April Bliss

Experience

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  IBM

  Jan 1980 - Mar 2012

  Senior Project Manager - CIO IT Expense/ Business Operations Analyst 2008-2012Provide business operations support to the CIO Office Application & Infrastructure. Responsible for analyzing $42M portfolio plan variances, understanding trends and significant variances forecast to forecast within the budget, including:• Provide relevant IT measurements data and analysis to key stakeholders and application owners with data and insight to help them deliver on their business commitments. • Drive and support spending reductions as appropriate. Develop, lead, report and interlock on the Fall Plan process, in conjunction with the Finance team, to ensure alignment within Business Units and overall CIO strategy. Sr. Project Manager, Software group (SWG) Acquisitions – IT Integration 2006-2008 Led and managed the IT Integration of Buildforge, Webify, FileNet, Princeton Softech and Datamirror acquisitions. • Developed, communicated, executed and managed the IT integration plans, logistics, budgets, project definition and integration team staffing. Maintained numerous internal IBM project websites. Made multiple presentations to executives and employees. Show less Staff Applications Programmer 1997-1999Responsible for Workstation Currency Business Controls and Software Licenses Business Control for our Division • Led and managed bi-annual Capital Asset Management projects using Microsoft Access, internet and MSProject 98. Executed and managed special executive projects. Lotus Notes Advocate 1996-1997Programmer Analyst for CIO responsible for developing an education program and advocating IBM Austin transformation to Lotus NotesAIX Executive Programming Operations 1996Provided support to executives and departments • Handled trade show/user group events, AIX Director Exchange meeting and ISO/9000 audit.Senior Associate Systems and Procedures Analyst 1992-1996Provided CMVC (Configuration Version and Management Control) change management support and education for OS/2 LAN Organization and AIX Development user community • Led and coordinated CMVC Austin help desk ticket requests and AIX CMVC Customer Help Desk in Dallas to conclusion. • Designed and implemented CMVC education training to Austin user community.Senior Associate Systems and Procedures Analyst 1987-1992Provided LAN and VM (main frame) operations support to user community • Served as the liaison to technical team to analyze and resolve system related issuesAdministration/Executive Support and Operations 1980-1987 (Boca Raton, Florida) - transferred to IBM Austin Texas in 1987 Show less

  • PMP® Certified Project Manager - Sr. IBM Certified Project Manager

    Jun 1980 - Mar 2012

  • Programming/Operations Support

    Jan 1980 - Jan 1999
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  IBM Tivoli Software

  Jan 2000 - Jan 2006

  Project Manager, Global e-business Transformation Software Group

  Program Management Office (PMO) team member. Served as a Project Manager, subject matter expert/liaison for Tivoli Internal projects to manage Tivoli's assimilation into IBM. Successfully executed physical move of 100 Tivoli employees to IBM main campus from Bridgepoint facility.

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  Digital Motorworks

  May 2012 - Jan 2014

  PMP® Certified Project Manager II

  Provided project manager support to the PMO Office. Successfully implemented DigitalMotorworks, Inc. automotive data solutions with client programs including an Enterprise Data Warehouse project. Utilized both traditional and agile project management methodologies pursuant to client needs. Managed multiple project teams for both internal and external clients, for example Edmunds and Volvo Cars of North America. Products included Vehicle Sales, Service, Parts Inventory and others. Responsible for managing my project activities related to IT's compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. DigitalMotorworks, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of ADP Dealer Services. Show less

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  NTT DATA Corporation

  Feb 2014 - Jun 2018

  Sr Project Manager Consultant

  A Senior Project Manager focused on State of Texas projects for the Department of Transportation (TxDOT). As part of the IT PMO, I managed diverse projects that included an ERP implementation (HR, Finance and Supply Chain) to PeopleSoft, VoIP Upgrade Telecommunications, Third party database migration, MuleSoft On Prem, Application upgrade and Zenoss Application Monitoring . I work closely with projects sponsors, third parties (i.e., Accenture, Presidio, AT&T, Verizon, DimensonData, Origami, Zenoss, LoadSpring, GTS), TxDOT business and NTT technical team members to achieve the business and technical objectives of the projects.My responsibilities included:• Create project documentation artifacts utilizing the client project governance procedures• Responsible for managing project budget, scope, schedule, and resources• Define and manage projects using PMI best practices• Conduct weekly variance analysis (e.g. Effort, schedule, budget)• Actively and Aggressively manage scope, issues and risks• Develop and maintain product based work breakdown structures (WBS) and project schedules• Provide leadership and mentoring within the PMO Show less

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  Micro Focus

  Aug 2018 - Feb 2019

  Project Manager

  A Senior Project Manager focused on divesture’s for the Micro Focus Integration Management Office (IMO). Work closely with international teams, project sponsors, stakeholders, Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE) and DXC Technology to achieve objectives. Monitor and manage project-level issues and risks to resolution, escalating as needed.

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  HID Global

  Feb 2019 - Oct 2023

  IT Program Manager

  A Senior IT Program Manager, IT Enterprise Applications, responsible for the implementation of distribution partner’s portal into HID’s Oracle EBS and cloud SaaS. Work closely with international teams, project sponsors, stakeholders, and 3rd party vendors (Zuora, Inspirage, Thomson Reuters, Shift 7, Ninecon, TCS) to achieve IT application objectives.