Mark Ewer

Work History

DiscoverTec

DiscoverTec is a small technology firm that focuses on development, marketing, and network hosting.

Senior Developer 2016 - 2018

I joined DiscoverTec in 2016 after Letter B closed their development teams. At DiscoverTec, I took over as the lead for a contract to build a franchise management system for a restaurant chain. When I got the project, it was already in bad shape being over budget and both the customer and DiscoverTec were unhappy with the relationship. I did three key things for the project. First, I implemented a Scrum project management system with a detailed backlog and daily customer involved meetings as communication is often at the heart of these kinds of problems. Next, I did a detailed mapping of contract requirements to backlog items to get a handle on the out of control scope creep. Third, I implemented a new quality system for the project that included automated testing, code reviews, and a formal user acceptance testing for each backlog item. Together, these things turned the project around and now the customer has awarded DiscoverTec additional contracts worth five times more than the original contract.

Letter B

Letter B is a very small startup technology consulting firm run by a former colleague that I worked with at LSI.

Senior Developer 2014 - 2016

I left LSI to work for my friend at Letter B because of the opportunity to work remotely and lead a team of off-shore developers. At Letter B I was in charge of the technical implementation and team mentoring for a large meal planning application. I was able to take a legacy system with no real automated quality systems and implemented a CI/CD pipeline, an automated test battery covering 20% of the system, and a Kanban-style management system. This increased the overall team productivity to nearly double.

LSI

LSI is a military training contractor with about 500+ employees.

Director 2000 - 2014

I was hired to LSI as a developer but was quickly promoted through several job titles to Director within the first two years. I lead a team of developers to design and build several major applications used by military training organizations that brought LSI significant revenue. LSI employed up to 250 employees using my software on a full-time basis to build training programs for Naval Aviators, Army Engineers and Chem/Bio Warriors, Army Aviation, and the MV-22 Osprey Marine/Air Force program. The impact of my contributions actually changed LSI from a "small business" to a "large business" by growing the company from ~240 employees to over 500.

Interlink Service Associates

Interlink is a small group of network engineers that primarily provide desktop and business support services with the occasional software integration or development project.

Lead Software Architect 2009 - 2011 (Part Time)

My work for Interlink was a side-job where I worked nights and weekends to build the RMFMP.com web application. The owner of the company approached me to build a mortgage foreclosure mediation system during the housing crisis as he had a contract in hand but did not have the expertise on staff to complete the work. My role on the project was to design and build all technical aspects of the software. As the only programmer/architect on the project for the first six months, I had to basically do it all. Once we started bringing on other employees because of the success, I trained/mentored them to keep the project going. The software was so successful that all but two counties in Florida used it to help them manage the housing crisis and it saved many people's homes from foreclosure.

Qualifications

Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD)

I have earned the upper tier Microsoft certification for software developers. This objectively demonstrates that I am competent in developing applications on the DotNet Framework such as ASP.Net, C#, WPF, UWP and helps me to stay up to date. I enjoy the challenge of writing high quality, testable, maintainable code that exceeds customer expectations.

PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)

I earned the PMI-ACP to demonstrate my commitment to effective communication and organization in a software development team. Each team is different, and software processes are not a one-size-fits-all proposition. PMI validates that I am capable of using and explaining Kanban, Extreme Programming, MSF, Crystal, FDD, and other processes. This is valuable to me because each process has a set of tools that you can mix-and-match to get the right-sized process for a given team.

Certified ScrumMaster

Scrum is the most popular agile methodology. Studying and obtaining a ScrumMaster certification helped me to understand the single most difficult part of any software project - communication. Scrum does a great job of organizing the right communications at the right time and I can show you how and why it works.

Microsoft Certified Systems Expert (MCSE-NT4)

Early in my career, I earned a certification in Windows network administration. Turns out that this is petty valuable as a foundation for a software developer because I understand network traffic, system security, and other administrative technologies so I can build software the fits the intended environment. Knowing the difference between an SQL Backup and a Volume Shadow Copy is helpful to any systems architect.

St. John’s River State College

Graduated Summa Cum Laude with an Associate of Arts. Member of Phi Theta Kapp National Honor Society. 1993 - 1996

Interests

I am a husband and father of four. I enjoy hanging out with my wife and kids. I am also a co-leader of the Jacksonville Developer's User Group (JaxDug) where I help grow the developer community of North-East Florida. JaxDug helps me keep in touch with other developers and keep my skills sharp.

Contact info

Please feel free to call or email me anytime. You can also normally find me around the JaxDug events if you want to talk in a less formal setting and I am always up for meeting you for coffee.

• email mark@3w3r.com
• phone (904) 238-7347
• place Green Cove Springs, Florida

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