Consulting Philosophy

 I have three passions as a software analyst/Programmer: 
  • Using my expertise in business rules and process flows to create (or sometimes recommend the purchase of) solutions that fit my client's needs and corporate culture.
  • Creating systems and structures that elegantly, efficiently enhance the storage and retrieval of data. I excel at the challenges of database design.
  • Creating clear, concise, enjoyable and easy-to-use user experiences and interfaces. I am particularly good at this because i think like an end-user, not a  coder. I also speak like a business person, not a techno-geek.

I started with what was then called the Pick Operating System. This has now morphed and bifurcated into a family of highly scalable, highly efficient 'No SQL' database environments (called 'D2' or 'Multivalue' databases) that excel in ways that columnar databases like SQL Server do not - and are weak in ways that columnar databases are not - they are quite complementary, actually. I am not shy in saying that I do not know any Pick programmers who writes structured, robust code better than I do, or faster than I do. 

Since that time, I've branched out into Visual Basic, SQL Server, HTML, and HTML/OS (now called Aestiva Array) to create Windows applications, Data Warehouses, and large, fast, robust data-backed websites.

Unlike most other programmers in this field, I use the Structured Programming Paradigm, and I have also taught Structured Programming, as it applies to Pick, and Pick-like systems.

CRM Project (VB.NET front-end, Universe Database ERP Back-End)

Below are annotated screenshots from  a recent project, a CRM system I wrote. As in many projects I am involved in, I anticipated the user's needs, and took the initiative for design and added features the users hadn't even thought of but immediately fell in love with and became dependent upon. 

I actually created 'data object' classes for the back-end ERP system (which is running on a Multivalue database called 'Universe'). In this way, I made the application 'Database Neutral': one would merely have to write new data-object classes for the new database (SQL Server, Oracle, Cache etc.) and the app would run just the same. Flexibility and extensibility are also hallmarks of my work.

Resume


Samuel Claiborne
High Falls, NY
917-453-3786 
​claibornesystems@gmail.com
Consulting Senior Programmer/Analyst
Consulting Senior Programmer/Analyst

  • Experienced analyst, proficient in assessing business requirements and designing/building intuitive, easy-to-use applications that empower users and anticipate their needs.
  • Expert in creating database structures that address and solve real-world problems.
  • Create systems for the retail, wholesale, manufacturing, and financial services sectors, as well as general data warehouse and data mart design and implementation.
  • Craft custom applications that suit both business requirements and corporate culture.
  • Aid in assessing third-party commercial applications for implementation and integration issues, as well as performing actual integrations.
  • Expert at leveraging older Multivalue systems through marriage with new technologies.
  • Great listening, written and verbal communication skills.
  • A deep understanding of critical business functions such as accounting, inventory control, retail (brick and mortar POS as well as ecommerce), wholesale and manufacturing (bills of material, inventory, shop floor control etc.).
  • All work is well structured and documented so that others may maintain and build upon it.
  • Intensely focused, self-directed and independent, but also work well in teams.
 
  • SKILLS:
     
    Visual Basic.NET, SQL language, SQL Server SSIS and SSRS, SQL Server Administration, general Oracle usage and light administration, HTML, JavaScript, Aestiva Array, Excel (including pivot tables connected to data marts/warehouses), MS Access, Pick BASIC/PROC/English-Access/Correlatives, Universe, Unidata, Pick D3, Revelation, Cache OODB, extensive development experience in Cache's DeepSee Data Warehouse Environment - leveraging their data through their own dashboard objects, and also leveraging it further in VB NET applications, Smartdraw, Photoshop (and Photoshop scripting), InDesign, MS Office. In addition to these skills, I am a published author, and, combined with my graphics abilities, excel at creating flow charts and other technical documentation, including friendly, readable user manuals, permuted indices, and technical diagrams. I have very good verbal communications skills, and work well with end-users, understanding (and often anticipating) their needs.
     
    EXPERIENCE:

  • 2016 - Present working as an independent consultant for a major medical supply wholesale/retail/distribution company
  • Applications development in the Cache database
  • Applications support for existing ERP
  • VB.NET front-ending of Cache data, giving it a flexible, modern front end, utilizing Infragistics data controls.
  • Development of Data Mart in Cache's DeepSee Business Information product
  • Extensive 'widget' and dashboard creation within DeepSee
  • Creation of custom data class definitions within Cache and DeepSee
  • Creation of  SQL and MDX code to optimize queries the Cache and DeepSee data, often marrying the two in custom VB NET inquiry/analysis screens.

  • 2015 – 2016 Nestle, Inc., Nestle Bottled Water Division, Stamford, CT
  • General application support.
  • RESTFUL applications research for interfacing Rocket Universe with JSON.
  • Audited and improved specifications for, and then coded automated AP integration of subcontracting water companies invoices with the CloudX platform.
  • 2007 – 2015 Cache, Inc., manufacturer and retailer of woman’s apparel, New York, NY
  • Created a modern Windows-based CRM system and several other Windows-based systems using VB.NET, which interfaced seamlessly with a Universe Multivalue database back-end ERP. This project also involved creating indices, B-Trees, and intelligent search algorithms on the ERP side, in Pick Basic, in order to provide near instantaneous retrieval of over 6 million customer records, complete with all customer service interactions, contact information, which coupons had been sent to them over the life of their relationship with Cache, and their entire purchase history, with drill-down to the line-item detail level.  All of this data was presented in a streamlined tabbed-window interface that users were delighted with.
  • Wrote an in-store Physical Inventory System running in VB.NET on POS terminals to replace the primitive system included in the CRS/Epicor POS software. This system sent physical counts to the back-end ERP system as part of nightly polling. Used in 300 stores.
  • Wrote a customer acquisition dashboard in VB.NET using graphical data presentation tools from Infragistics.
  • Helped design specifications for two new E-Commerce sites, and helped vet the web development vendors. Created automated, audited data flows to/from their systems.
  • Developed specifications for a browser-based Store-Web Order Fulfillment system implemented to allow multi-channel fulfillment, and wrote the client-side portion of the application, as well as the fulfillment allocation algorithm. Specifications included numerous flow charts and wireframes created with various graphics programs.
  • Designed and implemented a SQL Server Data Mart which created a homogenous repository out of heterogeneous sales, inventory, and customer information from multiple systems, including the Universe back-end ERP, Postgre-SQL/PHP and Magento E-Commerce sites, and several Oracle-based store POS system servers. I designed, coded, and implemented the entire project myself on all systems, as well as the final integration within SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). This system pulled literally hundreds of thousands of rows of data from these systems nightly, normalized it, tested it for accuracy, and inserted it into the warehouse, all automatically and without user intervention. In addition, a VB.NET program compared various key sales numbers down to the penny between the ERP system and the data warehouse nightly. Prior to Cache’s bankruptcy, the warehouse agreed to the penny for over 2 years straight.
  • Designed and coded various web service API calls for Cache’s ecommerce site.
  • Designed and coded a highly secure, highly robust in-store, browser-based Cache Visa Application with the VB.NET and the Aestiva Array website database/language environment. This site interacted with US Bank’s secure servers to give customers instant credit approval for a Cache branded visa. It simultaneously fielded application requests from over 300 stores. It had a perfect, 100% uptime, zero error record from the first day of launch, in 2009, until Cache closed its doors in 2015.
  •  
    2003 – 2009 Samuel Aaron International, manufacturer/wholesaler of jewelry – Long Island City, NY
  • Worked on a Multivalue Database ERP system, maintaining existing accounting, bills of material and inventory programs in Pick BASIC, Pick PROC, and the Pick English/Access database languages
  • Developed new executive dashboards and other analytical platforms in VB.NET, utilizing Infragistics and other third party data presentation tools. These applications provided decision-makers with unparalleled graphical and numerical analysis of sales trends, inventory positions, and A/R volatility.
  • Evaluated canned jewelry business software packages for conformance to business requirements, robustness, and user interface interaction and execution speeds.
 
 
Work samples, and annotated screen shots, at http://www.samuelclaiborne.com/resume.html
 
Education: Simon's Rock of Bard College, Great Barrington, MA.
 
References available upon request.