When I interviewed at Resource last June, they mentioned a mysterious abbreviation, ATG. I smiled and nodded and knew I had some research to do when I got home.
So it turns out that ATG “makes the Web marketing and e-commerce software and delivers the on demand e-commerce hosting solutions that the world’s top brands use to power their leading-edge e-commerce Web sites; attract prospects; convert them to buyers; and offer stellar ongoing customer care.”
We actually used ATG to build pcavote.com, despite the fact that it was never intended to be an e-commerce implementation. What made it a good fit was the enticement of personalization, leveraging their scenario engine. We brought in some outstanding talent to help us through the architecting/developing of the solution. I was only involved in the implementation insofar as I became familiar with the some of the capabilities of the platform.
The very next project I had an opportunity to help out with was also built on ATG, although the solution was designed and developed quite differently. It helped to see how the benefits of leveraging the platform were realized even with such a different approach. It was one of those cases where the more I was on the periphery of projects, the more I knew I didn’t know.
Starting this Monday, I’ll eating, drinking and sleeping ATG for quite awhile. I will be attending ATG Technical/Developer training, and then as I transition to a less technical role, I will also be attending the Business Manager/Marketing track as well. (course listing) I’m very excited; as a front-end developer, I’ve been exposed to the dsp tag library, but in a very limited capacity. I’m particularly interested in attending the business user training, to see how the platform is presented to a less technical audience. I anticipate we’ll be able to better leverage the power of the platform with an appreciation of how it is being presented. I don’t know that we used ATG to its full extent with pcavote.com, perhaps because we simply weren’t sure what all it was capable of. I’m eager to see what we can do moving forward, and I consider myself very fortunate to be able to sit in on both tracks. I hope I will be able to help facilitate communication between the two audiences.
Well I hope you’re enjoying learning about ATG. It’s a fabulous platform to do web development with. I’m sure the training will payoff in the long run.
If you’re interesting in joining a community of other eager ATG developers where you can share your ideas, ask questions then consider subscribing to the ATG_Tech google group. More information about the group can be found below.
http://metatheory.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/atg_tech-google-group/