Latest Contributions by LeslieGruen

Developing a Sustainable GIS I read an article in ArcUser "Developing a Sustainable GIS" in which it explains what perceived as some sort of industry trend to use out of the box solutions in order to stay in business. Fundamentally, from my perspective, I don't think this is wise to follow such trends. Caution - I'm a Techie...not a Bean Counter Being that I come from the open source community (10+ years) it would seem to me, this off the shelf proprietary solutions "trend" is not necessarily the best solution for enterprise applications. I'm not a bean counter though so maybe it does keep the paychecks rolling in. I do own my own llc and have worked in diverse industries and pretty much have a good understanding of overall business concepts that bean counters use all the time (even created a cost benefit analysis app for a client). The Organizations are Not Typically the Same I feel, most enterprise applications are going to have to have some customization as not ALL organizations within a particular industry have the same needs. Sure, we can find all the similar needs but sometimes this is going to be necessary to give them customization. My Mantra - Old Skool Full LAMP Stack Dev - Designer - UI/UX - Engineer - Architect - WhatchamacallUs I try to make all my applications and solutions such my client is happy. If they want something (as long as it isn't off the wall) then I do it. I make it happen. If they want to keep a cms in which I can't even find to download the 1980s version 0.1 beta version that they have been running for several years, I hack it and make the thing work as best I can and then enhance it on top of that. Thoughts? ... View more

I'm FINALLY MOVING back to Charlotte, NC! I saw some positions posted in Charlotte at Esri but uncertain as the last GIS company had one dev, ME! They didn't like me..probably because they saw me as vocal about having the tools to do my job! In a nutshell: I only have a couple months of experience with GIS but from the moment it was introduced to me is resonates with me worked for GIS company recently whom may/may not be an affiliated - conflict of interest? If they didn't like me then am I probably blackballed from working for any GIS company? Short resume 10 years of professional software application development experience CS Degree from FSU and 2 years at USF for Computer Eng I found that I was the ONLY developer within the entire company yet they are throwing out releases full of issues therefore obviously they aren't on my level....drag and drop is not software development and or engineering (whatever the titles are for us these days). IBM, Columbia University, Wells Fargo, Booz Allen Hamilton - all companies I've worked for as well as everything in between Conceptually, I was supposed to fill the holes in of the sinking ship while blindfolded and my hands tied behind my back. Thoughts..anyone...anyone??? Thanks in advance! ... View more

I worked for a very short term for a GIS company and am browsing around because they would never be able to do build something like this or be as creative... This is very clean, creative and blows everyone else out of the water! I was looking through the Esri User Magazine and was curious about competition. I read about how the business model for GIS had to change due to technology and recession. The gis place I was working for that does not know what they are doing in technology and are lacking terribly in technical knowledge and I was the only REAL dev there. Crazy! I suspect many of their customers may move to esri...still looking around... Very nice thus far! ... View more