After almost 25 years in IT, I needed a change of direction and so took up the leasehold of a public house. Here I probably overstretched myself by doing everything from stock ordering, cellar work, cleaning, cooking, serving, menu design, gardening, accounting, banking, helping our associated clubs as well as obtaining & training staff on an ad-hoc basis.

Using MS Dynamics CRM through versions 3 to 2013 with C# & JavaScript, we produced bespoke solutions to meet customer requirements in various business sectors ranging from social housing, retail & mobile communications through to animal care.

I initially converted a desktop Win32 complaint management system to be a browser-based application. From here, this application was modified in the next version so as to be easily customisable and flexible enough to handle many different tasks – similar to that of MS Dynamics CRM.

Whilst at Debenhams I specified, both functional and technical, as well as coded a system to automate the creation of the tickets, notices and advertisements used within the stores. The system was made up of 3 modules and was implemented as an n-tier application utilising VB COM objects running under MTS against a SQL Server 7 back end. The first module allowed the user to create templates using a unique wysiwyg designer and upon this the user could put place holders for graphics, text, product descriptions and prices to name but a few. The second module was where the user entered, or imported from AS/400, the data to be placed upon the template. I created a wizard interface for the user to enter the data. However, this wizard was also data driven, therefore allowing the system administrators to create the wizard themselves including layout, order and an ability to create as many or as few fields as possible. The final module contained the administrative and security settings as well as the form designer to create the wizard and update forms. I also provided coding assistance for the personal shopper system which is a browser-based application communicating to Exchange as well as SQL Server. I also assisted in enhancing the car fleet management system used within Debenhams. Before leaving I provided a technical specification for allowing an AS/400 user to create tickets, this was to use IBM Message Queue to route XML messages to the VB COM objects to create the tickets.

I created several in house applications whilst at Sema. The largest of which was a data driven time recording application to support 4000 users. This application was initially Win32 based but was then moved to a browser front-end using ASP. The front-end, either Win32 or browser, communicated with the middle tier VB COM components that were running under MTS. Initially the back end was Oracle 8; owing to licensing issues this then had to be changed to SQL Server 6.5, which after the licensing issues were resolved then moved back to an Oracle 8 database. All the stored procedures were re-coded each time to take advantage of the strengths of each database. The system administrators could create their own fields to record individual items of data against the projects, staff or time. This allowed a very flexible charging system that in turn interfaced directly into Sun Accounts, which Sema use as their accounting package. Other in-house applications I coded here was a telephone directory system, a web-based reporting system and a cost analysis application.

Using Delphi 2, and Visual C++ 4.0 I mail enabled an EDI freight forwarding package to utilise Microsoft Exchange for tracking freight, as well as automatically provide all required paperwork from the system. I created native Delphi components for utilising the MAPI API through a simple interface.

Using VB4, SQL Server 6.0, Delphi and MS Access I assisted in the creation, and design, of a contract allocation and EIS system for use within trust status hospitals. I created DLLs, stored procedures, and native Delphi components for re-use throughout the system.

Enhancing the portfolio management system, leasing system, and Help Desk product.

Using VB3 I was the main developer in creating this commercial Helpdesk system.

Updating, fixing and enhancing the help desk application created by the company.

I created several database applications for local businesses.

Processing applications to work on UK defence projects.

Civil Service work.