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Design Experience

Technical Experience

Codat - Multi-ERP Integration Aggregating

Codat is an aggregator for ERP integrations (including eCommerce and Open Banking). It standardizes ERP connections and data, allowing you to only learn Codat's "wrapper" APIs to integrate with various ERPs. I wrote the requirements and specifications for accessing charts of accounts, customers, invoices, sales orders, and also for creating customers, cash receipts (incoming payments), and credit memos. **Opinion**: Codat is a powerful tool that allows for quick integrations into supported ERPs. However, the cost is a bit high, and since not all ERPs are the same, aggregating their APIs poses challenges in maintaining consistency. If you're an ISV looking to support integrations into many ERPs quickly, Codat is ideal. However, if you are an organization aiming to implement a solution for your internal ERP across multiple companies with different systems, then Codat is a great tool. Nevertheless, it is crucial to experiment with it across your business scenarios to determine if it's worth the cost. I utilized Postman for this.

#APIIntegration#ERPIntegration#RequirementsSpecification#PostMan#DataStandardization#RESTfulWebServices#JSON

WEX - Virtual Credit Card Issuance

Wex is known for their Fleet Service Purchasing Credit Cards. If your company has a fleet of vehicles that require maintenance on the road or fuel, Wex can issue a fleet p-card to drivers, which has a spending limit and restrictions on what can be purchased with the card. They expanded this concept by issuing virtual credit cards (v-cards), which allow a business to create a tokenized credit card based on a main credit card account. This was a significant step in fraud reduction since no one could access your main credit card account information. The credit card tokens behaved like a traditional credit card but included safeguards, such as being usable only once or for a precise amount. The SOAP API our product integrated with automatically created v-cards for B2B payments. It was beneficial because we received a fee whenever each card was used, and there was no cost to integrate or use the API. It was a win for Wex, a win for us, and a win for clients using our platform, as they even received a 1% kickback. I designed requirement specifications for CRUD operations on virtual cards and for account creation and management, utilizing SOAPUI/SmartBear.

#APIIntegration#FinTech#VirtualCreditCards#SmartBear#PaymentSolutions#SOAPWebServices#XML

QuickBooks Online - ERP Integration

QuickBooks Online has a well-documented web API for integrating with their ERP platform. If I were more knowledgeable about accounting, I could extensively utilize their APIs to add external products that add value. Small businesses, as I discovered, differ greatly from the medium to large enterprises I was accustomed to designing for. With their APIs, I was able to design requirement specifications for syncing data and creating customers, payments, credit memos, invoices, and charts of accounts. I utilized Postman for this.

#APIIntegration#ERPIntegration#RequirementsSpecification#PostMan#JSON#QuickBooksOnline

Sage 100 ERP - Business Objects Interface (BOI) Wrapper & Middleware Service

Sage 100 ERP has a set of Business Objects that can be written to, in order to integrate with their software. This is great if you have access to the server on which the software is running, but less so if you have an on-premise web-based application that needs to communicate with Sage. So, our talented team of developers "wrapped" some of the Business Objects into a simple REST middleware service. This was my first introduction to this architecture and to understanding APIs in general. I relied heavily on the developers for understanding how the wrapper works, but afterward, I haven't encountered an API that I couldn't understand. It was a simple yet elegant solution. Representing the user (likely an IT admin), I was able to contribute decisions on what to design so that it was easy to manage, monitor, and use. The middleware utilized a SQL staging table that could be easily managed, and transactions could be easily reset or changed if needed for support. The Windows service that ran the middleware had fail-safes and notifications for transaction errors or if the service ever went down. Although I didn’t contribute much to the technical design of the API, I shared all my knowledge about Sage 100 ERP to help the developers develop the right solution.

#APIIntegration#ERPIntegration#RequirementsSpecification#PostMan#MiddlewareServices#BusinessObjects

Payrix - Merchant Serivces / Payment Processing Platform Integration

Payrix is a merchant services platform provider, similar to Stripe but more focused on services and at a better price. Although they didn't have all the features of Stripe, they had enough to embed or develop your own payment acceptance process in your app. We built our AR automation and payment processing platform on top of their APIs. I solely designed the requirement specifications for processing/accepting credit card and eCheck payments, as well as saving card information using their APIs. I also designed an onboarding process to mimic their onboarding process, but we didn’t have a chance to implement it, at least it familiarized me with account creation and management. I utilized Postman for this.

#APIIntegration#FinTech#PaymentProcessing#Postman#MerchantServices#RequirementsSpecifications#PayFac

Cambridge Global Payments - International Wire Payments Integration

Cambridge Global Payments, now FLEETCOR, is a wire payment platform that had RESTful web APIs for making wire payments. Their API involved getting a time-based quote for a currency exchange, and after you've agreed to the rate for that exchange, you could execute the exchange and then send the funds anywhere in the world. I designed the requirement specifications for their APIs to integrate into our payments platform that ultimately would have made that service available to our end customers. I was thrilled to finally learn another payment rail, international wire payments, but the feature was put on hold because our AP automation and payment platform was being acquired by American Express. I utilized Postman for this.

#APIIntegration#PaymentPlatform#RequirementsSpecification#PostMan#InternationalPayments#GlobalPayments

Management & Leadership Experience

Pragmatic Leadership: A Transparent Approach to Managing Teams and Processes

I view myself as a practical and pragmatic leader. I am most effective in roles where I can share my knowledge and experience with those eager to learn and follow. I’ve found that leading individuals who may have a higher level of expertise in certain areas can be challenging, as the dynamics of what I can offer them are different. My approach to leadership is rooted in authenticity; I am not comfortable asserting knowledge or skills I do not possess, and I believe in the value of direct experience. While I may not fit the traditional charismatic leadership mold, my strengths lie in managing processes, software, hardware, and teams effectively. I've managed teams, conducted performance reviews, and handled hiring and termination processes. My leadership style is more about enabling and managing than about inspiring through charisma. I believe in transparency and empathy in my management practices, prioritizing informed and considerate decision-making.

#SituationalLeadership#CollaborativeLeader#TeamDevelopment#ProcessImprovement#EmployeeEmpowerment#HonestLeadership#LearningLeader