Otto Burgess '82
Senior capacity and performance analyst, Miamisburg, Ohio
Major: Mathematics
A mind for math and science. Otto developed an interest in science and mathematics early on and took as many of those courses as possible while at Bluffton. "I declared a math major as a junior and was going to be a teacher, but I didn't find the curriculum appealing, so I took all computer science classes my last year," says Otto. He came to a realization that a combination of math, science and computer science would allow him to do just about anything he wanted.
Plucked from a stack. Otto worked as a freelance photographer while at Bluffton and after graduation while looking for a math-related job. He returned to school, attending Wright State University and earning a master's degree in applied statistics. One of his fellow master's classmates was thumbing through resumes at Mead Data Central, a subsidiary of the Mead Corporation. "He pulled my resume from the six-inch stack, photocopied it and took it to his boss who called me the next week," says Otto. "I've been here ever since."
Analyzing activity. In the early to mid 90s, a Dutch publishing firm purchased Mead Data Central and renamed it LexisNexis. Today, LexisNexis is known as a leading provider of comprehensive information and business solutions to professionals and offers access to five billion searchable documents from more than 32,000 legal, news and business sources. Otto's job involves analyzing Lexis' mainframe computers. "If a project requires mainframe resources, I work with a team of individuals and monitor mainframe activity, looking for performance problems and working to solve those problems," he says. He also handles capacity planning - a "long and involved process, spanning multiple people across multiple departments. It all comes down to 'what do we think we'll need to have in order to satisfy demand,'" says Otto.
Keeping up with change. To keep pace with changing technologies, Otto says a lot of internal research, in-house training, "brown-bag lunch and learns" and information dissemination "from a few technology czars" occur. In addition, employees attend conferences, competitors continually market their wares and a closeworking relationship with IBM means representatives are on-site. Otto says, "We're always looking at the latest and greatest cutting-edge technology. Sometimes we adopt it. Sometimes we back off and go with something a little more established." His favorite part of the job? "The people. I work with some of the best people in the industry," he says.
Flying high. In his spare time, Otto enjoys building and flying high-powered model rockets. Not the kid rockets, he says, but "the large-scale rockets requiring FAA waivers and explosives permits to launch." Otto says currently there are about 6,000 registered high-powered rocketeers in the United States. He holds a level-3 certification, allowing him to take on advanced projects.
Jill A. Duling
