In this month’s user spotlight blog, we’re talking to Jake Dennison (Jake), a Senior Solutions Engineer at Nintex.

What is your current role, how long have you worked at Nintex, and your career background?

I am a Senior Solutions Engineer. I have been at Nintex for over 4 years, but I have used Nintex for nearly 13 years through various partners and customers. I started my career as a Microsoft apprentice learning Windows Server and Operating systems but also early versions of SharePoint 2007. I worked in IT at first as a project support specialist. Still, I quickly moved into consulting on IT Service desk improvements for mostly Banks and Financial organizations focusing on IT, Cyber-crime and Financial crime. I found myself using Nintex for quite a lot of that, and over the years, I built up my Nintex and SharePoint knowledge until finally deciding to join the company I invested so much time in.

Which Nintex Product are you most passionate about and why?

My background and the hardest lessons I have learned are mostly in workflow, so that is where my biggest strengths are. However, since joining Nintex, I have been able to learn and use many of our other great products. I love using Nintex DocGen for Salesforce. It has given me a reason to learn Salesforce and Process Manager because it can bring a new perspective on processes I never focused on in a way that makes sense.

What do you enjoy most about the Nintex Community?

I enjoy seeing the reply: This worked, thanks! That is as much as I need to know that I helped someone overcome a challenge they were facing.

Is there any advice you would give to users learning to use Nintex?

The official Nintex response my manager wants me to give is to go use Nintex University, which is very true, and everyone should take advantage of that free learning! But personally, I am a big believer in hands-on learning. If you have access to the tools, just go and use them; they are so easy to pick up. You will always learn the best when you build something you are familiar with and understand rather than following a guide or training.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes or get discouraged if things don’t work. That’s why Nintex Community is such a great place to solve those exact scenarios. If you don’t have access, why not get a trial?

What’s one thing — either industry-related or not — you learned in the last month?

I have been learning over the last month how to build Nintex Xtensions to get Nintex Automation Cloud to talk to different applications. Before I had dabbled here and there, either using other people’s Xtentions or modifying existing ones, but this time, I sat down and built my own from scratch. I will be honest: it was a hard learning curve for me as most of my knowledge is front-end UI/UX, but eventually, with a couple of training courses via Nintex University and LinkedIn on JSON and OpenAPI, I was able to build my first working Xt.

What’s something about you that not many people know?

I can’t say I can think of anything fun or interesting. I am just a normal guy who loves to learn and solve problems.