BLOG TIME, Y'ALL
First of all, I want to state that I am honored to be selected by Greg Chase to ‘BIF’ (Blog it Forward). He has grouped me with my German counter-part (Andreas Eissmann) and a man who I consider a trusted counselor and mentor (Sina Moatamed), for which I give him mad props.
Sina. Just look at him. You know there's something brewing in that skull.
Andreass, the yung genius doin' his thang!
Side-note: I am currently implementing ByD at America’s largest TV and Film prop-house. So now I feel all weird when I use the term ‘mad props.’
Anyway, second of all, this is very difficult for me, because I hate writing about myself.
Just kidding!
I LOVE writing about myself!
WHO IS JUDSON WICKHAM?
I stem from Southern California, grew up surfing, and found a passion for rock climbing at the age of 16. I went to UC Davis and graduated with degrees in Mathematics and Economics. I believe that this prepared me well for consulting, as I had become accustomed to solving difficult problems in creative ways.
CAREER BEGINNINGS
Straight out of school, I went directly into the consultant production facility formally known as Accenture. I have to applaud their business model, charging the customer $200/hour for my services when I knew absolutely nothing about consulting. The ‘throw ‘em into the fire’ approach worked very well for me, and I quickly gained rare and valuable skills quickly.
At this point I was working with PeopleSoft, doing huge implementations for huge companies. I have my fingerprints all over Kaiser Permanente’s payroll system, Robert Half’s subsidiaries in Shanghai and Tokyo, Marriot’s General Ledger, Och-Ziff Capital Management’s SEC filings, and HSBC’s reporting and currency trading platforms.
MOVING TO THE CLIENT SIDE, or DREAMING BYDESIGN
Then I got the call from Pinkberry. They asked ‘can you implement SAP Business ByDesign for us and implement data polling and currency translation processes for 120 stores in 15 countries?’ I was in Buffalo at the time, and two weeks later on a flight to LA.
I had no idea what Business ByDesign was nor did I have a clue about how to get the information they wanted. But my Accenture training kicked in, as in, ‘fake it till you make it.’ As soon as I completed that first ByDesign implementation, I knew that would be my future. I even did a spot for SAP:
ByD was far from ready for the big-time, but I maintained faith that one day, we’d get there. It took a while, and I made this a time of learning, making myself a SQL Server expert. In fact, when I was planning my exit from Pinkberry, I pursued both SQL Server and ByDesign opportunities.
BACK TO CONSULTING, UP IN THE CLOUD
Finally, when I interviewed with Bramasol, I knew I’d found a home. It just felt comfortable. I love working from wherever I want, and I love making my customers happy. I also enjoy mentoring budding ByD developers and consultants and judson.wickham3
I do feel blessed to be in demand, and I don’t take this for granted. In fact, next year, with the sponsorship of SAP, I will have a bi-weekly blog series about ‘Raising the Bar’ in ByD implementations. I will also produce a webcast every two months featuring live tips and tricks, customer interviews, and industry-specific content.
PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS, PERSONAL TURMOIL
But while it’s been a great year for me professionally, it has not been so personally. About a year ago, my brother and best friend passed away. Then another good friend and (fraternity) brother passed away. Then I was in a very serious accident, my organs were very close to shutting down, and I sustained massive trauma to the Brachial Plexus (the bundle of nerves coming out of your spinal cord and down your arm.) As a result, my right arm was completely paralyzed and totally dumb. My recovery has been slow, but I’m looking forward to one day climbing again.
Oh, and by the way, typing with only your left hand sucks. My right wrist and hand still do not function. It’s embarrassing that I can’t shake hands with people but hey, that’s my lot.
I’M A MUSICIAN, Y’ALL
Beyond rock climbing, my passion is electronic music. I have been producing it for 10 years, and I salivate over sythesizers. When living in LA, I was doing multiple gigs a week. That’s not possible now, but maybe one day!
Oh, and two more thing, I own several cats, with names ranging from BEARSHARK to Buffalo Starship (Buffy). I am also heavily tattooed.
AND NOW FOR THE QUESTIONS
(Damn Greg, these are hard.)
- What do you do to build bridges
Typically I begin with an architectural design, create a project plan, and then hire contractors to execute the construction.
Okay, a real answer: I build bridges by listening to people. I earn trust by demonstrating expertise. Then I burn them to the ground on Twitter.
- What is your philosophy of innovation and how do you help others to innovate
My philosophy of innovation is that one must take time to just THINK. I take time every day to lean back in my chair and dream of accomplishments that are out of my current range, and how I will get to the point where I can execute. I have the attitude that I can implement any technology, and I regularly challenge myself to do so. I help others innovate through mentor-ship. I point them in the right direction, and encourage their creativity.
- How will you leave the world a better place?
I believe I am doing so now. I make regular trips to Mexico to build houses for impoverished families.
BLOG IT FORWARD
I want to pass the torch to two people who I have mentored and who I see being very successful in the SAP Cloud space.
The first is arnulfo.dazruiz. He is the first in the crop of Latin American developers that I see as the future of ByDesign. Arnulfo is young, and wants to become a well-rounded technical and functional consultant, a process I have been helping with.
The second is melvin.hidalgo. Also a young developer, he has proven expert-level knowledge of the ByDesign Studio in record time. I have no doubt that his prolific and creative solutions will up the ante among ByD developers.
THE QUESTIONS
- If you owned a cat, what would you name it, and why.
- What is your favorite city, and why?
- How will you leave the world a better place? (Sorry Greg, it’s good)
Thanks for your time, y’all!
Follow me on Twitter @JudsonOnDemand
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