About Alan
Alan Seiden helps companies implement PHP-based solutions. Specialties include IBM i, Zend Framework and performance tuning. He is senior developer and consultant at Strategic Business Systems, Inc., a partner of IBM and Zend.
Email: alan@alanseiden.com
Free PHP tips: phptips@alanseiden.com
Skype: aseiden
Phone: 201-327-8746 x144
Profile
Since 2005, I’ve focused on helping the IBM i community to meet business needs through web applications built with PHP. I do this by personally developing PHP applications for clients, mentoring teams to help them become self-sufficient, consulting, writing articles, helping others on the online forums, presenting webcasts, and speaking at user group meetings and conferences, including the Northeast System i User Groups, NewYork PHP, Chicago OMNI, and ZendCon.
I have been using PHP on the i since 2005 (even before Zend Core!). I wrote the first article that provided details about PHP’s coming to the i5, back in 2006, interviewing Zend co-founder Andi Gutmans.
Being an early adopter and advocate of PHP-based web applications on IBM i, I was a charter member of IBM/COMMON’s PHP Advisory Board and served as a consultant for the IBM manual PHP: Zend Core for i5/OS.
In 2009, I was honored
with the IBM/COMMON Power Systems Innovation Award for “Best Web Application,” for Allied Beverage Group’s e-commerce site, developed by me and the team at Strategic Business Systems, using PHP and Zend Framework on IBM i.
Other “firsts”
- Zend Framework certification: August 2008: first in the “i” community and among the first 50 worldwide on all platforms combined
- Zend Framework user group: March 2009: co-founded the first ZF user group with Zend’s Ed Kietlinski in New York City as a community for developers to share and learn in a supportive environment.
Testimonials from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM), where I mentored the team in PHP and ZF on IBM i
- “Your work was excellent. You obviously have command of the topic, coupled with that all-important but rarely found ability to explain. I would recommend your services to anyone.” —Jim O’Neill, veteran IBM i programmer
- “What we achieved with you in three days we couldn’t have done by ourselves in three months!” —Ealon Wallace, web developer
Testimonial from a ZendCon attendee
“One tip from your Zend Framework talk about ‘db2 metadata caching’ paid for the whole conference!” —a Zend Certified Engineer who uses ZF on IBM i
Personal Recommendations
“Alan is an outstanding Zend Framework mentor and advocate. Not only is his knowledge base in the framework extensive, but he also possesses great patience in debugging and a tenacious eye for detail. Alan is a pleasure to work with, and I am grateful he has taken the time to start the ZF User Group to fill the NYC community need for information about this great product.” August 25, 2009
Shari Halter, Assistant Director of Web Communications, NYU Tisch School of the Arts
“I met Alan at the NorthEast iSeries User Group Conference in April 2009, where he presented a PHP topic. My customers who attended Alan’s session recommended him highly, so when I put together a day-long technical conference for Vermont and New Hampshire iSeries customers in June I included Alan on the agenda as one of 4 primary speakers. His PHP presentation was excellent and the feedback was positive. In addition, as a conference organizer I really appreciated Alan’s professionalism as we prepared for the event. He is responsive and flexible and a pleasure to work with.” June 29, 2009
Dan Rothman, Power System Specialist, IBM
“Alan is a skilled presenter on the topic of PHP on the IBM i. He clearly communicates the information and presents a roadmap to moving into web development using PHP. Having won the 2009 COMMON Power Systems Innovation Award for his e-commerce application only proves that Alan can walk the talk. His presentations sparked our company to delve into PHP and we now have production applications. I expect we’ll be working with Alan more in the future. Today PHP on the IBM i – tomorrow Zend Framework!” June 18, 2009
Jeb Bouchard, Systems Analyst, Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom (WCVT)
“I have heard Alan speak two times now on PHP development in an i series shop. As a business owner, I appreciate his ability to keep his talk at a high level without too much digression into arcane detail. He clearly knows his stuff, is a good listener, and can handle the most difficult questions, but his talks are not about him or his abilities. Instead, they are directed to us the listeners, with an upbeat message about what we can accomplish. It’s a most refreshing approach and I look forward to working with Alan in the future. I’ll save the arcane questions til then.” June 16, 2009
Top qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity
Stephen Alden, President at Trylon Data Management, Inc., Hanover, New Hampshire
“I met Alan at an IBM iSeries user group meeting. We had just started with PHP on our system. Alan’s seminar was excellent. It gave me a good perspective of how powerful PHP can be in conjunction with the iSeries. Alan’s knowledge of how to make PHP work with legacy systems is invaluable. He has a real good handle on business and is able to make creative solutions. That is not a combination that is readily found. His willingness to share his knowledge with us is greatly appreciated. I am looking forward to working more often with Alan in the future.” June 15, 2009
Lori Polep, VP and CIO, J. Polep Distribution Services
“I worked with Alan from 1994 to 2000. He has an exceptionally quick mind and is a visionary developer. He has been a tremendous help to me both during my time at Strategic and since then in referring people for project work and helping with programming problems. He’s smart, personable, and reliable. I highly recommend him as an asset to any organization.” November 9, 2008
Jill Cozzi, EDC Developer at Bayer HealthCare
worked directly with Alan at Strategic Business Systems, Inc.
“Alan and I worked together on getting Mantis Bug Tracker and ADODB to work on IBM’s System i (i5/OS and DB2). Alan played a critical role in aggregating the knowledge of the team in Mantis, ADODB, System i and DB2 and using that to troubleshoot and fix the issues. Alan’s persistence, responsiveness and clear thinking were major factors in the project’s success.” January 14, 2008
Victor Boctor, Senior Software Design Engineer, Microsoft Corporation
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