Marcus Skeel

Experience

• 

  NCR Corp

  Mar 1977 - Dec 1978

  Technical Writer

  Operating Systems/Utilities, Retail Banking Applications

• 

  Cullinane (Cullinet) Corp

  Jan 1979 - Oct 1979

  Technical Writer

  IDD (Integrated Data Dictionary)

• 

  Shawmut Bank, NA

  Oct 1979 - Aug 1985

  Corp Svcs Officer

  Product manager for Information Services Products for Corporate Banking Customers. Responsible for product profitability and technical results. Performed vendor selection analysis and cost justifications for acquisition of Wholesale Lockbox Image Processing System. Managed projects/budget for a $3M+ cost center, and participated in purchase of SDM-70 development methodology. Modeled corporate data network, projecting effects of 4-year ATM installation growth. Created and managed a documentation group to support a joint-development project involving a software vendor and 3 other financial institutions. Show less

• 

  Bain & Co.

  Aug 1985 - Nov 1986

  Data Resource Manager

  Initiated and directed Data Resource Management program, including development of the charter, enterprise data model, and policy statement.

• 

  Digital Equpment Corp

  Nov 1986 - Mar 1990

  In-house Consultant (Data Management Corporate Staff Group)

  Member of in-house architecture team that defined conceptual, logical and physical (hard-ware) requirements for data warehousing, including data model for the metadata (repository) database that has become the fundamental underpinning of virtually all modern data warehousing ETL tools. Wrote and lectured extensively on data modeling and on how to use a metadata repository to implement enterprise data warehousing.Provided direction and consulting on major data management initiatives for in-house clients in the US, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Facilitated development of mission statements, charters, roles and responsibilities, and job descriptions for data management teams. Projects included enterprise and application data modeling, guidelines for standards evaluation, and internal audit. Show less

• 

  Advanced Development Methods, Inc

  Mar 1990 - May 1991

  CASE / Methodology Consultant

  Delivered CASE/repository and methodology consulting to large corporate clients. Revived a twice-failed project to deliver a management system for United Nations Development Program aid initiatives. Consolidated requirements via JAD/JRP sessions in Jakarta, Indonesia with UNDP Program Officers and management from across Southeast Asia region. Developed logical and physical data models and oversaw implementation by contract programmers. Personally programmed a significant portion of the data-entry functionality and assisted with rollout planning (including hardware/software specifications and budgeting).Supported system re-development/consolidation project for an entertainment-products multinational. Instituted CASE-tool usage standards, introduced reverse-engineering toolset, conducted training, and provided ongoing coaching. Show less

• 

  James Martin & Co (now Headstrong)

  Jul 1991 - Feb 1995

  Sr. Consultant / Instructor

  Delivered CASE and Information Engineering methodology courses at client sites across the United States and in Canada. Delivered over 350 days of CASE and Information Engineering methodology courses to numerous agencies, organizations, and Fortune 500 companies across the United States and in Canada. Sensitivity to client need and consistently outstanding participant feedback led many clients to specifically request my services over the other James Martin & Co instructors and even to adjust their training calendars around my availability.Contributing member on consulting teams: developed excellent rapport with client staff, and produced extremely high-quality project deliverables. Worked with other consultants to build teams and produce outstanding results. Show less

• 

  Software Solutions, Inc (now CACI)

  Mar 1995 - Feb 1997

  Managing Consultant

  Provided IT consulting to assigned clients. Fostered excellent working relationship with IT management at an important account. Exceeded expectations by proactively identifying opportunity and significantly expanding the engagement (grow a ½-time, 90-day assignment into an 18-month, 5-person engagement). Delivered four successful data mart projects in 18 months. Salvaged (and expanded) client relationship when original client executive sponsor departed.Recognized need for, designed, developed, documented, tested & implemented a custom metadata tool (MS-Access) to identify unwanted scope overlap, reduce risk, and improve the accuracy and efficiency of the data mart development process.Served as a resource for other managing consultants. Developed and delivered highly successful Information Engineering courses. Maintained nearly 100% personal billability. Show less

• 

  The Washington Post

  Feb 1997 - Dec 2003

  Project Manager

  Managed all aspects of simultaneous full-life-cycle software projects for internal clients across the newspaper. Directed mission-critical IT projects to improve efficiency, effectiveness, product quality, market penetration, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. Most of these projects required hardware capacity analysis, justification, acquisition, and implementation. Oversaw scheduling, risk mitigation, testing, turnover documentation, and post-project review. Reviewed contractor plans and approved deliverables and invoicing.Projects included: Bundle Sortation System, Circulation/ Advertising Forecasting Tool, Advertising Sales-Support Knowledge Base, Newsroom Search Tool/Archive, Online Ad Development and Content Management.During one eight-month period managed three separate projects to completion and initiated two additional projects involving 50-60 cross-functional developers and business stakeholders. This included a data warehouse (Oracle, OLAP) project for the Circulation and Marketing departments that led to fundamental staff training and significant investment in data warehousing (Informatica) tools.Initiated Enterprise Architecture function. Via interviews and facilitated sessions, developed exhaustive applications inventory (System Context Diagrams for 250+ applications and 380+ interfaces) as the basis for a two-day executive off-site, the newspaper’s enterprise architecture, and an aggressive system consolidation/retirement strategy. The architecture led directly to business process re-engineering, dramatic shrinkage in the applications portfolio, and significant system maintenance savings. Show less

• 

  FDIC

  Feb 2004 - Jul 2004

  IT Consultant

  Supported an enterprise-wide effort to retire diverse, point-solution asset management and helpdesk systems and implement a shared COTS (Remedy) solution. Implementation had been stalled for eighteen months due to inability to generate consensus around requirements. Within three months achieved consensus on the requirements and on an implementation plan projecting live-use within the ensuing four months.

• 

  CheckFree Corp (now part of Fiserv)

  Jan 2005 - May 2006

  Sr Project Mgr

  Project Manager for two tracks of a multi-year program to save $5 million by: improving operational maturity, consolidating customer information, implementing (ITIL) best-practice incident/problem management (Remedy ARS, CMDB, ITSM & Helpdesk), and standardizing processes (Six Sigma, DMAIC) for executing and validating changes in a highly complex distributed computing environment.Delivered initial iterations for both tracks on time and under budget. One track delivered it's second iteration early. Assumed additional responsibility as interim Track Lead after a round of layoffs; maintained momentum and continued to deliver according to the original schedule. Supported the new Program Manager in preparing a successful financial presentation to the executive committee that secured ongoing funding at pre-layoff levels. Show less

• 

  Big Hammer Data / Edgenet Media, LLP

  May 2006 - Jul 2007

  Project Manager

  Managed projects in support of Big Hammer’s certified GDSN data pool, Hardlines Marketing Data Pool, and retailer private data pools, comprising 5,500 suppliers, 300,000 items, and 21 million product attributes. Provided The Home Depot® and Lowe's the ability to re-purpose manufacturer / vendor product information into e-commerce and in-store (signage, advertising, etc) applications.Successfully managed cost, schedule, and execution of multiple concurrent highly-complex IT projects involving client business and technical stakeholders, internal resources, and 3rd-party vendors across multiple sites and geographical locations. Accommodated volatile scope, shifting priorities, and compressed timelines. Two of these projects earned formal commendation from the retailer.Lead internal efforts to define and implement project-management methodology and standards. Drafted Project Managers’ Handbook as foundation for evolving Program Management Office (PMO). Show less

• 

  QuantiSense

  Jul 2007 - Jun 2008

  Director, Client Services

  Managed client relationships and project mangers to deliver Business Intelligence solutions for the retail industry using proprietary data warehousing technology and MicroStrategy components. Developed and implemented comprehensive methodology for Professional and Client Services functions. Managed Technical Support and Client Liaison staff. Mentored Professional Services staff on project management methodology and best practices.• Developed and implemented processes to: plan and allocate Professional Services consultant availability and utilization, forecast consulting revenues against plan, and track actual hours expended and invoiced. Professional Services revenue more than tripled in the first quarter these processes were implemented.• Successfully built data warehouse and implemented business intelligence solution at Casual Male Retail Group within the stipulated 100-day timeframe by: quickly assimilating subject matter expertise, tightly managing scope, and effectively applying formal Change Management processes. Initiated and delivered numerous follow-on projects with C-level sponsors. Both the COO and CIO provided quotes for a case study since posted to the QuantiSense website. • Partnered with Computer Services Corp consultants to define test strategy (Unit, Integration, String, and UAT), test cases, and requirements verification criteria for the QuantiSense BI implementation at Burlington Coat Factory.• Wrote and implemented QuantiSense’s “Client Technical Support Policy,” with associated processes and procedures. Oversaw product support and performance-tuning (SQL Server, Oracle) efforts at multiple clients. • Refined QuantiSense’s proprietary product implementation process into a formalized, repeatable methodology. Authored numerous methodology documents: QuantiSense Project Management Approach (keyed to reusable template project plans), Change Management, Issue-Action Management, Acceptance Management, and Requirements Gathering. Show less

• 

  SRA International

  Sept 2008 - Aug 2012

  Sr IT Project Manager at US Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

  Managed simultaneous multi-million-dollar IT infrastructure and Cybersecurity projects. Initiated, planned, and delivered 15+ successful projects in less than 4 years. Influenced scope and managed expectations to align projects with Agency and CIO strategies and goals. Leveraged personal relationships to: anticipate, troubleshoot, and resolve issues; remove roadblocks; maintain momentum and motivation; manage expectations; and deliver quality. Consistently praised by clients and project stakeholders as a PM who “goes the extra mile,” is “forthcoming with information that’s current and reliable,” and who creates teams that are “dedicated and 100% committed to a common goal.”• Led project teams through project initiation, requirements gathering, procurement, design, implementation, testing, and rollout. Developed resource-loaded project schedules and project artifacts, obtaining client acceptance and signoff in accordance with contractual stipulations and formal PMO processes and procedures. • Facilitated technical design and coordinated task assignments for geographically-dispersed and highly-matrixed teams. Projects included: Telework (Citrix), VoIP telephone acquisition and rollout, Network Security Operations Center (NOC/SOC), Endpoint Security (Cisco NAC) implementation, and OMB-mandated IPv6 transition.• Facilitated internet-security and mandatory Certification and Accreditation audits. Incorporated audit criteria into design and testing activities to deliver projects with unprecedentedly low numbers of deficiencies and corrective mandates.• Developed working knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) as liaison to OPM’s Contracting Group.• Telework project was recognized as “best ever” for quality of end-user and support staff training and handover. Show less

• 

  Pivotal Inc. (previously Greenplum, division of EMC)

  Oct 2012 - Feb 2018

  Sr Engagement Manager

  As part of the company’s Customer Success Organization, managed Professional Services delivery of mission-critical big-data projects to Fortune 100 customers (e.g., Humana, Bloomberg, Chase, Citicorp, Morgan Stanley, Fidelity, DTCC, Synchrony, Broadridge). Primary post-sales point of contact for Services customers. Contributed to customer retention and footprint expansion by ensuring customers’ success and satisfaction with Pivotal product implementations. Consistently praised by customers for white glove service. Collaborated with technical manager(s) and corporate finance personnel on project billing, resource utilization, revenue forecasts/recognition and expense management.• Managed simultaneous projects/efforts at clients spanning various disciplines/technologies, including: GemFire, Greenplum, Hadoop, MicroStrategy, Data Science, Cloud Foundry, tcServer, PaaS & Spring• Coordinated complex, diverse, and geographically dispersed project teams comprising: Pivotal Data Engineers, client staff and stakeholders, competitors, multiple other vendors, and peers• Demonstrably improved customer perception & satisfaction at several clients, frequently delivering contract extensions and follow-on sales• Took teams on-site to client locations to to manage/resolve issue escalations, often involving C-level stakeholders• Worked directly with Allstate’s CIO and direct reports to implement Cloud Foundry and initiate corporate-wide migration from waterfall development methods and culture to Agile / 12-factor approach• Managed the company’s 1st successful ($2 million) Teradata-to-Greenplum migration project; generated/signed additional $1.1 million of scope-increase and laid foundation for significant ongoing follow-on work Show less