{"id":8,"date":"2010-02-15T18:43:48","date_gmt":"2010-02-16T00:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cognitiveinfo.com\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2025-09-13T14:22:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T19:22:42","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/cognitiveinfo.com\/?page_id=8","title":{"rendered":"About Author"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I created this blog because everyone who works with data systems has tips and tricks to share.\u00a0 Admins and developers often encounter problems and find workarounds. This is a place to share those ideas. I was a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist with certification in Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance. My IT specialties include database administration, business intelligence, and medical imaging services.\u00a0 I have designed and developed business solutions with the IBM Cognos and Microsoft SQL Server Business Intelligence platforms since 1999. I retired from the IT industry in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information, follow me on <a title=\"LinkedIn\" href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/allenwsmith\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Personal Background<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the age of 13, I began teaching &#8216;grown-ups&#8217; how to use their Commodore 64s and TRS-80 computers. For an extra dollar, I would even fix their Rubik\u2019s Cube. I&#8217;ve worked with computers ever since.&nbsp;&nbsp; I received an MBA from the University of Central Oklahoma with an emphasis in Computer Sciences and a B.S. in Agricultural Economics from Oklahoma State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About the Company Name<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8216;Cognitive Information&#8217; came from&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/cognitiveapproaches.pbworks.com\/w\/page\/10506171\/Cognitive%20Information%20Processing%20Theory\">Cognitive Information Processing Theory<\/a>,&nbsp;which explains how the brain processes, stores, and retrieves information. These are the same challenges that most businesses face with data: storage, retrieval,l and processing it for humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This company was originally named GAMA Health Technology, Inc. &nbsp;&nbsp; GAMA was short for <a href=\"http:\/\/biblehub.com\/acts\/5-34.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gamaliel,<\/a> a Pharisee in the bible, and our initial focus was on healthcare. &nbsp; Our services have diversified, but this company remains consistently devoted to the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TECHNICAL CERTIFICATIONS &amp; EXAMS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Epic Cogito Project Manager, Epic, 2020<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Scrum Master Training and Certification, by Mike Cohn, renewed 2019<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Exam 70-458 \u2013 Transition Your MCTS on SQL Server 2008 to MCSA: SQL Server 2012, Part 2<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Database Administration<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Implementing a Data Warehouse with SQL 2012<br>Exam 70-466 \u2013 Implementing Data Models and Reports with Microsoft SQL Server 2012<br>Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist:<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SQL Server 2008 Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TECHNICAL TRAINING<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>2020 Epic Cogito Project Manager<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2020 Epic Cogito Fundamentals<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2019 Corepoint FIHR<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2018 Corepoint Rev Your Engine, interface engine optimization<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2017 Microsoft Power BI<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2016 SQL Saturday, Agile Data Warehouse Development<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2013 PASS SUMMIT, SQL Server preconference by Itzik Ben Gan<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2013 Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Business Intelligence<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2012 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services (SSIS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2012 SQL Rally by Professional Association of SQL Server (PASS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2012 Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Ignite &#8211; Administration and Development (MS Partner Training)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2011 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services (SSAS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2010 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services (SSRS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2007 Cognos 8 Business Intelligence Administration and Development<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2000 Data Warehouse Design and Architecture, TDWI, Seattle, WA<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TECHNICAL SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>2025 Rebranding Your Church<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2015 BI Basics &#8211; Finding Return on Data, PASS SQL Saturday #396, Dallas, TX<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2015 Kimball\u2019s Not Dead: Modeling Basics, PASS SQL Saturday #396, Dallas, TX<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2014 BI Basics &#8211; Finding Return on Data, PASS SQL Saturday #300, Kansas City, MO<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2014 ColumnStore Indexes in SQL 2014, PASS SQL Saturday #309, Oklahoma City, OK<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2014 BI Basics &#8211; Finding Return on Data, PASS SQL Saturday #309, Oklahoma City, OK<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2014 ColumnStore Indexes in SQL 2014, Tulsa TechFest<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2014 BI Basics &#8211; Finding Return on Data, Tulsa TechFest<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2013 SSIS 2012 Configurations vs. Parameters, PASS SQL Saturday #255, Dallas, TX<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2013 Intro to SharePoint BI, PASS SQL Saturday #255, Dallas, TX<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2013 Search Engine Basics, The Alternative Board, Oklahoma City, OK<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I created this blog because everyone who works with data systems has tips and tricks to share.\u00a0 Admins and developers often encounter problems and find workarounds. This is a place to share those ideas. I was a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist with certification in Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance. My IT specialties include database administration, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cognitiveinfo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cognitiveinfo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cognitiveinfo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cognitiveinfo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cognitiveinfo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/cognitiveinfo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1253,"href":"http:\/\/cognitiveinfo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8\/revisions\/1253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cognitiveinfo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}