SUMMARY:

• Raphael is a proven performer with more than 25 years of z/OS Mainframe Operations experience using JCL, CLIST, RACF, Topscret, CICS, DB2, SAS, REXX, ENDEVOR, CONTROL - M, TIVOLI WORKLOAD SCHEDULER (TWS), ZEKE, JOBTRAC, CA-ESP, CA-7, CA-11 and CA-1.
• Has 25+ years of experience in the z/Series Mainframe Information Technology data processing arena. Consistently maintained expectations in all the phases of software development life cycle (SDLC) such as System Performance Analysis, Performance tuning, Capacity planning. A strong Change Manager Architect.
• Eight years working experience in Sterling EDI/GENTRAN Enterprise wide requirements, architecture and Extensive experience in implementing large scale mainframe application solutions. Able to work independently or as an integral part of a team.
• Commendable experience in auditing, implementing & managing HIPAA, SOX, GLBA, FFIEC, ISO, NIST, PCI DSS, FISMA, SAS 70 I & II Standards/Guidelines.
• And Application issues or ABENDs. Analysis and fix/ Design, Software Development. Use of MQ codes. Integration QA Testing, Software implementation, Black box/ White box, manual testing, Production Support, Software maintenance in IBM z/OS Mainframe platform.
• Good working knowledge of JES2/3 operator commands, scheduling packages, Tape manipulation(HSM), Direct Access Storage Devices(DASD), Top Secret security interface, Integrated Database Management System (IDMS), Virtual Telecommunications Access Method(VTAM), Websphere, Customer Information and Control System (CICS), DB2, OPS/MVS and how they interact through display facility.
• Expert in SAS (MICS/MXG) Capacity and performance reporting. Designs and codes SAS programs to extract and analyze SMF/RMF Raw data.
• A professional Systems Performance Specialist and Capacity planner with more than 15 years of Professional, includes system applications, disaster recovery planning and information protection analysis.
• Monitoring daily system activity; analyzing load tests, and providing recommendations for performance and availability.
• Advanced ABEND support and troubleshooting for broad range of processing on Mainframe, PeopleSoft, UNIX, DBA, Network Security applications.
• Resolve all JCL, TSO/ISPF and scheduler troubleshooting for broad range of processing on z/OS Mainframe, PeopleSoft, DBA, Network, and Security jobs.
• Good working knowledge of WebSphere.
• Excellent communication, relationship-building and collaborating skills at all levels, with ability to translate business needs into technical requirements. Recipient of numerous awards of excellence for quality and achievements.
• Eight years working experience with Sterling Gentran Basic 6.3, EDI Enterprise wide requirements, architecture and implementation for CLAIMS, HIPAA including all Health Care transaction sets; and all areas of development, implementation support processes and related interfaces.
• Establish EDI links with Hospitals, Clinics and Doctor’s Offices.
• Thorough experience in Sterling Gentran EDI Enterprise wide requirements, architecture and the implementation for 810, 824 832, 846, 850, 852, 855, 856, 870 and 997 transaction sets.
• EDI GENTRAN 6.3 mapping and testing to/from X12 transactions, Checking LOG - Application jobs and working Mapping on GENTRAN.
• Defining EDI Trading Partner Characteristics, Testing and correction of EDI Transactions.
• 10 years at BCBSNC and structured the QA Test System and Worked on the Y2K Group.
• Accomplishments/Achievements
• Received recognition from client SSA and on various projects assigned to me, which were efficiently and successfully completed on time.
• Received numerous awards within Blue Cross and Blue Shield based on the complexity of the project and client feedback.
• I was awarded IT Departmental Recognition Award in the EDI software team.
• Involved in Performance monitoring of Systems and Applications using several performance monitoring tools like SMF/RMF/CMF and Tivoli Monitors.
• Participated in running performance tools in batch mode and collecting SMF/RMF/CMF records, analyze them to determine the distribution of system resources across different jobs.
• Used transaction monitoring tools like TMON, OMEGAMON, OMEGAVIEW and Tivoli to determine the workload services associated with each job and prepare reports to this effect.
• Actively monitored production and production-like test environments while jobs are running to analyze the load level, resource consumption and create reports to help capacity planning in the following releases.
• Achieved success in all of the various projects managed/ developed/ tested over the past 15 years. They were delivered and implemented with adequate CMMI levels, quality on time.
• Effectively involved in Configuration management activities including moving software components through different Endevor stages.
• Preparing/ Cast/ Executed Endevor packages in Testing, Acceptance, Production environments and shipping the packages to various systems.
• Played a key technical role during the on call support for Development/ Testing/ QA Testing/ Production Testing by fixing the various issues on a timely basis.
• Always maintained adequate documentation (Microsoft Office) pertaining to the Software development, Testing Plans/Cases, Software standards used, Trouble tickets resolution, Production ABEND resolution.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Confidential

Management Programmer

Responsibilities:

• Installing, customizing and maintaining all Vendor products on the operating systems and testing for its proper functioning.
• Developing performance metrics and customized performance and resource utilization reports on z/OS mainframe and other platforms.
• Experience with ITS System, Mainframe System, Blue Squared Inter-Plan Messaging System, and Claims Repository.
• BlueCard ITS Host and Home professional and facility claims experience.
• Designed, documented and delivered a supplier control review process in order to assess the security of proprietary information at supplier sites based on SAS 70 Type reviews, VISA, ISO 17799
• Monitoring CICS Regions in Production, Training, and Integration to identify/isolate problems.
• Monitor DB2, Oracle and IDMS database subsystems to identify and isolate problems.
• Ensured internal compliance across all Customer projects towards ISO 17799 and conducted technical compliance assessments.
• Sound knowledge of HIPAA privacy requirements, familiar with HIPAA technical aspects related to claims and eligibility transactions
• Monitor WebSphere MQ and WebSphere Application Server applications to identify and isolate problems.
• Upon detection of a problem, begin level 1 troubleshooting activities such as reading system and application dumps and provide recommendations and perform basic resolution activities.
• Identify and resolve peripheral device and file contention problems.
• Expert hands-on working knowledge of JES2/3 operator commands, scheduling packages, tape manipulation (HSM), Direct Access Storage Devices (DASD), Top Secret security interface, Integrated Database Management System (IDMS), Virtual Telecommunications Access Method (VTAM), Websphere, Customer Information and Control System (CICS), DB2, OPS/MVS and how they interact through display facility.
• Commendable experience in auditing, implementing & managing HIPAA, SOX, GLBA, FFIEC, ISO, NIST, PCI DSS, FISMA, SAS 70 I & II Standards/Guidelines.
• Knowledge of computer operator commands to take full system dumps, start traces, perform IPLs, manipulate peripheral devices and reply to messages issued by any of the following: CICS, VTAM, DB2, IDMS, Websphere, Top Secret and OPS/MVS.
• Create Performance Batch Reports, collect data, analyze data and create Graft Reports that reflect the system resources across different jobs. Monitor production and production-like test environments using transaction monitoring tools available.
• Daily, Weekly and Monthly System Performance Report and Graph monitoring, tracking and creation.
• DASD and TAPE Management Administration - Innovation Data Processing FDR/Upstream backup job adds/changes/deletes to infrastructure based on changes to physical storage of data, new servers/data, growth of data.
• Successfully testing Database agent backups/restores using FDR database agents.
• Created Standard operating procedures for install/configuration and backup/ restore using FDR database agents.
• Collaborated with the CISO to create 3rd party risk components of the enterprise risk framework; and executed investments in the security and fraud space - Biometrics
• FDR backup adds/changes/deletes to infrastructure based on changes to physical storage of data, new servers/data, growth of data, and the rest.

Confidential

Production Support Analyst

Responsibilities:

• IT Mainframe and Scheduling Specialist - Production Control Specialist
• Monitoring and fixing ABEND support and troubleshooting for broad range of processing on Mainframe, PeopleSoft, UNIX, DBA, Network Security applications.
• Resolve all JCL, TSO/ISPF and TWS troubleshooting for broad range of processing on z/OS Mainframe, PeopleSoft, DBA, Network, and Security jobs.
• Collaborated with the CISO to create 3rd party risk components of the enterprise risk framework; and executed investments in the security and fraud space - Biometrics
• Support, provide setup and monitoring of production job execution, automation, and scheduling for business areas, including file transfers from Confidential production batch, and enterprise-wide reporting and analytics in a 24/7/365 environment.
• Tracking of daily Tivoli Workload Scheduling processes and ensuring that they run in a timely manner.
• Using MQ to validate severity/priority classification of problems.
• Incident Ticket Management - routing tickets to appropriate support groups.
• Escalation initiating and tracking.
• Perform basic problem determination on system and components.
• Restart failing batch jobs and/or components as part of Operations Support (OS, hardware & applications).
• Performing production checks as required.
• Provide expertise operational status as required.

Confidential

Senior SAS Mainframe Programmer

Responsibilities:

• Mainframe Printing Capacity Planning for BCBSM’s large z/OS environments including LPAR environments.
• Designing and coding SAS programs to extract and analyze MVS Print data (SMF/MXG)
• Experience with ITS System, Mainframe System, Blue Squared Inter-Plan Messaging System, and Claims Repository.
• BlueCard ITS Host and Home professional and facility claims experience.
• Good working knowledge of Mainframe resources/tools including MVS/JCL, TSO, ISPF, SDSF, SAS, CLIST, REXX, OMEGAMON, RMF, SMF Data and much more.
• Z/OS Performance Analysis using SAS, and MXG.
• Capacity and performance reporting. Working independently and with others with minimal supervision.

Confidential

Senior Programmer

Responsibilities:

• Highly skilled in internal/external customer liaisons for application analysis, development, testing and implementation.
• Designed and developed a new Validation/Extract/Edit process for the EDI Translator pre-processor. This Validation process would accept the data from various applications in different jurisdictions .This processor contained a total of six complex DB2 modules of which three of them were Coded/Unit tested by me. Involved in the System Analysis, Detail Design, Process Automation, JCL, Code preparation test data & Test Conditions preparation for the various processes and was also involved in Bill Validation, Checking and Resolving Out of Balances in the Tel-bill data, Thorough experience in Sterling Gentran EDI Enterprise wide requirements, architecture and the implementation for 810, 824 832, 846, 850, 852, 855, 856, 870 and 997 transaction sets.
• Commendable experience in auditing, implementing & managing HIPAA, SOX, GLBA, FFIEC, ISO, NIST, PCI DSS, FISMA, SAS 70 I & II Standards/Guidelines.
• EDI GENTRAN 6.3 mapping and testing to/from X12 transactions, Checking LOG - Application jobs and working Mapping on GENTRAN.
• EDI mapping and development of upgrades to all the transactions.
• Support AS2 VAN services.
• Defining EDI Trading Partner Characteristics, Testing and correction of EDI Transactions.
• Develop and test maintenance fixes.
• Use Mercury Test Center to track, document and report bugs.

Confidential

EDI Mainframe Programmer

Responsibilities:

• Ten years experience as a CONTROL-M Batch expert resolving Batch ABENDs. Supporting and troubleshooting s broad range of processing on Mainframe and other platforms like PEOPLESOFT, MICROSOFT WINDOWS, UNIX, DBA, CICS and other applications.
• Experience with ITS System, Mainframe System, Blue Squared Inter-Plan Messaging System, and Claims Repository.
• BlueCard ITS Host and Home professional and facility claims experience.
• Resolve all JCL, TSO/ISPF and CONTROL-M troubleshooting for broad range of processing on z/OS Mainframe, PeopleSoft, DBA, Network, and Security jobs.
• Provided mainframe Change Manager, CA-Top Secret, RACF and ACF2 user administration support for multiple project efforts, including department, profile and user creation, modification, and deletion.
• Functioning as highly skilled technician on projects requiring an in-depth knowledge and specialized technical skill in multi-platform programming for the functional areas. In doing so, working as the primary liaison with users or programmers for developing systems or making modifications to existing systems, and the area resource for resolution of technical problems.
• Sound knowledge of HIPAA privacy requirements, familiar with HIPAA technical aspects related to claims and eligibility transactions
• Ensure that all FDR Batch application daily jobs ran successfully on the mainframe Z/OS host.
• DASD and TAPE Management Administration - Innovation Data Processing FDR/Upstream backup job adds/changes/deletes to infrastructure based on changes to physical storage of data, new servers/data, growth of data.
• Commendable experience in auditing, implementing & managing HIPAA, SOX, GLBA, FFIEC, ISO, NIST, PCI DSS, FISMA, SAS 70 I & II Standards/Guidelines.
• Successfully testing Database agent backups/restores using FDR database agents.
• Create Standard operating procedures for install/configuration and backup/ restore using FDR database agents.
• FDR backup adds/changes/deletes to infrastructure based on changes to physical storage of data, new servers/data, growth of data, and the rest.
• Implementing and maintaining EDI GENTRAN application development and enhancement of a variety of inbound and outbound EDI transactions sets.
• Designed, documented and delivered a supplier control review process in order to assess the security of proprietary information at supplier sites based on SAS 70 Type reviews, VISA, ISO 17799
• Develop written specifications and Documentation for EDI processes.
• Eight years working experience in Sterling Basic Gentran 6.3 EDI Enterprise wide requirements, architecture and implementation for CLAIMS, HIPAA and all Health Care transaction sets.
• Establish EDI links with Hospitals, Clinics and Doctors Offices.
• Support of EDI and all areas of development and implementation processes and related interfaces
• Extensive mainframe programming experience with RACF, JCL and CICS. Strong working abilities with the following Databases: IDMS, IMS, ORACLE and DB2.
• High-quality working knowledge of JCL, RACF, and VSAM files, GDG’s, File Aid.
• Worked on QA Test Team supporting business application fixes and also upgraded the EDI/Gentran releases and automated daily audit reports.