PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY:

• Forward - thinking, resourceful MIS & Operations Manager with 20+ years success providing technical solutions that deliver competitive advantage & drive business growth. Strategic & transformational specialist, bringing expert analysis, planning & focus to underperforming/outdated environments. Pivotal resource for Confidential, a Confidential (15+ years), Confidential and Prentice Hall Professional Software. Extensive expertise in strategic & tactical planning, business analysis, project leadership, quality assurance, user support & process re-engineering. Well versed in Information Resources Management (IRM), best practices, security measures, compliance, Total Cost of Ownership & Statements of Work. Hold a BS degree in Accounting.
• Career highlights for Confidential include integrating a multi-platform environment into a flexible network structure and slashing a variety of application deployment times by utilizing a Network Access Control (NAC) system & creating automated scripts to rapidly test for & remediate issues (in one case reducing a projected 50 staff-hour deployment to 2 hours & completing the job remotely, with a 90% success rate). Also dramatically increased system availability by deploying NAC Policies to monitor key services/processes throughout the infrastructure.
• Highly effective decision-maker, facilitator and communicator with a sound understanding of overall business objectives. Keen ability to optimize environments, increasing productivity & performance.
• Outstanding project planning and execution skills, consistently delivering on schedule/budget while meeting all quality standards and company objectives.
• Tenacious problem solver, devising solutions that fully support the bottom line and long-range goals. Catalyst for change who readily adapts to evolving business and technology challenges.
• Passionate about always “going the extra technical mile”, assuming ownership and delivering results that exceed expectations. Bring a high degree of energy, determination and mission to any enterprise.

TECHNICAL SKILLS:

Technology and Tools: Strategic & Tactical Planning Software Process Engineering Project ManagementIT Operations Oversight Full Life Cycle DevelopmentSecurity Budget AccountabilityPolicy Development Quality AssuranceChange Management Needs/User Requirement AnalysisVendor Relations Problem Resolution

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Confidential, New York, NY

MIS Manager

Responsibilities:

• #1-rated Confidential IT Manager, leveraging systems support & planning expertise to effectively administer/optimize a multi-platform environment at the network & desktop level. Reputation for innovating solutions, assuming complete project ownership, championing new technologies and leading by example. Provide Level 3 support to 18 enterprise-level Stations in the O&O Group.
• On arrival at Confidential (1998), company was utilizing dial-up modems for e-mail, accessing the AS400 via several applications & using out-of-scope connectivity methods.
• During the next 11 months, spearheaded cabling effort to build an integrated, flexible state-of-the-art infrastructure that still stands as one of the best & most reliable in the Fox O&O Group.
• Standardized AS400 connectivity via TCP/IP application usage and provided remote connectivity. Then began automating deployments of software, updates and antivirus definitions.
• Appointed to the Confidential Security Team by CIO for excellence in best practice development/deployment, using ForeScout Network Access Control (NAC), Websense Triton Unified Security Center & McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) Access Protection Policies.
• Implemented NAC Policies and authored “How to Control Physical Access to LAN Services, Control Data Loss and Use of Unauthorized Storage Devices”.
• Implemented WebSense policies to meet version compliance mandates and minimize risk of malicious software infections.
• Deployed/utilized McAfee ePO to create customized Access Protection Policies to prevent the installation of malicious files to identified locations and implemented a customized Unwanted Programs listing to reduce a local hosts exposure to malicious intent.
• Deliver comprehensive desktop support for all Windows Operating Systems/Applications. Ensure maximum system usability by utilizing environmental knowledge to create & deploy best practices on multiple levels via NAC Policies, Web Filtering and McAfee ePO to monitor & remediate issues without user intervention.
• Proactive problem solver, quickly offering alternative solutions to identified & case-specific issues. For example, while consulting with McAfee support to eliminate a zero day exploit, identified areas of infection and created 2 effective action plans to block the spread/re-infection before McAfee’s escalation team could provide a final solution. Action Plan 1 created user-defined policies to block creation files, limit the number of infected systems & prevent those hosts cleaned from reinfection. Action Plan 2 used NAC Policies to inspect all hosts throughout the group for any signs/remnants of the infection.
• Vendor Relations: Promote positive relations with dozens of vendors/outside contractors by taking ownership for pre- & post-deliverables and by providing the high level of detail needed to complete Requests for Proposals and Statements of Work.
• Next Generation Technologies: Identify & evaluate emerging technologies and their value to the business units, then make recommendations for changes. Introduced both desktop and network traffic monitoring at the station level, enabling proactive notifications to be issued when the sum of network traffic totals falls to zero on any edge switch, port-channel, server or any storage device that capacity exceeds 85%. Also championed automated remediation & process/service failure notifications utilizing NAC Policies.
• System Optimization Projects: Driving force for large & small initiatives transforming the environment:
• System Migration (2005): Orchestrated migration of Station’s desktop environment to an all Windows XP desktop OS, an upgrade to Office 2003 and a migration from a Novell/GroupWise Server OS environment to a Microsoft 2003 Server/Exchange OS environment.
• Developed software/hardware migration schedules/costs and created simplified Command Line scripts to implement necessary user upgrades before & during the final conversion process.
• Reduced hours needed to complete cutover by revising the deployment plan to an assembly-line approach. Tasked less seasoned staff/consultants with handling removal/reboot processes and mid-level techs with installation/configuration processes. While senior techs performed the post review process and addressed any issues.
• Completed project ahead of schedule, slashed resource labor-hours by more than 40% and achieved the lowest issue rate throughout the Fox O&O initiative.
• Interplay Central Deployment/Upgrade: Propelled migration from existing Client Heavy Applications to Browser-based system, delivered project start-to-finish in 6 weeks. Sourced customer-supplied equipment & pre-deployed any components possible as well as infrastructure modifications.
• Successfully coordinated concurrent upgrades and application pre-deployments, ensuring no conflicts with the existing production environment. Stepped forward to resolve and deploy one of the prerequisite applications that contained a vendor OS issue preventing users from accepting the upgrade upon login. Utilized a simplified script and response file to push the update to all hosts instead of a pull scenario, restoring the project to on-time deployment.
• Created a new infrastructure environment for the new server farm; utilized Cisco’s Virtual Switching System (VSS) to build a redundant routing environment that allowed all server hosts to be configured in Zone 2.
• Astonished a vendor deployment team by achieving a 90% success rate in scripting removal of its multiple client applications & modifying registry entries to reflect new naming conventions.
• Removal of Networked Outlook PST Files: Created a command line script to disconnect networked archives to meet Corporate Mandate; project had over 98% success rate.
• Confidential ForeScout Network Access Control & Compliance System Management: Fulfilled dual roles as Lead Architect & “Best Practice” Developer, devising simplified scripts to control & standardize compliance. Exceeded all expectations in meeting compliance objectives outlined by parent companies.
• News Corp “Turn It Off” Mandate: Proactively identified all user hosts that should be turned off after business hours; scripted/grouped hosts by department, day & time and shut them down to reduce Station’s carbon footprint. For those hosts required to run 24x7x365, scripted a centralized policy that automatically performed restarts at required time to reduce number of recurring Windows issues.
• Fox Mandate 1: Fulfilled mandate to change the Local Administrator password on all devices by scripting an automatic deployment that substancially completed the entire environment in minutes.
• Fox Mandate 2: To meet directive prohibiting use/installation of identified applications, developed a comparison listing of defined applications/services/processes to automatically kill the active service/process.
• Also enhanced NAC guest access policy to permit automated guest registration process with pre-approved sponsor.
• Avid Interplay Installation Team Initiatives: As Lead Architect, created, implemented & documented automated scripts to install/remove vendor’s desktop video client software; 6 full version upgrades have taken place in 8 years. Developed a flexible footprint to secure (IPS/NAC), protect (WebFiltering and AV Access Protection) and communicate (via Cisco Port-Channels) with an infrastructure system that the vendor intended to be installed as an isolated unprotected system with multiple desktops at each user location.
• System Reliability: Head initial development, proof of concept & deployment cycles for user desktops; met challenge of continually maintaining an advanced knowledge of all departmental software/workflow to ensure seamless deployments.
• In 2014, will replace 325+ units for locations under management.
• Decreased the Total Cost of Ownership and improved reliability of systems by standardizing desktop installation, configuration and security.

Confidential, New York, NY

Operations Manager

Responsibilities:

• Transformed a Dumb Terminal (twinax connectivity) and a standalone environment to a fully-networked infrastructure with ability to access all systems locally & remotely, matching the capabilities of any competitor for business. Oversaw 4 staff and 8 remote sites. Motivated team with clear guidance, appreciation and encouragement for innovative thinking.
• Planned & implemented in multiple projects a telephone/voicemail system, a Novell NetWare LAN & Windows NT Server with integration to an AS/400 Advanced 36 Mid-Range Host utilizing TCP/IP, a fax/modem server & a remote access server, including cabling requirements, diagrams and documentation.
• Integrated Windows NT Server 4.0/Exchange Server 5.5/Windows’95 desktops into NetWare infrastructure.
• Defined functional & detailed specifications for re-engineering enhancements to existing proprietary real estate & management reporting software.