IT Professional Profile: Scott Alan Miller

Scott Alan Miller, IT professional:

Scott Alan Miller

Current IT position: Practice Lead for Niagara Technology Group

 Prior IT positions: Software Development Manager and Architect, Sector IT Manager, UNIX System Administrator, IT Director for companies like IBM, CitiGroup and Nicklin Associates.

Career highlights — accomplishments you’re proud of: Did my first real development work for Eastman Kodak at age 13.  It was basically an internship but I cost a consulting firm their contract because they were unable to do the work that I was doing.  I got my first UNIX support job at my first university within forty-eight hours of starting classes my freshman year and I’ve worked in IT basically ever since.

I think that my single, most significant achievement was working with an extremely small, highly budget constrained development team when I was just twenty three and leading the project from start to production deployment in 95 days – a project that is still used, some of it in its original form – many years later by some large medical facilities in the US.  It was an incredible challenge, especially for the very young team, but it was really exciting and really fulfilling.

Biggest job-related headache: Working with IT professionals who either ignore learning within their own field or who learn by memorizing procedures without understanding why they use them and then failing to adapt when the environment has changed.

IT trends that are most affecting your career: Virtualization, Enterprise Linux Adoption

Fun activities/hobbies: Video games (RPGs mostly) with the family, travel – mostly for business, classical guitarist, blogging.

Family: Married since 2003, two daughters (6 weeks and 2.5 years.)

 Education:  AS in Liberal Arts from Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY, BS in Computer Information Systems from State University of NY Empire State College.  Currently pursuing an MS in IT from Rochester Institute of Technology.