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Welcome to B & M Bulletin, produced specifically for IT specialists. In this issue:
• The importance of keeping us up to date
• Tech View: Service Oriented Architecture
• Specialist profile: Sean Duggan
• B & M staff member profile - Financial Controller, Claire Brennan
• Phone a friend and receive a hamper
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Help us to help you
Melanie Thompson, B & M's HR Manager, explains why it's vital to provide an accurate CV to secure the best roles
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Keep us up to date
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One of the biggest obstacles that we at B & M encounter when we are trying to identify suitable candidates for a role is a lack of up-to-date information. It can be extremely difficult to correctly identify a prospective candidate's technical knowledge, skills and suitability if their CV is not accurate. We do endeavour to keep in contact with everyone to find out about their working circumstances and availability - and to ensure that we have an up-to-date CV - but not all specialists respond to our request in a timely manner.
We are often told by specialists that they will send us a revised CV when their current assignment is due to end - but then the contract is extended and the promised CV fails to materialise. Where contracts are extended for a considerable period of time, CVs become more and more out of date.
Our customers often specify their project requirements right down to the version and release of technologies, products and utilities and will almost always specify the level of experience and knowledge that they are seeking. We can only check to see if your skills match those required for a particular role if we have information that is accurate. B & M's database incorporates a comprehensive search device which enables us to search for very specific information, so it is essential that we know all about your experience of working with the latest version of a program, for example.
It is also important that your CV includes details of the tasks that you have undertaken and shows which utilities you used to fulfil each assignment. The more specific the information about the work you have carried out the better - a two-page CV is not helpful in the IT contracting industry! If you find that you do not have the time to revise your CV regularly, a detailed paragraph on your recent work will suffice in the interim. Please do not wait until you are looking for work to provide an updated CV as you may miss out on an opportunity.
Please be assured that any information provided will be treated in confidence and that B & M will always talk to you first before talking to any customer.
If you would like any further information on what to include in your CV or if you have any changes in you circumstances, please contact people@bmeurope.com
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Tech View: Service Oriented Architecture
Paul Smith, B & M's Technical Manager, explains what Service Oriented Architecture is and why business needs it
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A significant bottleneck in commercial computing is caused by a combination of legacy systems, data integration and the addition of cross-platform applications. Over the years, there have been a variety of solutions that have been developed to try to streamline development processes - early examples were 4GLs and interpretive languages while, more recently, frameworks and XML have been deployed.
Simply put, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is the underlying structure supporting communications between services. It is designed to simplify the whole development and integration cycle, thereby reducing the amount of resource required to achieve effective integration.
There is no widely-agreed definition of SOA and leading suppliers such as IBM, BEA Systems, Oracle, Sun and Microsoft each have their own take on it. IBM, for example, uses Service-Oriented Modelling and Architecture, which incorporates SOA. Oracle Corp. has already abandoned SOA in favour of SOA 2.0 and Microsoft uses Indigo.
SOA defines how two applications or programs communicate to enable one of them to complete a task on behalf of the other, using a defined language. To exploit SOA, organisations need to develop standard Metadata models for their business sector. A third party may then offer libraries of services (for a fee) which enable applications to be developed quickly, based on the models and using a range of communicating 'units' of work, thus cutting down the in-house development time and cost. A good example is the development of reservation systems for the travel industry, which has been an early adopter of SOA; the financial sector is expected to follow.
In October, Paul Smith will explore some of the practical implementations of SOA.
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Specialist profile: Sean Duggan, Senior Security Specialist
Sean Duggan explains why he is committed to the financial services sector
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Sean Duggan is currently on assignment for a major financial institution in Brussels, where he is involved with the testing and production of DB2 systems and with developing code for a variety of security projects using his skills in Assembler, PL/I and REXX.
Sean is highly experienced in working with RACF in the financial services sector and is currently working on a project to move application-based security in-house, bringing it in line with IBM RACF standards.
But what is it about the financial services sector that Sean Duggan finds so interesting? "I have always worked in and enjoyed the financial sector because of the variety and complexity of the work. In my current role, the emphasis is on batch and query support for internal customers, rather than the type of public applications used by high-street banks, which I find more rewarding".
Sean has worked in contract and in-house roles at different stages in his 30-year career, but says that he finds that working on contract means that he is judged on results. As he explains, "When you work on contract there is more incentive to deliver, as, if you don't deliver results to the customer's specification, it will be reflected in the value of your contract renewal".
Sean also enjoys the fact that contracting gives him the freedom to travel to different countries and cities, which he feels is "infinitely better than a daily commute between A and B, year in and year out". He knows Brussels well, having worked there on contract in the past and says that he has become used to the relaxed attitude and the availability of good wine, beer and food, with the added benefit that you can live and work in the same business district at no great expense.
Sean is also appreciative of the support given by B & M, which has facilitated several of his contracts over the years. "B & M supports me by providing an interface to the customer and delivering new introductions and renewal negotiations. I also appreciate their clerical support".
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Real Skills. Real People - B & M's Claire Brennan
This month we profile Financial Controller Claire Brennan
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Claire joined B & M in May 2007 as Financial Controller to oversee the day-to-day running of the accounts department. She started her career eighteen years ago working with Deloitte Haskins & Sells (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers) as an Auditor.
In 1991, Claire joined Piper Trust where she worked with two of their retail ventures, Postcard (a small group of card shops) and Pitcher & Piano (a national bar chain). She spent a total of nine years with Pitcher & Piano where she was instrumental in their fast-track expansion programme. During her time with the company, she studied for both AAT and ACCA, and obtained a Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Certificate in Wine.
In 2000, Claire moved to Tootsies Restaurants where she established an accounts team and financial systems, neither of which existed before. During her time at Tootsies, the company expanded from having eight sites to thirty.
Outside work, Claire likes to travel when given the opportunity. Following her interest in wine she has travelled extensively, visiting vineyards as far as the Casablanca Valley in Chile and Montana Valley in Australia. She is also a keen sailor and completed her Day Skipper certificate four years ago, although she has not had much opportunity to pursue this since having her baby son last year.
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Phone a friend and receive a hamper
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B & M would like to hear about your colleagues, past and present, who are looking for challenging and interesting assignments.
Once they are on assignment with B & M, we will send you a luxury Fortnum & Mason hamper by way of thanks. For more details and full terms and conditions click here.
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B & M has specialised in delivering skilled ICT specialists to meet the needs of leading organisations throughout Europe since 1992. We focus exclusively on providing consultancy, technical services and support for z/OS, UNIX and Linux enterprise systems, including third-party systems software, open systems and networking connectivity. We add real value for HR and IT professionals by taking the time to understand their needs and applying best practice methods to deliver results. To find out more about our approach to providing the best skills for each business, go to www.bmeurope.com B & M Europe Limited
www.bmeurope.com
+44 (0)118 981 1880
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