Technology

Having managed a variety of technologies throughout my career, in a number of industries, it would be difficult and time-consuming to list everyone. Additionally, as technologies come and go, the list would become stale and irrelevant quite quickly.  Instead, suffice it to say I am quite comfortable managing any technology I encounter. I will, instead, focus on my approach and strategies for managing technology. 

Enterprise Architecture forms the foundation for all technologies a business invests in. A well-designed enterprise architecture begins with the business: 

1. What does the business do?
2. What are the business goals?
3. How does the business accomplish its goals?

Enterprise Architecture then builds solutions and processes, based on the answers to these questions.

The core components of Enterprise Architecture are:

• Business Architecture: Outlines the business strategy, governance, organization, and key business processes.
• Information Architecture: Deals with the structure and flow of information within the organization.
• Application Architecture: Describes the individual applications, their interactions, and how they support the business processes.
• Technology Architecture: Defines the hardware, software, and network infrastructure needed to support the other architectures.

As an IT leader, with over 20 years of experience in designing, developing, and maintaining Enterprise Architecture, I am adept at assessing how well the current Enterprise Architecture is addressing business needs then developing a strategic roadmap to improve the performance and Return on Investment (ROI) of a company's Enterprise Architecture.

Business Requirements

Technology acquisition begins with a business problem or opportunity.  Once the business requirements for this problem or opportunity are defined and documented then the search for a solution begins.

Research

Once business requirements are identified, then research begins for potential solutions.  As I am constantly reading and researching technologies and solutions, I often have some idea of where to begin my research. I will also tap into team members and trusted vendors to provide recommendations to develop a shortlist of available options. A build vs. buy discussion and evaluation is often an important part of the research process.  Ideally, 2-3 potential solutions will be identified.

Request for Information/Proposal

The level of formality of this process is dependent on company/department policy, the criticality of the solution, the sense of urgency and the level of investment. I have experience with various levels of, and approaches to, the Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) processes and am comfortable adapting my approach as needed.

Vendor Selection and Negotiation

Once the business and RFI/RFP requirements and have been defined then vendor selection begins. While I have relationships with many strategic vendors across the country, I always like to start the process with the company's existing vendors as they already have familiarity with the company and its architecture.  However, I typically like to have at least 3 different vendors provide proposals for potential solutions. Not only does this ensure a better solution, but it also facilitates a more competitive bid process.  While working with any vendor, I rely on openness and honesty in negotiations. By providing clear and documented requirements, setting expectations and asking for the best price, up front, I can ensure a fair and ethical process that that garners the best value for the company.

Contract Review

Once the winning proposal has been identified and selected, a thorough review of the contract terms and conditions is a must.  This is typically conducted in concert with the company's Legal Department or appropriate representative.  As I have extensive experience reviewing and signing contracts, I am quite comfortable reading and interpreting the terms of any contract before I sign it. I also like to ensure contracts have clear terms of indemnification for non-performance as well as exception handling.

Architectural Review

Aside from budgeting and approval, the final step of technology assessment and acquisition is the Architectural Review.  This step is typically performed by an Architecture Review Board (ARB), which is a governance body comprised of relevant stakeholders. 

The ARB typically includes experts from various fields such as infrastructure, security, data management, and applications. They review the proposed technology's design, functionality, and potential impact on the organization1. The goal is to ensure that the technology acquisition supports long-term growth, innovation, and risk management

The ARB will evaluate proposed technology solutions to ensure they align with the organization's architectural standards and strategic goals. This review helps identify potential risks, assess technical complexity, and ensure that the new technology integrates well with existing systems.

I have extensive experience in selecting, assessing, acquiring, maintaining, securing and administering a massive variety of technologies so it would be difficult to list everything that I have experience with. However, I have selected some keystone technologies to highlight below.

End Point Management

I start with End Point Management as it is often overlooked in terms of strategic importance. Endpoints include workstations, desktops, laptops, tablets and, in some cases, mobile devices. 

At IMA Financial Group, I spearheaded an initiative to manage all corporate endpoint using Microsoft Intune. By utilizing dynamic Microsoft 365 groups to determine an employee's role, Intune automatically streamed and installed the appropriate applications for the employee, without manual intervention by the technician. With this solution, my Field Systems Technician team was able to reduce new employee onboarding time by over 60%. 

Additionally, as end points were standardized to a few select models, an onsite hot spare pool of compatible devices was maintained at each office location. In the event of a problem with an endpoint that could not be resolved in a few minutes, a compatible hot spare device was pulled from inventory, imaged and handed to the employee in an hour, or less. The defective device was then assessed for hardware defects. If none were found, the device would be reconditioned and added to the hot spare inventory. However, if hardware defects were found then the device would be replaced under warranty and the replacement would be added to the new device inventory. If out of warranty, then the device would be environmentally recycled.

In addition to managing traditional workstation endpoints, I have extensive experience designing and managing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, including VMware and Citrix Solutions.  As Director of Technical Services for Longmont United Hospital, I designed and implemented a Citrix VDI architecture that included thin clients in each patient room.  A nurse would enter a patient room, swipe their badge on a card reader attached to the thin client and the medical records for that patient would be automatically presented in the Electronic Medical Record system.  This architecture greatly improved nurse productivity and patient safety by ensuring the nurse was accessing the correct patient record.

Networks and Firewalls

While networks are the "central nervous system" of computers, servers and cloud systems, firewalls are the gatekeepers. While the two systems work hand-in-hand they serve quite different functions. My network expertise includes Local Area Networks (LAN), Wide Area Networks (WAN), Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) and Virtual Networks, including cloud-based networks.

I have extensive experience working with both technologies, primarily focusing on design, architecture and security. I have an especially deep understanding of wireless networks as I am a certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA).

A key architectural consideration for networks is segmentation.  Network segmentation greatly increases the security of a network be restricting which nodes can communicate with other nodes. Additionally, network segmentation offers improved performance and manageability while also being more cost efficient.

Storage Area Networks

In one of my prior roles, I managed Technical Services for McData Corporation, which was a Fibre Channel Switch and Director company. In this role, I learned the intricacies of Storage Area Networks. While Fibre Channel has been greatly superseded by iSCSI today, I gained in depth knowledge of both solutions when I was a Technical Support Manager for VMware, where I managed the Systems, Network and Storage Support team.  In this role, I was responsible for supporting every variety of Storage Area Network.

Servers

I have over 20 years' experience acquiring, architecting, administrating, managing and supporting both Windows and Linux servers, including physical, virtual and cloud. This experience ranges from stand-alone physical servers all the way to hyperscale compute solutions.