580-823-8768
619-823-8768 (Cell)

Bill Houle
1570 Hilltop Dr.
El Cajon, CA 92020
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SUMMARY
An innovative Information Technology "change agent" with over 30yrs experience within start-up, mid-size, and Fortune 500 environments. 25yrs in senior-level management, with effective skills to drive operational improvements, lead productive team projects, and achieve strategic goals. Technically strong and current, with exceptional hands-on expertise and an excellent understanding of business issues successfully applied in several industry verticals.

SKILLS
Strategic and tactical planning • Organizational, program, and project management • Recruiting and staff development • Merger/acquisition & spin-off operations • Business case analysis and product evaluation • Forecasting and budgeting • Procedure and policy creation • Vendor and contract management • Disaster recovery and business continuity planning
Engagement solutions such as Mobility, Social Media, and Customer/Partner collaboration • Supply Chain Planning/Execution, ERP, CRM, and SFA e-Business enablers • Engineering/Manufacturing development processes • Business Intelligence • Automation • Virtualization & thin clients • Web Development disciplines such as DHTML/CSS, CGI, and PHP/ASP • Messaging, Database, Security, and Storage technologies • Networking / Telecom including VLANs, VoIP, Wireless, Digital Line, Channel Service, and Packet Switching • Programming languages and scripting tools • A wide variety of Operating Systems

EXPERIENCE

Verance Corporation, San Diego, CA. Director, Operations (Mar 2011-Present)

Supported internal business systems, Win/Mac desktop & Linux embedded software development, production engineering of cloud-based services, and technology explorations for new business pursuits. Reported initially to SVP Product Development and later to CFO of the standards-focused media software development company, leading a stable and responsive IT organization throughout shifts in corporate direction. More...

  • Championed the migration of business operations to cloud-based technologies, reducing infrastructure costs by more than 50%. Implemented strategic improvements and modernization of infrastructure. Created a CentOS cluster for video watermarking development and a Rails N-tier production SaaS for audio watermarking.
  • Facilitated the product line transition to online services developed with Agile methodologies. Reduced AWS spend by 28% through application of consistent and secure Infrastructure-as-Code which could spin a complete Aspect™ ecosystem in as little as 20min. Implemented a blue-green deployment pipeline for all Amazon Linux containers, eliminating service downtime and dropping container refresh rates by 20%. Led initiative to establish a formal DevOps team and implement cloud computing best practices.
  • Architected a multi-region Linux DNSSEC infrastructure for ATSC signaling (delivering 100% uptime), and developed the ETL software and process for converting managed watermark codes to corresponding BIND-formatted DNS entries. Contributed design changes to the A/336 specification for proper SSL/TLS handling in ATSC 3.0 standardized Content Recovery processes.
  • Achieved 10+ years with no malware or data breach events on the corporate network owing to robust end-point security, stringent firewall management, standardization on multi-factor authentication, and on-going end-user education. Protected critical assets by designing a high-security internal network for compartmentalized development of Highly-Confidential watermark engine code.
  • Provided stewardship of IT project portfolio. Created policies for IT and Engineering processes (e.g. Secure SDLC, Vulnerability Management, and Business Continuity Planning). Interfaced with 3rd-parties vetting our policy compliance as partnership due-diligence. Administered external contracts for AWS partner programs, on-premise cabling, and infrastructure managed services; conducted the resulting engagements.

Cirrascale Corporation, San Diego, CA. Director, Information Technology (Jan 2010-Jan 2011)

Assisted in the "restart" of the re-emergent blade server and modular data center equipment manufacturer. Reporting to the CFO and solely responsible for all IT services of the HPC platform solutions provider. More...

  • Reduced cost and complexity by shrinking the number of applications in the enterprise by nearly half. Restored infrastructure service levels and consolidated systems/applications to support the revamped corporate plan and objectives. Renegotiated vendor support contracts and transferred licenses to the new business entity.
  • Championed the business process re-engineering needed for the streamlined environment to succeed. Implemented a new ERP instance in 3 months. Simplified product management and the supply chain by reducing the imported ERP dataset by 58%. Enacted new accounting and inventory processes. Established standardized naming conventions for product and accounts.

Verari Systems, Inc., San Diego, CA. Director, Information Technology (Oct 2005-Dec 2009)

Led the team responsible for all aspects of Information Technology for the $120MM "cloud computing" server manufacturer, resurrecting an IT organization previously suffering from low morale and attrition. Established IT as a critical internal business partner for 300+ employees in 7 locations nationwide. Reporting to the CTO, was accountable for infrastructure, internal applications development, staffing (Windows, Linux, SQL, .Net, and Helpdesk), and related facilities management. Maintained a 1%-of-revenue budget target with efficient resource allocation and limited capital expenditures. More...

  • Maximized the current ERP investment by taking advantage of previously untapped functionalities and providing tighter integration to peripheral application systems, thus avoiding the expense and disruption of a year-long $1.2MM ERP conversion under consideration.
  • Consolidated wide-area & Internet services, increasing inter-office network availability and simplifying expense control & transparency. Increased HQ bandwidth by 230% and ensured maximum utilization through a hub-and-spoke multi-site architecture. Increased internal network scalability by replacing the flat switched LAN with a more flexible routed VLAN environment, done at no additional cost to the company.
  • Utilized XML Web Services to automate the Engineering Product Lifecycle Management release process into Manufacturing's Bill Of Materials, eliminating the cost incurred from the manpower and mistakes associated with prior manual data entry. Provided detailed order visibility to customers via an Extranet portal that surpassed the capabilities of all competitors. Improved MES data tracking, resulting in an increased awareness of factory yields.
  • Designed a 50TB 16-server Data Center showcase based on Verari's own HPC blade products, providing a key talking-point for Sales opportunities and a tour highlight during customer visits. Directly implemented a 24TB high-availability Exchange 2007 messaging environment, resulting in 100% uptime of mailbox services.

Independent Consultant (Feb 2003-Dec 2005)

Providing strategic, tactical, and operational Information Technology consulting services to a variety of clients (Hospitality, Logistics, and Educational). Projects have encompassed application deployment, security assessment, infrastructure architecture, IT process/documentation audits, and facilities design. Special advisor to the East San Diego County Association of Realtors, a management association supporting 1,400 members. Primarily engaged at R.W. Smith and Co., a 130-person distribution company with multiple satellite offices and warehouse locations in the Southwest. More...

  • Completed the conversion to a comprehensive Supply Chain/ERP solution within 3 months of joining the oft-delayed project.
  • Renegotiated telecom contracts, reducing telecom operating expenditures by over 12% while at the same time increasing network capacity by 130%.
  • Developed an automated process to import 3rd-party vendor catalog items into the supply chain data. In-system access to over 230,000 industry products saved the salespeople an average of 20min per non-stock order compared to the older paper-based catalog look-up method.
  • Analyzed messaging resource utilization, determining the need for anti-spam measures that resulted in a 94% reduction of unwanted traffic to the mail server.

AirFiber, Inc., San Diego, CA. Director, Information Technology (Feb 1999-Apr 2004)

Implemented a complete organization & infrastructure "from the ground up". The team was accountable for all facets of the IT environment for the highly-pedigreed wireless communications start-up that grew to support the needs of 250 users across 4 locations worldwide. Reporting directly to the CEO, was responsible for budgeting, facilities management, and developing strategies to meet corporate objectives. Managed staffing performance & development in the areas of Windows, Linux, SQL, Oracle, Web, Networking, and Helpdesk. More...

  • Managed the construction of new facilities, including a 1,000 sqft. raised floor IT Data Center. Maintained capital and services budgets totaling over $6 million (cumulative). Negotiated telecom contracts and service level agreements saving over $100k annually.
  • Administered over 30 servers in a mixed Windows/Solaris/Linux environment with minimum 99.5% service uptime (99.9% for production servers). Sustained 100% uptime on all customer-facing Web systems, supporting over 24,000 unique visitors per month (500,000+ "hits").
  • Deployed an ERP system in support of Inventory Control, Shop Floor Management, Master Scheduling, Shipping, and Purchasing. Integrated Engineering's PLM Change Order workflow with Manufacturing's Bill Of Materials process. Supported linkages between Customer Service's incident tracking, Field Service, and the RMA depot.
  • Implemented cost-effective in-house hosting of all Internet services, including the staging and publishing of Marketing's public Web, Customer Service's CRM site, and support of over 15 market- and brand-related domains. Led the teams responsible for Web development projects, including key applications used for customer registration, product/collateral downloads, and defect tracking/escalation.

NCR Corporation, San Diego, CA. Technology Consultant Level V (Feb 1998-Feb 1999)

Program Manager in a matrix team environment for the Fortune 500 systems/solutions company. Architect and technical consultant supporting the Web/EMail needs of 3,500+ users in the Manufacturing Engineering & Operations division (8 Engineering/Manufacturing sites within the US). More...

  • Established strategic and tactical planning for all future IT infrastructure initiatives for the division as a member of the corporate-wide Technology Infrastructure Architecture group. Championed the governance and standards adoption across all ME&O sites, enforcing a model for infrastructure and development products.
  • Piloted the regional centralization of Exchange servers in Atlanta and participated in the Program Review Team tasked with implementation of Microsoft Exchange as a standard platform for the corporation.

AT&T / NCR Corporation, San Diego, CA. Technology Consultant Level IV (June 1993-Feb 1998)

Project Manager in a matrix team environment for the Fortune 500 systems/solutions company. Key problem-solver for the Americas Engineering Sites division. Directly responsible for all Internet services at 2 California Engineering facilities, as well as consultant for 3 additional Engineering sites across the US, all in support of 2,100+ employees. More...

  • Coordinated IT efforts for business unit spin-offs to Solectron and BEA, providing continued access to technical services during and after their transition to external companies. Managed the domain conversion projects following the acquisition and later divestiture from AT&T.
  • Partnered with NCR Engineering to be the first Controlled Deployment customer for the OEM product offering of Netscape Commerce Server.
  • Assisted in the migration from localized Help Desk to centralized processes, developing a Perl-based Web front-end to the Remedy Help Desk application and integrating with the corporate X.500 Directory for user authentication.

AT&T, San Diego, CA. Technology Consultant Level III (Oct 1991-June 1993)

Technical lead for LAN/WAN management team within the Business Services Division of the Fortune 500 systems/solutions company. Internet evangelist at 2 California Engineering facilities, supporting over 1,500 users. More...

  • Led the 4-person team responsible for maintaining a UNIX/Windows email infrastructure that supported over 1.5 million emails per month, the highest traffic volume in the corporation. Implemented anti-spam tools to improve mail performance and reduce unwanted mail by 30%.
  • Pioneered the use of the then bleeding-edge Web as an intranet tool by designing and administering a multi-site collaboration server with cross-platform authoring capabilities. Managed the deployment of browsers to all 1,500+ regional desktops.
  • Co-founded the NCR Internet Steering Committee, establishing the NCR.COM domain as the corporation's initial public Internet/Web venture.

NCR Corporation, San Diego, CA. Programmer/Analyst (Oct 1988-Oct 1991)

Member of the Expert System Products group developing applications for automated log file monitoring, fault management, and self-healing diagnostics. Acted as corporate representative in the Unix International OA&M Working Group. Volunteered as UNIX systems administrator for the 300-person facility, and later helped to establish a formal IT group for supporting network functions. Co-founder and -editor of internal newsletter to provide end-user education in IT services.

Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego, CA. Programmer (Aug 1987-Sept 1988)

Team Leader, Display Technology Applications team. Designed prototype C3A security system. Developed and integrated device drivers for touch tablet, digitizer tablet, speech recognition unit, video multiplexer, and graphics display coprocessor.

Rohr Industries, Chula Vista, CA. Intern, Office Automation (1986)

Coordinated computer operations for Cost Estimation department. Recommended and initiated solutions to improve PC usage & efficiency.

Paragon Steel Structures, El Cajon, CA. Programmer/Consultant (1982-1986)

Installed and maintained office PC system. Designed applications and support tools.

EDUCATION
University of California, San Diego, 1988 -- BA, MATH/COMPUTER SCIENCE
University of California, San Diego, 1988 -- BA, COGNITIVE SCIENCE

ACTIVITIES & AWARDS
Co-Author, US Patent #8869222; Speaker, USENIX Large Installation Systems Administration Conference; NCR Authors & Presenters Award; Speaker, USENIX Large Installation Systems Administration Conference; Speaker, AT&T Web Technology Conference; NCR Great Performance Award; NCR Chief Scientist's Eureka Award Nominee; NCR Total Quality Management Award; NCR Quality Spotlight Award; NCR Achievement of Excellence Award; NCR Outstanding Performance Award


References available upon request
Full-time or consulting, depending upon availability

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