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In case you are curious about who is writing all those
things: I am a Manager in a large Consulting firm providing
business and IT advisory services to major clients in
the financial services industry, as well as managing
large voice and data infrastructure projects with focus
on data centers, corporate voice and data infrastructures
and call center solutions. Before definitively moving
to the US in 1998 where I started my career at France
Telecom, I studied in France in various technology fields
obtaining a Master in Telecommunication and Bachelor
in Computer Engineering.
More
can be found about me on LinkedIn
and Copain
D'avant
For
those who are interrested, here is what I do for a living
in my current company:
IT
Solutions Architecture, Design & Implementation
- Planned
the development of a new facility for the migration
of a Disaster Recovery and Application Development
data center. The migration includes the virtualization
of non-critical systems serving as a proof of concept
for the future production virtualization effort of
the company.
- Managed
the relocation of a data center infrastructure from
a legacy primary facility to a new collocation facility
for one of the largest private fund. Managed the new
facility readiness, the migration planning, multiple
infrastructure required enhancements as well as the
application mapping, baselining and classification
to prepare the migration plan and scheduling.
- Designed
and implemented an external connectivity infrastructure
for a large financial firm including messaging, web
browsing, remote access, file transfer, ecommerce,
and partners connectivity services as well as an out
of band network infrastructure to support the operations.
A disaster recovery infrastructure has been designed
and will be implemented as a second phase.
- Implemented
customized search solutions at two major financial
institutions for a pilot and proof of concept to demonstrate
heterogeneous content search capabilities for secure
and non-secure documents. Working on real-time data
search integration within the enterprise search platform.
- Participated
in the Next Generation Network design of a major financial
institution. Conducted a thorough analysis of the
network services contract base and participated in
the billing and chargeback strategic planning. Managed
the Asian countries project thread for distribution
and access design developing the business case and
supporting the implementation of the recommended design
in Japan with the carrier selection for the various
MPLS and Gigabit Ethernet segments. Focused on enhanced
business continuity limiting infrastructure cost increase
with new technologies and network redesign.
- Managed
the design and deployment of a Routing Registry to
support a major financial institution global BGP network.
Tested 2 major products (IRRd and RIPE). Implemented
and customized IRRd to match some of the RFC-2725
functionalities and offer web based functionalities.
- Assisted
a major financial institution in the design and sourcing
of a new network connecting one thousand branch and
kiosk locations to its main data centers using DSL
and VPN technologies. Supported negotiations with
the carriers for rates and SLAs based on regional
availability.
- Implemented
a remote-access solution for France Telecom in North
America using Shiva LanRover access servers and tested
security solutions for remote access users including
SecureID, and firewalls.
IP
Telephony, Contact Center & Other Voice Technologies
- Assisted
in the evaluation and selection of various alternatives
to potentially consolidate the customer's multiple
contact center dialers and IVRs into two centralized
locations. Defined various scenarios providing risk,
benefit and cost considerations.
- Managed
the infrastructure design and pilot planning for a
new Avaya converged contact center solution supporting
12,000 agents in 6 locations across the US. The first
phase of the design includes a data center centralized
ACD and IVR platform supporting all incoming calls
and using the WAN to route calls to local contact
centers. A second phase will include the complete
virtualization of the voice applications.
- Supported
the review and troubleshooting of an Avaya virtual
environment design. Provided highlights on existing
design limitations and solutions to mitigate service
impacts.
- Project
Manager for the setup and deployment of a new IP Telephony
voice infrastructure to support all retail banking
activities of a major bank with 700 branch locations.
Managed the centralized call processing centers setup,
supported all test activities including a Cisco and
Avaya pilot and supervised all retail locations deployment
activities.
- Project
Manager for the setup and deployment of a Cisco IP
Contact Center to support the procurement department
of a major bank. Supported the integration of the
contact center platform with the existing voice infrastructure
for enhanced flexibility. Introduced new tools for
live statistics and historical reports to enhance
productivity.
- Participated
in an IP Telephony infrastructure assessment in order
to provide architecture, process and organizational
recommendations. This work resulted in directional
guidance for IP Telephony technology implementation
and Day 2 support transition. The initiative also
focused on enhancing corporate communication to improve
the understanding of IP based voice communications.
Specific areas of focus included PRI design, dial
plan, traditional and IP-based voice features and
IP telephony technology architecture
- Deployed
voice over IP networks between Europe and North America
over existing local and long distance networks using
Unix & PC based telecommunication equipments.
- Participated
in the Voice over IP products development and market
positioning in Europe and North America for a leading
European manufacturer. This involved a market and
competition study, a marketing strategy and the design
of sales support tools
IT
Strategy
- Led
the review, future state definition and roadmap development
for customer support operations of the leading worldwide
advanced payment solution organization. The project
focused on people, processes and technologies to enhance
support operations and prepare for future growth.
A large array of technologies were in scope including
a fully virtualized voice environment, call center
applications, tiered support systems, reporting solutions
as well as business process systems for incident and
knowledge management.
- Managed
the development of a new network services strategy
regarding voice, video, LAN, WAN, convergence, security
and network management for a major global bank operating
in 65 countries with more than 65,000 employees. Provided
best practices and design recommendations for the
convergence of voice and data and the virtualization
of voice services.
- Supported
a major insurance group in reviewing its current network
organization, workflows and processes to better support
their contact centers and converged infrastructure.
Provided organizational recommendations in line with
network convergence and contact center virtualization
best practices.
- Provided
post implementation support and architecture recommendations
to enhance IT operations at a new bank campus location
using a Cisco and Avaya converged infrastructure.
Participated in the development of the new Day2 support
model based on assessment results.
- Assisted
a major overseas telecommunication company in identifying
new IP Telephony based products and developing a new
strategy. Reviewed processes, conducted interviews,
market surveys and SWOT analysis to provide recommendations.
IT
Cost Control & Management
- Managed
multiple cost takeout initiatives to reduce telecommunication
expenses of a leading financial services company.
Key focus areas included:
- Rationalization
of local voice communication, Centrex lines, PBX
trunks, Directory Assistance and toll-free services
to reduce billing errors, limit over-capacity
and introduce less expensive alternatives for
large locations and contact centers
- Managed
deployment of 50 location-based PBX modules to
adjust services to business demand
- Coordinated
the Risk Management (ECO) review of new service
providers and managed all related network transitions
- Led
initiatives to eliminate 20,000 Centrex lines
and voice ports in 8 headquarter locations
- Assisted
the rationalization of circuit inventory and charge-back
processes
- Assisted
a major bank in the review of carrier circuit ordering
process, validation of billing procedures and vendor
contract re-negotiation.
- Provided
recommendations to reduce various voice and data operation
expenses for a leading financial institution. The
effort resulted in significant savings and better
quality of service.
- Helped
a large foreign financial institution assess new network
alternative to reduce access cost in significant number
of remote locations. Facilitated the vendor selection
process for telecommunication and equipment vendors
When
I am not working (yes it happens) I have a few hobbies
listed here in order of preferences:
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