Dennis Epperson
1805 Auburn Drive * Carrollton TX 75007 * 972/898-8760 *
Architecting Innovative, Robust, Scalable, and Secure Enterprise-Class Software
Strategic thought leader in BPI, global IT team development, IT dept. turnaround & acquisition/ integration, Project/Program/Portfolio methodology creator and practitioner and QA- & CMMI-disciplined SDLC management
______Achievement Summary ______
· As IT management consultant , directly serving several CIO's, generated and provided leading-edge proposals and provided significant improvement to fundamental IT processes.
· For CGI (1999-2004), functioned as model executive consultant. Client feedback was unanimously positive with several categorizing efforts as “outstanding” or “exceptional.” Solutions delivered included PMO, SDLC management, Quality Assurance and enterprise business systems optimizations.
· For Associates First Capital, turned around 20 year old loan origination technology with entirely new technology strategy including new systems architecture, migration plan, resource plan, IT departmental tools and processes and created/executed the first Quality Assurance group in the firm. Executed the plan.
· For Sprint, designed a data warehousing solution which was so robust that its life cycle endured for more than double the expected rate. Developed Strategic Resources group to serve all divisions. Created portfolio management practice.
· For all employers and clients, generated best practices frameworks to handle data analysis & design, requirements formulation, system architecture, SDLC and project/program/portfolio management. As a trained economist and organizational theory expert, delivered numerous high-value solutions for Fortune 1000 leaders.
Core Strategic Competencies
People Management for teams ranging from 5 to 125, including analysts, developers and other professional positions. Created and managed a new hire program where recent college graduates were hired and groomed for advanced positions while learning the structure and purpose of the firm.
Portfolio, Program and Project Management for complex, customized enterprise-wide systems and data warehousing challenges. Advanced knowledge of software QA best-practices has resulted in significant client savings. Pioneered early Portfolio Management methodology in early 1990's.
Proven multitasking, decision-making and customer-facing leadership competencies includes instilling client confidence, interpreting business needs and aligning IT to best serve business growth, and managing & scheduling multiple simultaneous projects. Manages, with distinction, the full project range, from generating Request for Quotes to supervising enterprise systems production through to final customer sign-off.
Fostering long-term, multi-year, strategic partnerships. Offers extensive experience in contract negotiations, articulating statements of work, and risk mitigation.
Subject matter expert in the following areas: IT and business integration, infrastructure investment analytics, PMO set-up/optimization, and staff/organization development. Project and program management highlights include solutions development and delivery for leaders in the following sectors: telecommunications, commercial aviation, government institutions, retail, financial services, and insurance.
______Career History ______
PRAXISPOINT, 2004 - Present
Principal
Summary: Service a prestigious client base including the industry leader in rent-to-own furniture, appliances and consumer electronics, a chemicals manufacturer & distributor, a major airline, and a major telecom manufacturer.
Scope: Direct cross-disciplinary technical teams of up to 20 software engineers, analysts, programmers, DBAs.
Highlighted Achievements for PraxisPoint
· For Rent-A-Center (2011-), re-engineered PMO operations and generated oversight controls to speed up, consolidate, and enhance infrastructure development. For example, set up key PMO processes, implemented a Clarity-based project management system, and ran three concurrent projects dedicated to infrastructure optimization and organization development impacting on 8,000 employees.
· For international chemical manufacturer NCH (2009-2011), functioned as COO representative to IT and re-engineered data management processes to best integrate business and technology while improving data quality.
· For Southwest Airlines (2007-2009), served as change management lead and generated innovative solutions covering software & infrastructure development, PMO operations, and professional development. Trained business analysts and project managers in infrastructure development, process consolidation, and redundancy elimination. Developed system development methodologies credited with significantly speeding up software implementation
· For Nokia (2004-2007), created and program managed a network transmission equipment management system covering the full functional range from ordering to billing (in other words, engineered the firm’s procure-to-pay system).
CGI INFORMATION CONSULTING GROUP, Montreal, QC 1999 - 2004
5th largest independent consulting firm in North America with over 20,000 (now 80,000) consultants worldwide.
Executive Management Consultant
Summary: BPI/ERP practice leader and subject matter expert for Project & Program Management, Quality Assurance, and organizational development.
Scope: Directed internal and client teams of up to 25 professionals at any one time. Staff consisted of software/hardware engineers, QA analysts, and developers.
Internal Leadership Highlights for CGI
· Re-engineered local office management processes to achieve ISO 9000 certification for local office.
· Developed new Quality Assurance practice within CGI.
· Empowered multimillion dollar annual contracts and renewals and orchestrated winning significant referral business.
Engagement Highlights for CGI
· For tNetix Telecommunication, project managed 3 releases using low-cost offshore resources.
· For Nokia North/South America operations, created a new and highly innovative IT management system covering architecture, programming, QA, and database administration. Chopped off $8M on a budgeted project by innovating a lean support and logistics solution.
· For Williams Communication, managed a readiness assessment and data migration project credited with significantly reducing implementation costs.
· For YUM restaurant corporation (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC), served as Director of Software QA; generated intellectual capital numerous production Control and Tools Implementation groups (over 25 employees).
· For AC Nielson, upgraded SDLC processes and delivered improved application quality processes and metrics..
· Introduced Strategic Planning and Software Quality Assurance practices to CGI, resulting in over $773K revenue and over 80% engagement rate.
· Created or upgraded QA functions at Nokia, Taco Bell, tNetix, and AC Nielson.
THE ASSOCIATES FIRST CAPITAL (acquired by Citigroup) 1995 - 1999
At the time, nation’s largest sub-prime lender with over $90B and over 2200 offices.
Chief Systems Architect (1995-1997)
Summary: as Chief Systems Architect, defined the long term direction for technology usage in the firm, created a migration plan to reach that technology future and implemented the processes to achieve it.
Scope: Directed DBA's, Systems Admins, Business Analysts and over 100 developers.
Director Quality Assurance and Testing (1997-1999)
Summary: As Dir., created the software QA dept. Generated a suite of solutions covering OO methodology development and functional/load testing of web-based applications.
Scope: Directed a 15-20 software engineers, business analysts, and programmers team.
Achievement Highlights for Associates
· Established new QA department and processes to ensure quality throughout the lifecycle of planning through deployment.
· Developed Strategic Plan and managed initial project with 100+ developers to deploy new branch system to 2200 offices and 12,000 desktops, on time and on budget.
· Created and implemented college recruitment and development program for new hires.
· Led a complete reimplementation of the Information technology department involving hardware, software, development processes and tools and project management.
- Defined and proposed strategic migration plan for the Associates, resulting in massive allocation of budget ($80M)
SPRINT CORPORATION (now Sprint-Nextel) 1988 - 1995
Local, long distance and wireless telecom services provider with 80,000+ employees in 1995.
Technical Specialist/Manager
Award: Corporate Sprint Employee of the Quarter recognition honorarium.
Summary: Implementations leader (led creation and maintenance of Business, Technical Architecture and Migration Strategies and Plans).
Scope: Directed teams of up to 150 technology professionals in direct and matrix contexts.
Achievement Highlights for Sprint
· Designed and implemented enterprise’s first Data Warehouse; used for more than 15 years.
· Delivered multimillion dollar efficiency improvement solutions annually throughout tenure. For example, (1) developed a Current Systems Assessments framework used for systems migrations and documented numerous redundancy elimination solutions; (2) identified numerous reusable components to standardize functions and established an enterprise-wide best practices program; (3) created an Enterprise Data Model which consolidated information assets across divisions; and (4) developed a Central Repository system to integrate all IT development and maintenance metadata (included consolidating CASE tools and DBMS’s).
· Generated significant intellectual capital in the form of Information Strategy Plan refinements used to manage multi-year infrastructure projects.
______Education ______
University of Texas Dallas / Political Economy / PhD(all but dissertation)
Iowa State University / Public Administration / MPA studies
University of Iowa / Political Science / PhD studies
Iowa State University / Political Science, Economics, History / Bachelor of Arts
______Additional Training (Highlights)______
BPI/Management: Covey Quadrant II Time Management, Michael Hammer: Reengineering the Organization, AMA courses in Finance & Accounting, Managerial Skills, Managing Organizational Change, Marketing the IS Organization Internally, Advanced Project Management, Situational Leadership, and Talent Management & Coaching.
Technology: Object Oriented Analysis & Design, Information Systems Architecture, Strategic Data & Systems Planning, Business System Design, Data Mining/Warehousing (multiple courses), Data Oriented Systems Development & Data Analysis Techniques, Strategic Information Modeling, Zachman Information Systems Framework, Middleware Technology & Products, Client Server Architecture & Infrastructure, and Software Testing Analysis and Review.
Instructor Accreditation: Object Oriented Approaches for Business and Overview & Comparison of Development Methodologies, .Quality Assurance Principles and Practices, Object Oriented for DBA's, Business Analysis Basics & Advanced.
Dennis Epperson