IT4U PTY Ltd.

July 1998 - Current

POSITION:   Managing Director/Technical Architect & Project Manager

 

Forming my own company in 1998, Information Technology For You Pty Ltd provided the opportunity to expand and diverge into other areas.  At the time IT4U was formed there did exist projects and commitments to Praxa, which required completion over the coming months, which were honoured.

 

Sample

 

  • A large International Telco carrier was moving into the Australian market. My role was to define the project requirements and specifications, budgets, timeline estimates, training, and resource requirements to implement a development and standby site which would also to provide national support. This project included the design and specification of all Network, Server and SLA components. The project ran for approximately four months and they became involved in a take over bid where by the project was shelved.
  • A Government Department initially utilizing a variety of third party products with specialized requirements the Department spent a considerable portion of their time maintaining desk tops. Due to the complexities of this project based around non bespoke applications and disparate hardware, I developed strategy and Requirements Definition which after the successful completion of a pilot lead to an agreed SOE which was then deployed. There were approximately 250 workstations, 
  • Large Multinational – Introduced a new client server based application which was not performing, and I was requested to review the current situation, define the problem, and propose an alternative architecture that would deliver the required results. I performed the analyses of the current structure and its performance, gathering bench marks, and performance statistics, reviewing the current architecture, for serves, clients, and the network between Brisbane and Sydney. Armed with these recommendations the client completed the required architectural changes with there own staff.
  • International Database Company – IT costs for thier links were increasing, for both interstate and international traffic. The client wanted to connect an Auckland Office to their world wide private network. After doing a feasibility study, and cost benefit analyses I designed the network architecture for the VOIP for two offices in Australia plus the addition of the New Zealand Office. The proposed typology included the integration of Voice and Data over Frame on both national and international links, i.e. NZ and US. Because such a plan was not in the current strategic plan the design need to account for disparate PABX,s, and the influx of approximately 10,000 email messages per day. The VOIP network was later expanded to include the other states in Australia and an additional tail in NZ
  • Government Department - Upgrade the existing business information systems from VAX-VMS to Alpha VMS. The client had introduced additional business systems and this combined with the age of the existing production systems was the main business driver. The project included scooping analyses, requirements definition, project management plan, architectural specifications and sizing of replacement hardware, development of a pilot, migration of existing data, and reengineering of image software. The project was complex, with high risks, on a critical business system. The project ran for approximately 12 months, included subcontractors and completed successfully.  I believe this comment on the acceptance response says it all.

"Thanks for your (and Tania's) hard work and making the transition to Alpha such a non-event from our staff's view”

  • Government Department - Provide a Disaster Recovery and development platform. Many originations find it difficult to justify a disaster site, however with some lateral thinking in the majority of cases, a development environment can double as a disaster environment, if designed correctly, and hence produce cost savings. The development environment was replicated, and the required infrastructure installed. The project included some complex connectivity issues, management of third party resources, and other vendors.
  • Federal Government - Strategic planning and infrastructure development, consistent with proactive management and leading technology solutions was the main charter. As both Project Manager and Technical Architect my team were members of a larger team who reviewed the then current situation with the view to designing  solutions which meet the potential privatization requirements, the additional demand on services due to the Olympics, and the boards obligations under due diligence. This included variety of spin of projects such as LAN/WAN architectural changes, development and integration of industry standards, migration from disparate hardware platforms, introduction of SOE, SLA’s, development of ticket less travel, and solutions to ongoing business problems.

 

Summary

 

I have come from a technical background starting with Burroughs and Mainframes (incl South Australian TAB Project), moving through the Digital world (VAX, Alpha) into Customer Support Services Manager, and Branch Manager picking up full P&L Responsibility.

 

I have the technical “tenacity second to none and a loyalty rarely seen today” (quoted from a reference) and enjoy a challenge where by between 1 and 5 years you can look back say you were part of or instrumental to the building, design, completion of something within the IT industry, which is why I moved into Project Management, and Technical Design. I have a natural ability to solve problems, and develop solutions to business problems. My management experience enables me to consider the bottom line impact of projects, and the real potential benefits.

 

As a member of a variety of user groups such DECUS, Oracle and Microsoft combined with retentions of my technical prowess I believe I have considerable technical and solutions based skills, knowledge and contacts which I can bring to bare as and when required.

 

I have designed a number of solutions to business problems and then transposed these into feasibility, cost benefits, Budgets, Estimates Requirements Definitions; Project Management Plans which when combined with my technical experience has enabled me to complete the overall end to end cycle.