On Tuesday, December 8th, 2015 Alan Peterson will
be retiring from the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications.
Alan started working for the State of South Dakota in June
1971 as a part-time student employee at what was then Dakota State College
(DSC) in Madison as a data processing assistant, while earning his Bachelor of
Science degree in business and his Associates Degree in the first computer
science program at DSC.
In May 1976, Alan began working for what was then called
Central Data Processing (CDP). After 45
years with the state, he serves as a Technology Engineer IV.
When asked how technology has changed throughout the past 45
years, Alan explained ,“When I started at the college we were using punch cards
and wires.” For those of you who are unfamiliar with that term, punch cards
were cards used by a key punch machine. Each line of a computer program
had to be typed on a punch card and the cards were read by a card reader and to
get the program to a mainframe computer. If there were errors on the card
– the card had to be retyped. It’s safe to say, BIT has come a long way
since then!
Among his most memorable moments, Alan lists the design of a
new payroll system to run on a new database package (ADABAS) and the Y2K project.
In addition, when asked what he believed to be his biggest accomplishment, Alan
modestly replied, “Natural and EntireX.”
Fellow co-worker, Frenchy Taft, stated, “For Natural and
EntireX, Al has been the technician who received the initial versions from
Software AG, implemented them, tested them, and then rolled them out in production
for Development shops to use. Over the years, he has continued to receive
new versions of this software, migrate it up thru the environments, and
ultimately make these versions the new standard for use by all the developers
in all branches of State government.”
Frenchy also noted that another major accomplishment for Alan
was the State Central Payroll System. He explained, “In 1979, Al was part of a
two-person team that was responsible for requirements gathering, designing,
managing the programmers, and implementing a new Central Payroll system for the
State. The system utilized the new
mainframe database system (ADABAS) and the system was written in COBOL with
ADABAS Macro Interface (ADAMint) modules.
This was before the State got Natural.
During those days, the life expectancy of a computer system was 5 to 7
years. To their credit, the payroll
system they developed was used for 22 years before Lawson replaced the payroll
calculations part of Central Payroll.
The part of the Central Payroll system they designed and developed that
interfaces with the State’s budget and accounting systems is still being used
37 years later!”
Alan will miss the challenges of supporting new
requirements, but looks forward to continuing to hunt, fish, travel, play with
his grandson and finally being able to turn off the alarm clocks!
When asked to give a few words of wisdom to his fellow
colleagues that he will be leaving behind, he stated, “Remember there will
always be a new requirement and a new technology and they may not complement
each other.”
Although the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications
has been thrilled to have you these past years Alan, there are a few other
people who are also very proud of you as well…
Jeannie Peterson:
“Alan and I moved to Pierre/Fort Pierre after he graduated
from Dakota State College in 1976. The plan was to stay here for two years and
then move on to somewhere else. Well, here we are almost 40 years later with
Alan retiring from the same office, although there have been many name changes
over the years.
The Pierre/Fort Pierre area was a bit of a change for these
flatlanders but we’ve come to love it. We spent a lot of time fishing when we
first moved out here and hope to get back to that on our pontoon now that we
are both retired.
We raised our son; Adam, here and he surprised us by moving
back here to start a family of his own. With two granddaughters and a little
grandson, I’m sure they will keep us busy with athletic events and concerts to
attend.
Alan has enjoyed the people he has met over the years and
also enjoyed the challenges of the job. I’m sure he’ll find other challenges to
keep him busy and if he needs more to keep him busy, I’m sure I can line up
some things for him!
We plan on doing some traveling. We already have a trip to
Alaska planned for June 2016 and hope to get another “bucket list” trip checked
off by driving down Highway 101 from Washington to Central California soon!
There will also be East Coast trips to visit family.
Let the fun begin!”
Adam Peterson:
“What can I say about my dad in his retirement? He gave
45 years to the State of South Dakota. That is approximately 81,300 hours of
dedication and perseverance. Through the good and the bad he stuck with it. I’m
proud of him.
Mom turned in her keys 18 months ago and now it is time
for Dad to do the same. I hope they make the best out of their retirement years
together.
Congratulations, Dad! I love you! Thanks for all you have
done and all I know you will do in the future.
And remember, if you are looking for some extra work in
your free time, you can always babysit your grandson! The pay sucks but even in
retirement some things never change.”
Congratulations on your retirement Alan! We will miss you!