Skills and Experience [back to top]
- COBOL (6 years)
- DB2/SQL (6 years)
- PL/1 (1 year)
- CICS (1 year)
- IMS (4 years)
- Endevor (1 year)
- HTML (this website)
- Java (skills but no project experience)
- Microsoft Office
- Lotus Smartsuite
Professional Summary [back to top]
I have six years experience in the IT industry, and have worked on external projects within the British insurance industry for clients such as Eagle Star and Royal & Sun Alliance. I have also worked on IBM internal offerings such as the Lifepro package. I have often worked at the client site and have developed extensive customer facing skills, both at home and abroad. I have experience working under pressure to short deadlines, and have helped to mentor and train other members of my project teams and clients. The last position I held was as a senior team member of an application support team based in Manchester, England. Areas of experience include COBOL (both mainframe and PC), PL/1, DB2, CICS, IMS, Endevor and HTML. I have also acquired knowledge and skills in object oriented methodologies and the Java programming language through self study and formal IBM training courses.
Employment History [back to top]
IBM UK - September 1994 to present
Recent Assignments [back to top]
Project: Royal & Sun Alliance. 1 year
I joined the Royal & Sun Alliance renewal support team as a senior team member in September 1999, and worked extensively with the client to resolve application problems, and to progress development items. I also provided mentoring and training to other team members as well as Royal & Sun Alliance personnel, and provided support and on-call services outside office hours on weekends. My work week was split between the IBM office in Manchester and the client's head office in Liverpool.
Project: Eagle Star Life. 2 months
I worked on developing an interface between two mainframe systems for Eagle Star Life. This work included the design, code and testing of the required modules as well as the production of skeleton JCL. I also helped to drive and document the project close down and handover.
Project: Lifepro. 8 months
I joined the Lifepro project in the USA in September of 1998. Lifepro is a life insurance solution package being developed by IBM for several different clients on several different platforms. I spent some time in Indianapolis on product training and then worked as part of the development and support team in Austin, Texas. During that time, I worked on both the support and development of the Lifepro product, utilising previous experience to specialise in the reinsurance and new business areas. The system was written in Microfocus COBOL and ran both text and GUI versions on AIX and NT platforms.
Project: Eagle Star Life Y2K. 1 year
I joined IBM's Eagle Star year 2000 team in September 1997, working for Eagle Star Life on site at their head office in Cheltenham, and was involved in the identification, modification and testing of year 2000 changes, both in PL/1 and COBOL as well as the production of ad-hoc utilities and reports for the support of other team members. I also performed the role of deputy technical co-ordinator and represented IBM at the client's weekly technical meetings. As part of this role, I planned, coordinated and implemented a systems migration to an LE (year 2000 compliant) environment. In the latter stages of the project, a considerable amount of time was spent in the user testing process - including the preparation, execution and support of the tests, as well as the set-up and migration to a dedicated "future" testing environment. I helped to plan and drive the user testing. This involved working long hours as well as working alongside the users to provide immediate online support. I received a special contribution award from IBM for work on the project.
Education, Qualifications and Training [back to top]
University of Wales, Swansea.
- BSc(Hons), Management Science - 1994.
RCMS Computing Services
- Nomad with Everything.
IBM Education
- JCL.
- Time Management.
- Customer Awareness.
- Introduction to CICS.
- Lifepro Technical Bootcamp and Phase II.
- Object Oriented Application Development with Java.
Computer Based Training
- COBOL.
- DB2.
- PL/1.
- HTML Fundamentals.
- C & C++
- Java Fundamentals.
- Advanced Java.
Self Training
- Visual Basic.
- HTML 4 for the World Wide Web Visual Quickstart Guide by Elizabeth Castro
- Special Edition Using HTML 4, Sixth Edition by Molly E. Holzschlag
- Beginning Java 2: 1.3 Version by Ivor Horton
Other Interests [back to top]
I am a qualified scuba diver with both the British sub Aqua Club (sports diver) and the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (advanced diver, with night diver and underwater photography specialities).
Personal References [back to top]
Suzanne Hamilton - Professional Development Manager
IBM Global Services
Severn House, Prescott Drive,
Worcester, United Kingdom.
Tel: (+44)(0)1905-459053
E-mail: hamils1@uk.ibm.com
Ewen Haynes - Royal & Sun Alliance project team leader
Insurance BIS
IBM Global Services
Tel: (+44)(0)161-9056058
E-mail: ewen_haynes@uk.ibm.com
David Barrera - Development Programming Manager
IBM US
11400 Burnet Road
Austin, Tx 78758
Tel: 512-838-1375
E-mail: dbarrera@us.ibm.com
Robert Blackburn - Delivery Engagement Manager
Insurance Business Innovation Services
IBM Global Services
Severn House, Prescott Drive,
Worcester, United Kingdom.
Tel: (+44)(0)1905-459057
E-mail: blackbr@uk.ibm.com
Chris Bland - Insurance BIS
IBM Global Services
Severn House, Prescott Drive,
Worcester, United Kingdom.
Tel: (+44)(0)1905-459037
E-mail: chris_bland@uk.ibm.com
Professional Summary
Employment History
Recent Assignments
Education, Qualifications and Training
Other Interests
Personal References
