Adam
Adam
is responsible for the database performance tuning & administration
division of White Star. This includes providing training, consulting
services for a worldwide client base. Plus, when he runs out of
constructive things to do, he's really good at making people laugh.
Adam brings a wealth of knowledge and experience (and off-the-cuff jokes) to each of his client's business issues and uses a logical approach in his work.
Adam's niche is customer service, experience in difficult system and database issues as well as hardware sizing for database systems. Other specialties include database backup/recovery planning, administration and testing. Adam's knowledge includes support for all of the operating systems that are supported by Progress. 75% of White Star clients use UNIX as a database engine. Adam finds it enjoyable to plan highly available systems and holds a high value in educating his clients.
Adam is the author of a book on creating a comprehensive recovery strategy for users of Progress Software's RDBMS called "Who cares if you have a good Backup if you can't Recover?". He also authored a book for Progress Software's Expert Series called "OpenEdge Revealed".
Adam presented on topics of database system performance tuning and high availability at the Progress Software User's conference from 1996 - 2006. Adam has given presentations on the internals of the Progress database at User Group meetings and conferences internationally.
John
My computer consulting and training business began in 1979, before Progress was a commercial product (in fact, before Progress was a company), and a few incarnations before White Star.
My background is in business, and I have worked with every size company imaginable. I have worked with husband-and-wife teams, and have consulted across multiple divisions of companies as large as Sun Microsystems for more than 15 years.
For many years, the bulk of my business was writing code. I still write applications for people today, and I still love it. You can't stay abreast of the changes in Progress simply by reading the manuals. You have to be actively engaged with the product, and that is a basic part of my day-to-day work.
I have provided training for Progress Software, as well as many of Progress' application partners. I have taught many classes at qad, as well as FiServ, and have trained hundreds, no more like thousands of Progress developers over the years. Training is still one of my favorite endeavors.
During my career, I have written several books about Progress, starting with Programmer's Progress, which is no longer in print. Most of my books are still available through our web site (a few have been superseded or are out of date). Somehow, none of them ever made the NYT book lists, but they're still popular, and still useful.
Most recently, my activities include the authorship of TailorPro, a truly remarkable tool for modifying Progress application behavior (see the links on this site).
I continue to travel throughout the US and around the world, working with clients, giving presentations at Progress-related conferences, making new friends and greeting long-time customers.
Alan
Single, unattached yet curiously over-extended male (6ft, brown hair, blue eyes and slim(ish) WLTM……. Oh a TECHNICAL bio?…. Well why didn’t you say so in the first place?…..OK, Progress Geek with more years experience in system development than he cares to tell or remember WLTM ….<snip> ……
Before cutting the umbilical cord, Alan worked for Progress Software in the UK for going on 16 years. In that time he has worked on the support desk, in consulting, and as a trainer teaching the entire range of Progress products.
In a previous life, before seeing the light, he has worked in an operations department, in development, in Project Management and (for his sins) in QA management.
Consulting and training appointments for Progress have taken him all over Europe, from Ireland to Iceland, from Prague to Tel Aviv. He has made product presentations at numerous Progress conferences throughout Europe.
Having been on the receiving end of dull presentation material and (worse) dull trainers, he believes that there is no substitute for good training that is properly targeted, properly administered and that is delivered in a memorable fashion. He also firmly believes that a timely mentoring process can boost learning and productivity in development teams.
Lori
Business person, ex-software engineer, Lori is the background
person working the shows, calendar, invoices, and the like.
After many years as a database software engineer in reusability, portals, and applications for companies such as SofTech, OSF, and Polaroid, Lori became another ex-Progress employee. While at Progress she worked on database technical support and travelled the world with Consulting.
On to management and business operations, Lori rode the internet startup bubble as services manager for a web collaboration group. She continues to enjoy helping companies strategize about direction, prepare for change and embrace technology.
Practical, resourceful and always ready to laugh! Lori enjoys reading, travelling, skiing, and golf. She is always on the lookout for extra sports tickets! If you call us, don't be surprised if Lori answers your technical question!
Paul
Paul
is the founder of Paul Guggenheim & Associates (PGA), a company
that has been training Progress students since 1986.
He has developed high-quality Progress training courses and provides both public training classes in the Chicago area and private training classes on-site.
In addition, Paul provides clients with consulting services and custom application development including database design, programming, troubleshooting, performance tuning and implementation.
Paul is the author of S.M.A.R.T.S. (Sales Management and Record Tracking System) sales force automation application and the Sharp Menu System, a database-driven menu and security application for developers.
Paul has given presentations at many national and international conferences and is the chairperson of the Chicago Area Progress Users Group.
Tom
Tom Bascom has been working with Progress based systems since 1988 and has extensive experience working with large scale clients to develop and manage all of the technology and processes necessary to succeed in challenging environments.
Tom created the Lakewood Mortgage Origination system which has been installed by more than 50 lenders in the US with sites as large as 1,200 users using databases in excess of 100GB to process annual loan volumes of $20 Billion or more.
After selling Lakewood Corporation to EDS in 1995 Tom worked for EDS as an Enterprise Architect on various projects until the summer of 2000 when he joined printChannel.com, the leading vendor of Web-based print procurement solutions, as VP of Engineering where he was responsible for Software Development and IT Operations in support of their global service offering.
Tom also founded Greenfield Technologies a firm specializing in bringing pragmatic solutions to complex Information Technology issues.
Others
Throughout the years, we've worked with innumerable experts and consultants in the Progress industry.
We don't know everything, so when we need expertise in other areas, we turn to our colleagues throughout the US and overseas, either for subcontracting or to work directly with our clients.
