensure the accuracy and accessibility of all important data. We need a candidate that is well spoken and able to express his/her opinion, and is able to make a convincing argument to management and users as to why they need to do things his/her way. (SL)
SAS Programming (Downtown Cincinnati, OH). If you have a background in SAS programming, we have a direct hire opportunity with a very unique and creative client! (SL)
If you have an interest or know of anyone with an interest, please email me at jmatthews@lucruminc.com. Please attach a resume and let me know what position you are interested in by putting the title in the subject line. Thank you very much! I am looking forward to hearing from you!
Snakes in the Office
December 11, 2008
Not really; but there was a toy snake that everyone wanted to get their hands on at the LUCRUM office. You might be reading this and thinking, “what in the world?” Well its really not that crazy. Last Friday LUCRUM had their annual Christmas party hosted in the Bostick Center. We have food, drinks, friends, and a great gift exchange. This years White Elephant gift exchange was intense. Of course some people ended up with the annual regifts like Melissa Park’s Monkeys, Joe Thomas’ tomato and egg plant plates, and Jill Cole’s 1980s style picture frames. Some received the old balls gifts like Eric Duell’s half drank bottle of Hot Damn and Jesse Mathews’ power pack of Energy magazines. Then there was the power play gift; the radio controlled snake! As soon as the first person could steal, the snake was it. The next person; yep, the snake was it again! I think about 6 different people had Sammy the snake (hope you all enjoyed him). But at the end of the day, Dennis Foster became the proud owner of Sammy. Dennis, take good care of him. The rest of you, enjoy the pictures!
Merry Christmas!
Two New Hot Jobs!
November 26, 2008
Greetings! This may be a short work week, but that hasn’t slowed things down at LUCRUM one bit! We have two new hot jobs, and we need the right candidates NOW! Please send me an email (luzzel@lucruminc.com) RIGHT AWAY! Even if these opportunities don’t match what you are looking for, please email me - we get new positions every single day and I truly look forward to finding the right opportunity for you!
SharePoint .Net Developer (Downtown Cincinnati, OH). This is a three month contract-to-hire role with a large, successful insurance company. The primary required experience is as follows:
- 8+ years experience gathering requirements, understanding business, meeting customer needs, and leading small project development.
- 4+ years of experience with Microsoft SharePoint or comparable software development experience. Knowledge of MOSS 2007 is a plus.
- 4+ years working in the Insurance or Financial section.
- Knowledge of project life cycles, requirements documentation approaches, and interview techniques.
- Knowledge of industry best practices and design patterns.
- Knowledge of the Insurance industry is a plus. (SL)
CRM Program Manager (Columbus, OH). This is a direct hire opportunity with a healthcare logistics company. We are looking for someone who has three years or more experience in program management. This role requires someone who has experience with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Systems and who has a record of working with process documentation and continuous improvement. This is an exciting role in an exciting and stable industry! (CR)
If you have an interest or know of anyone with an interest, please email me at luzzel@lucruminc.com. Please attach a resume and let me know what position you are interested in by putting the title in the subject line. Thank you very much! I am looking forward to hearing from you!
LUCRUM Radio - Episode 14, Scott Provancher
November 17, 2008
The strength of the arts community is something that makes Cincinnati a great place to live. The city has a breadth of artistic offerings that is on par with some of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States. A major reason for the strong presence of the arts in the city is the Fine Arts Fund - an organization founded in the 1920’s to support and foster the growth of the arts in the community.
Scott Provancher is the current Vice President and Campaign Director for the Fine Arts Fund. In this episode of LUCRUM Radio, Scott and I discuss the important role that the Fine Arts Fund plays in keeping the Cincinnati arts community vibrant. Scott discusses the history of the organization, the role of the arts in the community, how technology is redefining his role and that of his organization, and why he loves to live, work, and play in Cincinnati.
Thanks to Scott for taking the time to speak with me and to share his thoughts with the world.
Sales!!!!!!!! (the simple job description)
November 11, 2008
Greetings! Instead of another post with the long description of our Account Executive position, I thought I would keep it simple today! If you meet these three requirements, please email me RIGHT AWAY AT luzzel@lucruminc.com :
1) You live in and have worked in the Cincinnati, OH area.
2) You have experience selling IT consulting services.
3) You have an active Rolodex of clients.
We at LUCRUM hope to hear from you ASAP!
LUCRUM Radio - Episode 12, Jill Haney
October 17, 2008
Jill Haney is an image consultant and columnist for the Cincinnati Enquirer. In this episode of LUCRUM Radio I spend time discussing the importance of image for business professionals - even those who rarely leave the cube. She shares her top 5 tips for men and for women, and offers up some great advice as to how improving your image might just improve your life.
Thanks to Jill for taking the time to do the podcast.
LUCRUM Radio - Episode 11, Daniel Johnson Jr.
September 25, 2008
Daniel Johnson Jr. is one of the most prolific users of social media in the Cincinnati region. Daniel is the founder of New Media Cincinnati, an avid blogger, podcaster, Facebook member, Twitter user, and participant in numerous other web platforms.
Daniel is successfully utilizing social media to make human connections - using the web to amplify his traditional networking activities. In doing so, Daniel has built a loyal and large following of friends and colleagues both locally and nationally.
In this episode of LUCRUM radio, Daniel shares his thoughts on the value of social media. He discusses how he got started blogging, and why he has continued to stay engaged in the process of creating and participating in conversations on the web. Daniel also offers some great tips for managing time and creating content on the web, as well as his strategy for maintaining multiple sites and platforms. (He has multiple blogs and 5 Twitter accounts and keeps them all on track)
Thanks to Daniel for taking the time to share his thoughts with us. It was great fun and very enlightening.
Listen in on this episode of LUCRUM Radio…
Data Governance Overview
September 19, 2008
I love the word ‘data’ but that ‘governance’ part is scary. What do you think about when you hear the word governance…I hear government. Then I think; big, impersonal, political, expensive, complicated, overbearing, and the list goes on.
Of course, we should break that term down a bit and drill into it. The root word for governance is govern and our founding fathers really got it right when they defined our government – which is an organization that governs.
So, a governance structure breaks down to three functions. A data governance group must be well balanced and provide the following ‘services’:
Create rules about data. Ensure that these rules are followed. And finally, deciding what to do when they are broken. Sound familiar – these three services are in fact the pillars of our government.
Legislative service – Creating laws . Another way to put this is… publishing policy that consists of best practices. These best practices are built upon standards which were developed from principles that grew from the data governance group.
Executive service – Developing an implementation plan. This plan puts into action the laws. This action is outlined in a roadmap that contains a strategy. This is socialized to gain traction and momentum and the trek begins.
Judicial service – Dealing with rule breakers. Soon, laws will be broken. When they are, it is the responsibility of the data governance group to decide the course of action.
More to come…
~ Scott Felten
My Definition of Architecture
September 17, 2008
What is an architecture? Well, let’s dissect that and see what we come up with. For starters, it is needed before we solve business problems, before we design and build systems and applications and before we put ‘things’ into production. If you build and deploy applications without an architecture, prepare for a long entrenched battle that threads through the realms of data, information, technology, and infrastructure. Saying that, I realize that most organizations do not have a formal architecture, but rather have general principles, standards and practices. This is one reason that IT is so challenging. Meeting agile business needs requires a dependable foundation of decisions.
An architecture is something that is addressed at the enterprise level. It is something that exists across the organization that enables an infrastructure (be it data, information, technology or infrastructure) to work together. So, in simple terms, an architecture is an enterprise wide agreed upon set of standards or direction. This implies that there is an overarching group that has responsibility across business and technical domains. And in turn this is enabled and actualized because someone, somewhere both understood and was able to sell the value of having a solid foundation.
Drilling down a bit further, the ‘agreed upon set of standards or direction’ really boils down to be a set of decisions. These decisions are made at all architectural levels; data, infrastructure, technology and information (to name a few important ones). These standards are in fact agreed upon rules of engagement that must exist. Further, these rules are derived only after a decomposition of systems (existing and non-existing) into its individual units. This decomposition is complete when each design orientation is at its most granular level. This is different for the different architectures.
The idea of an architecture is to break systems down to the specialist levels, so that these specialists can address the system (application) within their specific domain. Meaning, developers can receive requirements and think them through in the context of their specific architecture. And data folks can work from a common set of dependable rules of engagement that when followed across the enterprise provides them with a solid foundation on which to build, knowing that integration points, naming standards, metadata nomenclatures, taxonomies, etc. are there to rely on. The application folks can depend upon the architecture for proper building techniques, technology strategy, supporting documentation and so on. The information folks rely on the horizontal assurance that the right levels of metadata is in place and they anticipate the use of data to be consistent and so on.
So, an architecture is really a set of decisions that must be made across the enterprise, hopefully before the release of chaos (in the form of applications and system) at the most granular of forms so that it helps to manage this chaos from the bottom up as opposed to the top down. Managing from the bottom up is done via principles and standards, methodologies and best practices, governance and stewardship. Managing top down is just that, a downward spiral that is manifested by political infighting, protectionism, stagnation and a complete stoppage of the value chain (IT no longer can meet scope, costs, and schedules).
Happy architecting!
~ Scott Felten
Architect’s Outline
September 11, 2008
Someone asks, “What do you do for a living?”
You respond, “I’m an architect.”
They reply, “Really, what buildings have you built?”
You reply, “I’m in IT. We build systems.”
They respond, either “Oh, my brother in law fixes computers too!” or “Oh, my friend is a computer programmer.”
I have had many of these types of conversations. Of course, I look at them as a learning situation, a chance to teach someone the finer points of IT and to introduce some of those concepts. But, in the end, they mostly still don’t get it.
They really need to have a dozen years of war wounds, they need to get their hands involved and develop a thick gnarly skin, grizzled by years of scratching and scrapping to get things done. This level of understanding is best learned by participation.
To know the intricacies of this field, one must be driven to understand how things work and why things break. Why can’t we segment our customers this way or that way? We have the data! Why are we not able to align hard project costs, labor, revenue and customer attributes to get a 360 degree view of our business – our competitors do? It’s not until you are faced with these big challenges that you pick up your weapons and go to battle.
Well, I could go one with these stories, but my real point is that even dealing with IT managers that have 10 or 20+ years of experience, they often times still don’t get it. In this blog, I’ll introduce the role of the architect, or better said, to lay the foundation for some other blogs by outlining the architecture role.
Here is an outline of architecture. Please feel free to remind me if I am missing any, as I am writing this on the bus on my way to work.
Architects
• Solutions Architect (Business Solutions Architect)
• Data Architect (Integration Architect, Data Warehouse Architect)
• Information Architect (Reporting Architect, Metadata Architect)
• Infrastructure Architect (Technology Architect, Systems Architect)
• Applications Architect (Software Architect)
• Strategic Architect (Enterprise Data Architect, Chief Architect, Business Architect)
Next post “What is an architecture?”
Near future posts will contain the role, value or services provided by each architect. Stay tuned and hopefully we can have some great discussions!
Happy Building!
~ Scott Felten
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