Meet BDK EDI/ERP Software Engineer
Adam Shelly
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.
Last week, we spotlighted our EDI/ERP team and how they provide end-to-end support for our customers’ electronic data interchange and enterprise resource planning. This week, Adam Shelly, Software Engineer on BDK’s EDI/ERP team provides a glimpse into his IT background, day-to-day responsibilities, and what makes BDK a great place for IT professionals to work and grow.
What is your role at BDK?
As a Software Engineer on the EDI/ERP team, I help create, manage, and maintain workflows that alleviate repetitious tasks, and liaison between our customers and our internal experts on any development work that needs to happen. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the standard way that data is electronically transferred between businesses, but it requires mapping between systems—often a client’s API and our enterprise resource planning (ERP) application, LANSA—to ensure the data is accepted.
LANSA houses our customers’ business data, including keeping track of customers, sales, and inventory management. I help to ensure the mapping is done correctly by investigating data coming from different systems/websites/partners, and seeing how it lines up with LANSA’s capabilities. Most of this work can be automated, but if there are any issues, I work to fix them. I also work with our customers to provide documentation and onsite training, as needed, so they know how to use the ERP application.
How did you end up in the IT field and ultimately working for BDK?
Growing up, I first became interested in computer engineering from my ex-brother-in-law. From there, I took a few college classes in computer science, but ultimately ended up majoring in math.
Prior to BDK, Inc., I worked for a large financial services company. At the start, I worked for them through a consulting company, who put me through a bootcamp to learn SQL, Linux, and several IT practices and tools, before eventually being hired full-time. During my time there, I learned the flow of infrastructure technology, and was responsible for monitoring, dashboarding, and automating 30-40 applications—creating visibility into KPIs for product support. I also led the site reliability engineering effort for a new high-visibility app, which involved developing and enforcing standards on capacity planning, logging, alerting, production readiness, and performance testing – all to ensure a positive customer experience.
Along the way, I had a great mentor who helped me to appreciate technology. Daily life still had its challenges though – I constantly struggled with self-doubt and felt like a number in a large organization that focused heavily on business results. Despite the success, I lost meaning in the work I was doing. Peers would only check in on me because they needed a favor, and I could not build the comradery I was looking for with other IT professionals, save a few true friends.
After living for five years on my own, I moved back to the Eastern Shore with family to recuperate from the burnout. It was then that my friend and current manager, James, recommended I come check out what BDK, Inc. had to offer, and the rest is history.
Describe your typical day as a Software Engineer?
Most mornings start by checking the ticketing system and fulfilling any open tickets from customers. Additionally, there are order-import and shipment-export processes that need to be completed for clients to move their data in and out of LANSA for their daily transactions. Most clients have a manual component to their process such as file uploads, data validation, or time-sensitive data migration, for which I provide high-touch support. These activities also serve as automation opportunities, which we spend time towards eliminating that toil. Midday, I meet with our internal teams on open tasks and projects coming down the pike. I will also reach out to clients directly on tickets that require meetings to discuss requests in detail.
Three essential skills for my job are:
– SQL: to pull and modify data for research purposes daily.
– Problem Solving: to squash bugs and properly test new features.
– Keen Perspective: to take a customer-focused approach when prioritizing important aspects of a project and provide client satisfaction.
What do you enjoy most about working for BDK?
At BDK, it really feels like the people here care about you. As a family company, there is a more personalized, inclusive atmosphere, and a strong recognition for the work, talent, and effort you put in. Professionally, working for BDK has stretched my IT skills, as there has been a lot of in-house learning and training from our experts. Furthermore, assisting with onsite trainings for clients provides an opportunity to see how senior staff work with customers, which provides vast insight and exposure to the company’s practices and values. Our leaders know what they are doing, and they act on it; they don’t just manage our teams, they properly lead us and help us grow. This is essential in making an employee feel valued and to be their best self.
To read more “Day in the Life” features and to learn more about our team, click here.