Guardian Real Estate Services is a Portland based firm specializing in real estate management, development and investment services. We had the opportunity to sit down with Cameron Barry, Manager of Information Systems at Guardian to discuss his background and passion for information systems and software engineering.Let us begin with your background in information systems. Tell us a bit about your areas of focus and interest as both a software engineer and manager of information systems.I come from a strong support background and when you fix things for any length of time it really teaches you to be analytical in your approach to problem solving. I love to dive in to complex problems and situations and I tend to thrive in thinking environments. The reward of software engineering is that you get to plan something and then see your plan come to life. If you plan correctly, it does something useful or entertaining. I never thought I would be interested in management, but when the opportunity arose I found that it's actually a lot like software development: cause and effect, where good planning has good results. I also think that having been under management for most of my life I know what it is like to be in the grind, and I believe this has given me a perspective and a style that builds a good team.As the Manager of Information Systems at Guardian Real Estate what does a day in your world look like?I can say that there is nothing traditional about it. When most people think of information systems they think of e-mail, telephones, servers, and networking, but one of my major philosophies is "the buck stops here" and when you have software development to back up your traditional information technology, there really are very few situations where you can honestly say to someone, "No. That's not possible."I find myself helping out with complex problems from every department: accounting, human resources, payroll, compliance, you name it. Most of the time people know that the information is in these systems, they just need a little help in getting it out and presented in a format that is useful to them. Many many special projects, along with the standard duties of keeping everything running smoothly.How are you currently working with Network Redux as a Managed Service Provider?We utilize your Private Cloud services for our off-site disaster recovery solution.You have a background in the Computer Sciences. Tell us a bit about your passion for software engineering.It all started back when I was 11 years old. My mom worked for the US Fish and Wildlife and I lived in an isolated adobe house in the middle of nowhere on the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. She came home from a day at work with an 8088 XT computer in her car that they were giving away, some Microsoft DOS 3.0 disks, and a copy of Word Perfect 5.0. Needless to say I was extremely bored, and so I would spend day and night writing batch file choose-your-own-adventure text based video games (very basic stuff by today's standards).I don't know how far I would have gotten on my own but we had free long distance to Tucson, AZ (the only place with a computer repair store within 60 miles). When I dialed that number the same guy always answered. He must have gotten tired of hearing from me day in and day out but you'd never know it. I'd ask him question after question - always something different about how the operating system worked or why I was getting this error or that, and he would always just answer my questions, tell me to have a nice day, and that was that. To this day I've never received a bill for his help, and I don't remember his name, but I've never forgotten the gift that he gave me or the lesson that he taught me: There are no stupid questions, and not all help comes at a price.After moving to Portland when I was 13 or so and before the internet was really a thing, I would pick up the local BBS listing and dial those bulletin boards up with my modem. I got into programming for a multi-user dungeon (a MUD), which was a fantastic opportunity to create my own world. That's really when I developed a passion for videogames and their creation. I had not been to high school and most of my time had been spent online in front of a computer but I made good friends, some of whom I am still friends with today.I think this jump-start in the exposure to technology at a young age was very helpful to me, and made it easy for me to get jobs doing technical support. I spent years doing this before finally moving into Systems and Network Administration in the dot com era. The demand was such that it was no big deal to be 18 years old working in a production network at the time and I was exposed to a lot of training and experience that gave me a deep insight into how things work.Eventually my quest for further understanding drove me to enroll at Portland State University in their computer science program. This was one of the best decisions of my life. I think that having hands-on experience before jumping into the deeper meaning of why things are the way they are helped me to really latch on to it and retain the knowledge. During my Junior year, my best friend and I decided that mobile apps were the next big thing, and we started working on a game for the iPad which will release in 2014.When you aren't wrangling code or managing infrastructure, what are you doing?I love to be outdoors. I love putting the technology aside and being in touch with nature. Hiking, camping, playing guitar, wakeboarding. Anything that will get me in front of my friends or out in the sun. I also read a lot of fantasy and science fiction, and of course a big fan of Star Trek.For more information on Guardian Real Estate Services please visit http://www.gres.com -- Thank you to Cameron for taking the time to speak with us!Blog Categories: General News
