Once a month we'll shine our virtual spotlight on one of the CA Process Automation community's members. It's just a fun, easy way for us to get to know one another a little bit beyond our work-related interactions here on the site. This month, we're featuring Elwynn Martin, Administering and Developing Service Catalog, IT PAM, and Service Desk for Auto-Owners Insurance.
Location: Lansing, MI
Current Gig: Administering and Developing Service Catalog, IT PAM, and Service Desk for Auto-Owners Insurance.
One word that describes how you work: Methodical and thorough are 2 I’ve heard others use. I would say flexible, I try to handle both people and problems with grace and composure.
How do you use CA Communities and any suggestions for others?
I look for ideas about ways to improve our existing processes and configuration as well as asking other people for their ideas on how to solve problems. And when I can I enjoy helping others find answers to their problems.
Mac or PC?
PC, I’ve never found the Mac UI so much more intuitive or the machine so much better that I thought I just had to have one. I started learning Ubuntu last spring and that has helped me understand Macs and their users/fans better.
Mobile Device? Android, it’s far from new but it’s reliable and it does what I want it to. True story: I used a flip phone till Jan. 2012, so I still navigated using maps and printed directions. In the meantime my father, who taught me to read maps, started using a GPS in 2006. So there I was, a degreed developer(Bachelors in Computer Information Systems) who made a living administering IT systems still navigating using printed maps while my father, a technologically challenged high school graduate, had long ago moved on to GPS.
Apps/software/tools you can’t live without? Android: waze and yelp are 2 I’ve used a long time. I’ve just started using MapMyRun. PC: NP++, SQL Server Studio, and SoapUI are the main ones I develop with.
Besides your phone and computer, what's your favorite gadget?
I guess I’m not much of a gadget person because I couldn’t think of any that I own beyond the gadgets that came in my car. The backup camera and touchscreen infotainment system with usb and aux inputs are the latest gadgets I’ve learned to use. I am entertaining the idea of joining the fit bit craze, does that count?
What’s your daily work space like?
Relatively Spartan compared to most, I don’t really ‘decorate’ the space I work in. I probably keep work and life separated a little more than most thanks to reading ‘they don’t teach corporate in college’ while working on my Bachelors.
How do you balance life/work?
I try to leave work at work when I leave for the day, though I can’t tell you the number of lunch hours I’ve spent thinking about the problem I’ve spent the forenoon trying to solve.
Best advice you can give and you have received?
Advice to give: Relationships are always more important than, and often outlast, systems and technologies; don’t sacrifice tomorrows good working relationships on the altar of today’s technologies and systems. Advice I’ve received: Even when you love what you do, there will still be days when you dislike the tasks you’re required to do. My mentor shared that with me about his 50+ year career, so far my experience has proven him right
What everyday thing are you better at than anyone else?
Combining an in depth technical understanding of how these systems work with the ability to understand the thinking and emotions behind the requests we receive from stakeholders for additions and modifications to the system. The intersection of systems and relationships is the real challenge of the job, balancing the request in front of you with the impact to all the stakeholders of the system and then communicating to whomever the how and why of often complex technical decisions.