Profound Hires Guru Editor; Begins IBM i Internship Program

August 31, 2015 Dan Burger

Profound Logic Software, one of the leading IBM i vendors in the application modernization field, has hired Ted Holt, editor of our Four Hundred Guru newsletter. Holt is well known in the IBM midrange community for his knowledge of the platform, advocacy for IBM i education, and his contributions as a writer and speaker. His position at Profound will be senior software developer. He will continue as editor of Four Hundred Guru.

In his new role at Profound, Holt will contribute to the development of new and existing products. The company’s graphical user interface suite, known as Profound UI, features tools that transform RPG into Web and mobile applications that run on the IBM i platform. Holt will also support the company with customer training and technical documentation.

Profound has made a habit of hiring highly respected and widely acclaimed personnel. Holt joins a team that includes two IBM Champions: Scott Klement and Brian May.

“Ted has an incredible amount of experience in the industry–specifically with RPG and COBOL applications,” says Profound Logic Software’s CEO, Alex Roytman. “He has a deep understanding of the IBM i platform, and knowledge of both legacy and modern forms of RPG. We look forward to having him on board and adding his considerable talents to our team.”

Holt has served as editor of Four Hundred Guru since its inception in 2003. Prior to that, he was a technical editor at Midrange Computing. He has authored or co-authored four books, including Open Query File Magic, Power CL, Qshell for iSeries, and The MC Press Desktop Encyclopedia of Tips, Techniques, and Programming Practices for iSeries and AS/400.

He is also among the core group of speakers at the RPG & DB2 Summit and has presented sessions at COMMON conferences on numerous occasions. Holt has also been a guest speaker at several local user group tech conferences and monthly meetings, including the Wisconsin Midrange Computing Professionals Association, the Toronto User Group, the Long Island Systems User Group, the Tennessee IBM Mid-Range User Group, and others. He will be presenting a session for the Gateway/400 user group (St. Louis) in October.

“I like to talk about topics that I think are important or of interest, and about which nobody else is speaking,” Holt says. “I’m very big on the fundamentals, as ignorance of and disregard for the fundamentals continually cause all sorts of problems for IT shops. Anybody who’s ever seen the movie Hoosiers may recall that Norman Dale (played by Gene Hackman) did not turn high school boys into champions by making them look like the Harlem Globetrotters.”

During his 34 years in the information systems business, Holt has gained experience with manufacturing, retail, and wholesale companies. He has also taught at the university and vo-tech levels; written how-to books, technical tips, and in-depth magazine articles; and trained end users to use software packages.

“All of this experience has brought me to where I am, and I see Profound Logic as the logical next step in my career,” Holt says. “I am excited to join Profound Logic because I believe that my experience will enable them to improve the lives of even more people.”

At the same time Holt is joining Profound, the company is opening a new office at the Thad Cochran Research, Technology, and Economic Development Park at Mississippi State University in Starkville. Both May and Holt are Mississippi natives. May is a Starkville resident and Holt lives nearby.

May and Holt will work from the Starkville office, which will also house an internship program that May is in the process of creating. He plans to hire two MSU students on a part-time basis within a month. If all goes well, May expects to keep four interns working 15 to 20 hours per week on projects and learning about the IBM i.

“My plan is to have interns stay until they graduate,” May says. “At that time they may be offered a permanent job with Profound or one of Profound’s customers. We think it is a great value for our company and our customers to have people with IBM i and Profound Logic skills available for hire.”

The applicant pool available to May are students majoring in computer science, computer engineering, software engineering, or business information. Mississippi State is ranked in the top 100 in the nation in those engineering fields, according to U.S. News and World Report. The internship program is run in conjunction with the career center at MSU. May says professors and deans are already directing students to the program.

“I’m looking for what everyone looks for. I don’t care that they don’t know RPG or IBM i. I’m looking for students who want to work who want to learn,” he says.

“Our new intern program will allow students to work part time with an industry leading software company while attending class full time,” May says. “This program has benefits for all involved. Students will gain real world software development experience, Profound Logic will be able to build our staff by keeping on the best of the interns after graduation, and the IBM i community will benefit from new grads entering the job market with skills in RPG, Profound Logic’s tools, and IBM i. We fully plan to have them involved in product development and customer projects. The experience these students will gain will be relevant and marketable.”

Giving back to the IBM i community is a strong motivator for Holt.

“People have been good to me,” Holt says. “They’ve helped me time and again, and without the help of others, I wouldn’t be where I am. I do what I can to return the favor. Profound Logic is in the business of helping people, by enabling organizations to keep the IBM i-based software that does what they need it to do. I am joining Profound Logic as a way to continue to my service to others.”

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