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Ronan Dalton
s a Software Engineer working in the IBM® Dublin Software Lab (DSL) in Ireland. Ronan joined DSL
in September 2004 and is currently focused on the development of Lotus Workplace Collaborative Learning.
Prior to joining DSL, Ronan worked as an IT Specialist with the IBM Software Services for WebSphere® team with focus on B2B technologies and the WebSphere Business Integration portfolio of software. Ronan is co-author of
Implementing EDI Solutions
and B2B Solutions using WebSphere BI Connect V4.2.2.
Ronan joined IBM in June 2000 and started his career with IBM Procurement.
He worked initially as a Buyer, in a position that had very little
relevance to his current role. At the time, he was unsure what direction
his career would take, but always had an interest in IT so decided to
pursue a part-time Post Graduate Diploma in IT (his primary degree was in
Business and Legal Studies).
Ronan's studies helped him secure a position as a Business Analyst on
an EDI Implementation Project being rolled out for IBM manufacturing in Dublin. It was here
that he began to build knowledge of B2B technologies and soon became a hands-on developer
in the project. Having picked up skills on WebSphere Data Interchange, he had the opportunity
to co-author an IBM Redpaper titled
WebSphere Data Interchange Installation and Configuration in December 2002.
This really set his career alight. He became known as a WebSphere Data Interchange Specialist and opportunities to engage with customers and support IBM's sales efforts in the B2B space began to emerge.
Having built a reputation in the EDI community, Ronan decided to embrace the challenges
that an external, customer facing role would bring and formally joined the IBM Software Services
for WebSphere Team in mid 2003. In this position, he broadened his skill-set and covered a number
of WebSphere Business Integration products as a specialist. As he learned something new, he wrote
it down. As his notes became more detailed, he structured the information as a tutorial and
submitted to the developerWorks WebSphere Web site for publication. This proved to be an
beneficial arrangement. His tutorials heightened his profile both within IBM and externally
with customers. By now, he had finished his post graduate diploma and had undertaken an Masters of Science (MSc) degree in Computing (part-time). He accepted a position with
the Dublin Software Lab in Ireland in the Lotus Workplace Collaborative Leaning development
team. Lotus Workplace is new to both IBM and Ronan. His current role as a Software Engineer is
not without its challenges. Right now, spare time is a luxury.
Ronan is currently in the process of completing his MSc dissertation.
He decided to develop an AS2 engine, something along the lines of WebSphere Business Integration Connect Express. Essentially the application is a B2B messaging hub used to transport business transactions over the Internet. His hope is that IBM professionals could use this software to prove interoperability of IBM's existing B2B solutions.
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