Michael Commo

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Saint Michael’s College jump-started my career in software development. Not only was I better prepared for industry than I could have reasonably expected, but the workshops and tools that St. Mike’s offered to assist with resume-building and to provide mock-interview experience were invaluable when it came time to job-search. These amenities, along with dedicated support from professors in the computer science and math departments, are some of the primary reasons why I had the opportunity to begin my career at IBM.

I joined IBM when I graduated in 2011 as a Software Engineer. I developed ETL (extract, transform, load) software to continuously load the manufacturing information data warehouse. I also had the unique opportunity to help design and develop a prototype warehouse designed for aggregating financial and technical data to enable near-real-time reporting of business operations statistics.  I was quite thankful I’d decided to pursue the math minor alongside my computer science degree given my career quickly focused on data analytics and business intelligence.

I prefer (and thrive in) close and tight-knit environments; it’s one of the reasons why I chose to attended St. Mike’s. It’s the same reason I inevitably left Big Blue in favor of a smaller firm. I joined Galen Healthcare Solutions in 2013, a healthcare IT consulting company only a few miles from the St. Michael’s campus. I started out providing technical consulting services to Galen’s clients: I’ve assisted clients with data conversions, implemented data warehouses, built reports and developed custom software. I’d never expected to work so directly with clients while in industry, but the liberal education I received from St. Mike’s prepared me with the interpersonal skills necessary to handle client interactions professionally and gracefully. Before leaving Galen in 2016, worked as a Senior Software Engineer developing products designed to supplement electronic health records (EHR) systems. EHR systems tend to be large, complex, and sometimes unwieldy; despite that, they are also vital tools in providing quality patient care. The goal with this product was to ensure patient care is seamless and continual, ensuring where data is stored doesn’t get in the way of providing excellent patient care.  I credit Galen Healthcare, and its experienced development team for really teaching me how to build software properly.

I left Galen for an uncommon opportunity, and an unbelievable challenge. A local startup named DealerPolicy with a unique vision and a prototype software product was looking for an Architect to shape the product and development team. The company’s vision was simple and elegant – try to save people money on car insurance at a time when they’re most likely to switch carriers: when they’re buying a new car.  Sounds like a cliché commercial, but it’s more than that – if we can provide dealership customers with the best insurance at the best rate, and provide dealership employees a compelling tool to make their sales process easier and more intuitive; and you’ve got a powerful insurance lead generation tool. I began my role as Senior Software Architect by taking ownership of the product and ramping off the outsourced development team initially contracted to build it. Since then, we’ve built a fledgling engineering arm of the company that’s focused on transforming the prototype website into a scalable/enterprise-grade software product/solution that can continue to support the business and its multitude of dealership customers as the company aims to take its vision national.  While I’m responsible for product development and ensuring the cloud-based production systems that our dealerships use daily are working, the most fulfilling aspect of my daily routine is getting the opportunity to mentor new engineers on the craft of software development. As professors, classmates, and former colleagues from St. Mike’s, IBM, and Galen once mentored me, I get to watch and help new team members grow their skills and craft. Being able to pay that debt forward is quite gratifying. As a company, we’ll continue to grow our engineering team, and cultivate our newer engineers so that we may build a product so compelling, it’ll be used by the dealership you buy your next car from; and we hope at that time that we’ll be able to save you money on car insurance.

Thinking about a future in software engineering? Considering attending St. Mikes?  I’m happy to chat: mcommo@dealerpolicy.com.

Contacted via e-mail as a resource for current students: Yes