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Overview

MyProgrammer: About That Name

From time to time, people ask me why I chose the name "MyProgrammer" for the company. Actually, I didn't pick the name. My clients did. While visiting with clients, I would often hear them refer to me as "my programmer"  in much the same way people might refer to "my attorney" or "my doctor". Although I do a lot more than just programming, after hearing this over and over the name just sort of stuck.  I like the name "MyProgrammer" because it describes the personal nature of my business. Building custom software is a personal endeavor, and our name reflects that. 

About Us

I have been building complex database applications for Fortune 2000 companies (and smaller ones, too) in a wide variety of industries, including entertainment, manufacturing, health care, etc. for 20 years. While still in college in the 1980's, I wrote database applications for small businesses, using dBase 3+ (I still have the 3 1/2" diskette to prove it - much to the dismay of my wife Yoly).  After graduating from Cal State Fullerton in 1990, I got a job working for a medium-size printing company in Los Alamitos, California. I started writing a manufacturing application for their Cost Accounting department, using Paradox. Soon I switched to FoxPro, which was a revolutionary leap in functionality at the time. And yes, I still have those disks too.

In 1990, I also started my own software consulting firm, DataVision Development, Inc. (later renaming it to MyProgrammer). In May of the same year, I married Yoly (who is shown in the photo on the home page). You know she's a patient woman to put up with me for 20 years. In the 1990's, I focused mainly on custom database solutions, typically involving some version of FoxPro and Microsoft SQL Server. Most applications were for medium-to-large companies. In 1993, we welcomed our first child, Brittany (also shown on the home page).

In the mid 1990's, I co-wrote dvlib, a highly regarded library for FoxPro. This library encapsulated a lot of the functions missing from the core FoxPro library, including multi-user saves/rollbacks, query on demand, import/export, among others. In the late 1990's, the Y2K craze hit, so I spent the last part of the decade helping to save humanity. Okay, maybe that's exaggerating a bit.

Along the way I got gigs with several major companies, including Universal Studios, CBS Radio, Quiksilver, the State of California, among others. In each case, the project involved defining, designing and building a complex database management system, and typically interfaced with one or more existing systems. Probably the most exciting project I've been involved with was the Cost Tracking System ("CTS")  I developed for Universal Studios when they were building the theme park "Universal Studios Escape" in Orlando, Florida. This SQL Server based application, which incorporated a variety of desktop and web technologies, was used by multiple teams in Hollywood, Orlando, Osaka and Barcelona. CTS interfaced with multiple AS/400 systems running Payroll, A/P, A/R, G/L, Time Keeping, and a few custom in-house systems. Needless to say, CTS was a rewarding project.

After many long nights and weekends, I took a 6 month leave in 2004 to travel throughout Europe. If you look closely at our picture on the home page, you will notice it was taken from the London Eye in Britain. We visited most of western Europe, but also ventured to Turkey, the Czech Republic, and 10 other countries. We even made it to the Running of the Bulls, in Pamplona, Spain (photo on right). No, I didn't run. I'm a software engineer for Pete's sake! 

People wonder how I managed to run a software consulting company while spending 6 months overseas. Depending on my mood, I usually answer with some version of "you know, they have phones in Europe". But in all seriousness, this does underscore the nature of our software consulting firm. This is an intellectual endeavor. Does it matter where I am when I am building your project? Sure I had to get up early or stay up late on occasion to participate in a conference call, but I do the same thing here in the U.S., needing to discuss projects with my offshore programmers, testers, etc. The point is, if something has to get done, it has to get done. Location is irrelevant. 

As you may have guessed by now, MyProgrammer isn't a volume software development shop. We don't employ a thousand programmers from India, cranking out 50 applications per day. I build one application at a time, and my only concern is making sure it is done right. I use recognized industry standards, along with common-sense development methods I have developed over 20 years. I spend time to understand your business, so together we can come up with the best solution.

Lately, I spend most of my time designing and managing application development, leaving many of the coding responsibilities to the rest of the team. Of course, to keep costs in line we do employ offshore talent, but I personally supervise every step of development, from coding through implementation.  I personally review the code being written on a weekly basis, because I do not like surprises.  I am also the final tester for each project, so you can expect to receive a working application. I also create most of the design and architectural documents throughout the software development life-cycle, providing copies of all to you at the completion of the project. 

As I have mentioned previously, building custom software applications is an intellectual endeavor. There is little need for fancy offices. Most of my clients are outside the Denver area anyway, so little face-to-face meetings occur. Therefore, for the majority of the last 20 years, I have worked from my home office, with occasional on-site visits during the start, middle and completion of the project. As one of my clients put it, "the great thing is you are always in the office". 

The last "fancy" office I had was about 2 years ago. While it was nice, there were a couple drawbacks. For one, I spent 30 minutes each way commuting. That might not sound too bad, but 1 hour each day adds up to around 250 hours each year. I could have written an extra application with that downtime. But there was another problem. We had 7 or 8 power failures in the 2 years we were there, and that usually resulted in leaving for the day. I never knew when power would be restored. Now you might ask how that is different from working at home? Power failures occur everywhere, right? And until August of last year, I would have agreed with you. But last year, I installed a 20 Kilowatt whole house generator, which automatically switches on if the power is out for more than 30 seconds. Show me a fancy office that can do that! 

In the unlikely event that you've actually read this far, I hope you have a better feel for my company. If you have a custom database application that needs to be designed and built, I'd love to chat with you about it. I'm usually in the office.

Rob Carr
President and Founder
MyProgrammer, Inc.

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