What do you consider to be your main area of expertise?
Personally I think my strength is in all things technical in PeopleSoft - in particular the setup, Oracle/UNIX - SQL Server/NT environment, App Engine/Comp. Interface. If nothing else, I enjoy the challenges involved in this - discovering how it works and breaking it! The past year and a half has provided plenty of new techie stuff to whet my appetite supporting a Global Payroll UK site, and getting neck deep in version 8! (I wouldn't quite go as far as some [not mentioning any names, Mr Steele] describing it as 'sexy stuff' though).

What project have you most enjoyed working on and why?
Australia: Energex - Exposed to what was new PeopleSoft technology at the time, given the chance to be involved in the design and then build of several modules including employee Self-Service utilising HTML Access and a Labour Costing Interface/Module. As my first site going it solo - it will always hold a special place in my heart. I also met my favourite gal, Amy McKenna up there. ("Hey baby!" Big sigh everyone! Or should that be groan?.) ("Hi Brian!", if you're reading this.).

UK: Unilever - Fantastic team of people to work alongside combined with firstly the challenges associated with going live with the first UK Global Payroll instance and subsequently the task of stabilising that environment as part of the Production Support team. Chance to 'play' with new technology such as Component Interface and the re-designed Application Engine, whilst honing UNIX and Oracle skills getting hands dirty and working closely with the client's DBA team. The perfect environment to nurture a techie like myself! That and all the free ice-cream you can consume!! ("Hey Adam and Bella!!")

What would you most like added to the PeopleSoft product?
Some of the tools the PeopleSoft Developers get. There's a tool mentioned on the grapevine that shows all the associated fields and records on a PIA page. This would be handy in any client's development environment. It would be great to add syntactical colour coding to the PeopleCode editor.

What is the most frustrating thing about the PeopleSoft product?
The most frustrating thing about the PeopleSoft product is the patching and bundles. PeopleSoft have attempted to make this easier on the client, however I still believe more can be done to make this more pleasant.

I strongly advise any client to try and keep their bundles up to date. Otherwise, you leave yourself with a mammoth task if ever trying to play catch-up.

What originally drew you to consulting or the computing field?
Consulting allowed me the opportunity to see exciting places, meet interesting people and not have to join any of the armed forces or kill anyone. Consulting allows you to constantly work with new teams and, through knowledge transfer, leave a more able environment for the client upon completion.

What advice would you give to a new client starting with PeopleSoft?
Take the opportunity to address all Business Processes and try and improve them rather than replicate your legacy system in PeopleSoft. Make the most out of your investment. It's surprising how often this is overlooked.

Why did you join Congruent?
To be completely honest, I was inspired by the dream of the original Australian directors. They sold me on the idea of a company run by consultants for consultants, convinced me of the worth of the PeopleSoft product, and were willing to take a chance on me by providing training and first hand guidance during my rookie years. ("Hi and thanks to Nino and Boon back in Aus and, of course, Anton over here in the UK!!")

Where do you want to be in 5 years time?
5 years is a very long time. At the moment there is still too much to see and experience to know where I'll be in that time. I would hazard a guess that I will still be a PeopleSoft consultant in some corner of the globe before ultimately returning to the great shores of Australia.

Back to Our Team