Richard Gower

Experience

• 

  British Rail

  Feb 1984 - Feb 1986

  Developer

  Supported and developed custom programs in assembler for the British Rail reservation system running on TPF. Responsible for design, development, implementation, and production support. Worked with team of 3 developers.Designed holiday reservation system to be developed in ADABAS.Developed programs in COBOL to support milepost conversion for British Rail

• 

  Datronics

  Feb 1986 - Sept 1986

  Consultant to CIT Financial Services

  Designed and developed a collection management system on the TPF system.

• 

  EDS Group

  Jan 1991 - Jan 2008

  Application Architect

  Managed Applications Development and Business Intelligence teams. Responsible for end-to-end project management on software development projects. Roles include team manager, project manager, application architect, developer, and consultant. Technologies include Microsoft Visual Studio and SQL Server, Visual Basic, Access, Excel, TPF, assembler. Areas of expertise include business intelligence, railroads, airlines, reservation systems.Supported numerous clients including Eastern Airlines, Continental Airlines, System One, Amadeus, RailTex and RailAmerica. Consulted on projects for clients including Maersk, Friedrich Air Conditioning, and Rush Trucks. Show less

• 

  G.A. Sullivan

  Sept 2000 - Mar 2001

  Consultant

  Consulted with Friedrich Air Conditioning (requirements gathering and design for a ordering system) and Rush Enterprises (SharePoint team system)

• 

  HP Enterprise Services

  Jan 2008 - Dec 2009

  Application Architect for RailAmerica

  Managed Applications Development and Business Intelligence teams. Responsible for end-to-end project management on software development projects. Roles include team manager, project manager, application architect, developer, and consultant. Technologies include Microsoft Visual Studio and SQL Server, Visual Basic, Access, Excel. Areas of expertise include business intelligence, railroads.

• 

  RailAmerica

  Feb 2010 - Jan 2013

  Applications Development Manager

  Manage Applications Development and Support and Business Intelligence teams. Responsible for purchased and home-developed software. Technologies include SAP BW, Business Objects, SQL Server, Visual Studio, SharePoint, Microsoft Office. Roles include team management, project management, applications development. Involved in full lifecycle of projects. Recent projects include implementation of SAP BW and BOBJ, upgrade to SharePoint 2010.

• 

  Genesee & Wyoming Inc.

  Jan 2013 - Aug 2013

  Applications Development Manager

  Developed and managed plan for remediation of over 30 RailAmerica applications and servers due to the merger of the RailAmerica and Genesee and Wyoming companies. • Identified strategies for each application in the short term, mid-term and long term• Communicated with the business owners and IT staff of both companies• Managed the remediation work• Mitigated applications within 4 months of the merger, well ahead of schedule

• 

  ALAMO PMI

  May 2013 - Oct 2015

  Responsible for all communications from the Alamo PMI including Social Media, website, newsletters and weekly emails. Set and pursue annual goals. Direct and support the website of the Alamo PMI Chapter to promote project management throughout San Antonio and surrounding areas.

  • VP Communications (Volunteer)

    Jan 2015 - Oct 2015

  • IT Director (Volunteer)

    May 2013 - Dec 2014
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  Wabtec Control Systems

  Nov 2013 - Jun 2014

  Program Manager

  Project Manager: Managed projects implementing computer aided dispatch (CAD) systems for two passenger rail companies as part of an overall implementation of the Positive Train Control (PTC) system. This involved developing the 12+ month schedule, managing the multi-million dollar budget, tracking the hardware and software orders, planning the implementation and testing schedule, tracking and reviewing all reported issues, and interacting with the customer and customer departments. The project phases managed were delivered on schedule and on budget. Show less

• 

  Catapult Systems

  Jun 2014 - Sept 2015

  Senior Lead Consultant

  Project Management: Project manager for multiple short-term (1-8 week) infrastructure and applications consulting engagements including migration to Office 365, Microsoft Exchange and AD upgrade, implementation of System Center (ConfigMgr, OpsMgr, Service Mgr), implementation of proof-of-concept for Power BI and Office 365, and SharePoint. Responsible for developing schedules using Microsoft Project, managing the scope, budget and the team, and communicating status to the customer and the executives. Created presentations using PowerPoint and Mind Maps for, and ran, kick off meetings, weekly status meetings, and project close outs.Transactional Accounts: Participated in sales leads, developed new business, wrote Statement of Work (SOW), and managed the full life cycle of projects. Developed sales strategies with the Account Executives. Responsible for 30 plus accounts in San Antonio and Austin. Projects included Exchange upgrade, implementation of Lync, migration to Office 365, SQL and AD health checks, SharePoint envisioning, SharePoint Online, and CRM development. Show less

• 

  E.J. Ward, Inc.

  Nov 2015 - Apr 2020

  Oversight for the software, project management, implementation, customer support and IT teams responsible for all custom and off-the-shelf software including:• Web-based fuel management system installed at over 200 customer sites and as Software as a Service (SaaS)• Linux- and Windows-based fuel terminal control software• Communications middleware connecting the terminals and the server software• Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle databases• Imports and exports between the fuel system and external applications• GPS application for tracking vehicle and driver activity• Mobile application and hardware solution to program fueling devices• Company infrastructure, networking and security including email, accounting and ticketing systems, development environments and company websiteKey roles and responsibilities include:• Identified, prioritized, and assigned projects to ensure attention to the highest priority projects, supporting business goals • Oversaw 4-fold growth in SaaS customers and developed design and migration plan for a new data center to accommodate more than 100 customers• Established testing procedures and processes to stabilize release of all software • Prepared and guided the company to work remotely during the COVID-19 crisis• Performed business analysis for custom software • Created Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) and Statement of Work (SOW), design documents, work flows and development schedules• Participated in all design sessions bringing in the customer perspective, providing design guidance for usability and customer experience• Developed and managed a recurring release schedule using Kanban for multiple software features and bugs• Worked with software assurance and implementation teams to ensure solutions were successfully delivered • Managed the customer contact team responsible for providing information, customer support, and problem resolution Show less Responsible for software development strategy and implementation to support the company business goals. Prioritized projects and directed work efforts. Responsible for identifying need, hiring and mentoring team members for Software Development, Software Assurance, Project Management, Implementation and Customer Support. Worked with recruiting companies to identify potential candidates, reviewed resumes and conducted interviews, Oversaw the customer support team responsible for receiving customer calls and emails. Team tracked the customer contact through ticketing system. Provided support in troubleshooting issues where needed. Oversaw the Project Management and Software Implementation teams responsible for customer projects, Work Breakdown Structures and project schedules. Show less Lead teams responsible for the web-based software and that controlled the fuel control systems for 200+ customers. Solution was developed in Visual Studio in C# with some legacy code in ++, using a Microsoft SQL database and source code management using Microsoft Team Foundation Server. Put in place testing and development procedures and processes to stabilize current release of the product through elimination of software bugs. Oversaw conversion of the software to support Oracle database system. Managed all software operational processes to support customer issues. Set up and managed team to stabilize internal IT systems. Developed processes to track and manage customer requests, issues, and releases. Responsible for coordinating work effort for disparate teams. Show less

  • VP Information Systems

    Oct 2019 - Apr 2020

  • Vice President Technology

    Aug 2018 - Oct 2019

  • Software Manager

    Nov 2015 - Aug 2018
• 

  ALAMO PMI

  Jan 2019 - Apr 2022

  Director Data Analytics - Volunteer

  Analysis of usage of Alamo PMI website and full support of website development.

• 

  UX San Antonio

  Jan 2020 - Jul 2020

  Programs - Volunteer

  Coordinate User Experience speakers for monthly meetings in San Antonio. Currently all meetings are being run 100% online.

• 

  DeLoach Engineering Science, PLLC

  Jul 2020 - now

  Vice President
• 

  UX San Antonio

  Jan 2024 - now

  Board Member - Volunteer