About Me

Hi, let me introduce myself. I’m Chris Straw, a software & systems architect and software systems guru. I specialize in designing software systems, workflow processes, and systems analysts.

What is a software architect, sometimes called a systems architect? In my own words and to put it simply, here are a few points to what the architect does:

Lead the development team
Choose technologies utilized
Implement coding standards
Promote abstraction and generalization
Code and/or manage foundation/framework?code-set?(yes, code)
Ensure scalability

Success Stories:

My biggest claim to fame is with the State of Indiana, where I was the architect on MyBMV (www.mybmv.com) for Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), sometimes call Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in other states. MyBMV is the State of Indiana’s online system to handle a variety of transactions. Currently, MyBMV handles registration renewals, duplicate titles, driver license renewals, and new vehicle registrations.

MyBMV processes around 9.8 million transactions per year with projections toward 12 million by 2014. As of 2011, all Indiana residents are required to use MyBMV to renew their license plates. The innovation caused MyBMV is credited for saving Indiana taxpayers millions in taxes, streamlined processing, and changed the way Indiana residents interact with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles for years to come.