At Retail Assist we work hard to maintain a group of employees with a passion for – and a high level of experience in – the retail sector. Along with many of our directors, the majority of our staff have worked within retail, or for projects relating to retail before joining our organisation.
Perhaps one of the roles this retail knowledge is most essential to within the team is that of our developers. We took the time to speak to Tim Moger, Head of Development for our Merret Supply Chain solution, regarding how his previous experience of working with clients within the retail sector has allowed him to excel in his current role, and how this impacts upon the work we are currently able to deliver to our clients.
Charlotte: First of all, let’s talk a bit about you. How long have you worked at Retail Assist? And can you tell us a bit about your role?
Tim: I joined Retail Assist in June 2010, having had a bit of a career break. I joined the company as a Project Manager, and was soon involved in the Merret implementations in both Whistles and ASOS.
During the first few months, I got involved in Discovery Sessions for the Whistles implementation, and started to help scope out requirements for interfaces to their POS and ECommerce partners. The ASOS implementation was more complex – in terms of the number of interfaces to other systems, and I spent the majority of 2011 heavily involved in that project – getting involved in detailed integration testing and acting as a link between our development team in Northampton and the project team in ASOS London.
In October 2011, the opportunity came up for me to take on the Head of Development role – which I’m really enjoying. Our development team have a mix of System I, and Microsoft skills and are responsible for the development of the Merret Application. My role involves planning the teams activity and ensuring we deliver quality solutions based on the specifications that are created by our Design Team, in conjunction with our customers. As a team, we are also involved in implementing the Application as a customer first implements Merret, or takes an upgrade.
Charlotte: What is your experience in retail software, and how has it shaped how you work today?
Tim: Before Retail Assist I worked in retail software development at a similar organisation for 10 years. During my time there I held several roles from Developer, through the Support Desk, Project Manager – and was Head of Development for a product that was System I based, and heavily used by Debenhams.
From there, I went to head up the Problem Management team for the business – looking after both POS and Merchandising systems for their customers. I think that having worked across the piece – in terms of Projects, Development and Support – has given me an appreciation for how the different elements of a Software house operate, and where the pinch points are from our customers point of view.
This means that we as a development team think about how we provide feedback to project managers, and think about how the software we are developing will be supported in the future.
Charlotte: How do you think your years of experience in retail software benefits our clients?
Tim: Having worked with a number of different retailers over the years, I’ve learned lots of lessons being involved in projects that have gone well, and some that have not gone so well! I’ve a broad understanding of retail solutions, and have seen the impact that both good and bad quality software can make. I think that experience can help us, as a development team, build solutions that benefit our customers, and build a product that we are very proud of.