A Day in the Life: DEV Team Software Engineer

December 8, 2022

by Tiffany McCabe

At BDK, Inc., one of our biggest assets is our people. Our teams are comprised of innovators, problem solvers, trailblazers, and leaders with more than a century of combined experience in the IT field. Our motto, “IT Made Simple” directly correlates to our down-to-earth and service-oriented employees who make IT approachable for our customers.

We previously spotlighted our Software Development (DEV) Team and the data collection, distribution, and interrogation services they provide to our customers. This week, Justin Dobratz, Software Engineer on BDK’s DEV team, speaks to his IT career evolution at BDK, day-to-day responsibilities, and what makes BDK a great place for IT professionals to work and grow.

What is your role at BDK, Inc?
As a Software Engineer on the DEV team, my primary role is to handle large development requests for our customers’ data and reporting needs. We use the WebFOCUS reporting dashboard, an enterprise business intelligence and analytics tool that enables customers to run reports that are set up to send automatically at whatever frequency they need them (daily, weekly, etc.) delivered via Excel, so I handle the code supporting that process. Additionally, I help aggregate data from multiple places, such as linking tables from AS/400 into SQL, so the data is in a usable format. Data on its own doesn’t provide very much intel, so it is up to me to make sense of it for the customer so they can use it actionably.
How did you end up in the IT field, and ultimately, working at BDK?
I originally went to school with the intent of being a physical therapist, but after some further research and a few changes to my major, landed on pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in IT from Salisbury University (SU). There is an internship component to that degree, and given the fact that there are not a lot of IT companies on the Eastern Shore, SU offers a class to help fulfill that requirement. However, I wanted to make sure I earned real-world experience, and learned about BDK at a career fair at SU while looking for an internship.

Upon coming on as an intern, I was responsible for a lot of data testing for one of our larger clients (who I still work primarily with today). This consists of making sure reports behave the way they are supposed to and attempting to “break” Excel to ensure it works for the customer. As I learned more about the code, I slowly moved into more software development via onsite training and Udemy training supported by the company.

Upon graduating from SU, I received a full-time offer with BDK. This coming January marks five years with the company, and given everything BDK has to offer, I have been able to continue to learn and grow my skillsets.
Describe your typical day as an DEV Software Engineer.
Aside from some daily maintenance tasks, my typical day at BDK is centered around working on larger projects for customers—most of which take two to three days to complete. One example of a recent project is one of our customers has a report for their open orders that is typically based on the sales representative’s number who inputted the data. Our customer wanted the option to run the report by customer numbers or a set of customer numbers, so I created in a new report in WebFOCUS that has those filters, and made a few different coding changes in the Excel template to ensure data refreshing. These types of processes also require testing and attempting to break the reports before they go to the customer.

Additionally, I do some in-house training for junior team members to ensure they can best support our customers and continue to grow in their own professional development. I will also do research on how to better work within the programs we use, such as SQL, given there is a lot you can with these programs, but it takes time to figure out what is worth your time to learn.
What do you enjoy most about working for BDK?
What I like most about BDK is how personable everyone is. I am a remote employee, so I am usually only in the office once a month. But every time I do go into the office, everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Another thing is, if needed, I can set up time to talk with our CEO, Bruce Kimball, in a few days’ time. This is not a common thing at a lot of companies, given the CEO is often seen as this “mythical thing,” and you often do not get to know them or talk to them outside of large company functions. That is definitely something special about BDK, and I do not think I’d find that level of access to upper leadership at most other employers.

Additionally, my boss Dennis has been instrumental in my growth. He is patient and has helped me learn a lot during my almost five-year tenure at BDK. Now that I have been here for a while, he trusts my judgement and empowers me to take on and manage the work myself, but is available if I need him for anything. It’s been a great half decade working for BDK, and I am excited about the future potential for myself and the company as we continue to grow.

Check back in the coming weeks for more “Day in the Life” features of our team members. To read more of our content and learn more about our team, click here.

A Day in the Life: DEV Team Software Engineer

December 8, 2022

by Tiffany McCabe

What is your role at BDK, Inc?
As a Software Engineer on the DEV team, my primary role is to handle large development requests for our customers’ data and reporting needs. We use the WebFOCUS reporting dashboard, an enterprise business intelligence and analytics tool that enables customers to run reports that are set up to send automatically at whatever frequency they need them (daily, weekly, etc.) delivered via Excel, so I handle the code supporting that process. Additionally, I help aggregate data from multiple places, such as linking tables from AS/400 into SQL, so the data is in a usable format. Data on its own doesn’t provide very much intel, so it is up to me to make sense of it for the customer so they can use it actionably.
How did you end up in the IT field, and ultimately, working at BDK?
I originally went to school with the intent of being a physical therapist, but after some further research and a few changes to my major, landed on pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in IT from Salisbury University (SU). There is an internship component to that degree, and given the fact that there are not a lot of IT companies on the Eastern Shore, SU offers a class to help fulfill that requirement. However, I wanted to make sure I earned real-world experience, and learned about BDK at a career fair at SU while looking for an internship.

Upon coming on as an intern, I was responsible for a lot of data testing for one of our larger clients (who I still work primarily with today). This consists of making sure reports behave the way they are supposed to and attempting to “break” Excel to ensure it works for the customer. As I learned more about the code, I slowly moved into more software development via onsite training and Udemy training supported by the company.

Upon graduating from SU, I received a full-time offer with BDK. This coming January marks five years with the company, and given everything BDK has to offer, I have been able to continue to learn and grow my skillsets.
Describe your typical day as an DEV Software Engineer.
Aside from some daily maintenance tasks, my typical day at BDK is centered around working on larger projects for customers—most of which take two to three days to complete. One example of a recent project is one of our customers has a report for their open orders that is typically based on the sales representative’s number who inputted the data. Our customer wanted the option to run the report by customer numbers or a set of customer numbers, so I created in a new report in WebFOCUS that has those filters, and made a few different coding changes in the Excel template to ensure data refreshing. These types of processes also require testing and attempting to break the reports before they go to the customer.

Additionally, I do some in-house training for junior team members to ensure they can best support our customers and continue to grow in their own professional development. I will also do research on how to better work within the programs we use, such as SQL, given there is a lot you can with these programs, but it takes time to figure out what is worth your time to learn.
What do you enjoy most about working for BDK?
What I like most about BDK is how personable everyone is. I am a remote employee, so I am usually only in the office once a month. But every time I do go into the office, everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Another thing is, if needed, I can set up time to talk with our CEO, Bruce Kimball, in a few days’ time. This is not a common thing at a lot of companies, given the CEO is often seen as this “mythical thing,” and you often do not get to know them or talk to them outside of large company functions. That is definitely something special about BDK, and I do not think I’d find that level of access to upper leadership at most other employers.

Additionally, my boss Dennis has been instrumental in my growth. He is patient and has helped me learn a lot during my almost five-year tenure at BDK. Now that I have been here for a while, he trusts my judgement and empowers me to take on and manage the work myself, but is available if I need him for anything. It’s been a great half decade working for BDK, and I am excited about the future potential for myself and the company as we continue to grow.

Check back in the coming weeks for more “Day in the Life” features of our team members. To read more of our content and learn more about our team, click here.