Dan James, BS, MBCP, CBCP

Experience

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  IBM

  Jun 2000 - Nov 2015

  Manage operational budget of $8 million annually and negotiate allocation of IT Department resources. Conduct near and long-term financial forecasts. Supervise infrastructure staff of 3. Determine priorities for design, development, maintenance, and evaluation of infrastructure systems. Develop, oversee, validate, and provide all reports and documentation, Create and respond to Requests for Proposal (RFP/RFI). IT asset management including vendor management and contract negotiation. Develop business case justifications, cost/benefit analyses and vendor evaluation for IT and business initiatives. Led Business Continuity drills and documentation processes to create a world-class recovery environment, including Enterprise wide Emergency Management efforts as well as technology and infrastructure management. Led major IT Organization and Design projects across the Enterprise resulting in improved customer solutions, improved service offerings and segment revenue in excess of $40 million per year.Directed purchase, deployment, monitoring, maintenance, development, upgrade, and support of infrastructure systems, including networks, data centers, printers, servers, virtual desktop environments, operating systems, Data Storage environments and associated hardware spanning 16 U.S. locations. Optimized customer accommodation and space allocation by creating universal end user suites. Approved purchases and produced maintenance schedules for infrastructure equipment valued at approximately $10 million.Developed, implemented, and enforced all business continuity functional policies and procedures, including those for business infrastructure, network architecture, standards, purchasing, and service provision.Reduced cost via creative business solutions, negotiation with vendors, outsourcers, and contractors providing infrastructure-specific products and services. Show less Provided pre and post-sales support for multi-platform, complex IT and business engagements for a wide range of clients including Financial Services, Corporate, Healthcare and Government. Architected and presented complete IT and business continuity solutions. Liaise with cross-functional staff and business partners. Produced solution architecture/design documentation for inclusion in customer’s “Pro Active” record. Assisted in management of technology acquisition and implementation. Facilitated contract planning and negotiation.Led high-profile business improvement and business recovery projects involving solution architecture engagements, business recovery processes, technology/infrastructure initiatives. Assumed end-to-end ownership of complete technical solutions and costing, including RFP/RFI response, contract negotiation and managing input from business partners and suppliers.Conducted and contributed to risk assessment reviews to maximize business continuity initiatives. Assumed end-to-end ownership of complete technical and business continuity solutions and costing, including RFP/RFI response, contract negotiation and managing input from business partners and suppliers.Reduced physical server footprint, significantly reducing recovery time, improving productivity, and decreasing cost for both IBM and customers. Salvaged a $2 million contract by creating special language to address government regulations surrounding Healthcare Data and architecting creative solutions in collaboration with various team members. This led to client stated satisfaction as well as a positive working relationship.Contributed business continuity solutions to customer implementation plans to facilitate smooth transition into Service Delivery and effective Change Management.Researched and recommended new equipment, IT services, business resumption methodologies and vendors available in the marketplace to ensure leading edge IT/Business offerings and services. Show less End to End project management, including planning, scheduling, and execution, consistently driving on-time delivery of quality IT and Business solutions. Translated enterprise level client business requirements into specific systems, applications, or process designs. Provided pre and post-sales technical support, including C-level presentations. Evaluated, selected, and managed vendors and subcontractors. Directed large and complex leading edge IT Architecture and Business solutions as well as integrated architecture projects for a wide range of clients including Financial Services, Corporate, Healthcare and Government.Implemented IT architecture solutions across multiple technology platforms (Intel, HP, Mainframe, Data Storage, network, and desktop end-user environments) and lines of business (shared infrastructure, Virtualization, high availability solutions, Managed services, Service Delivery)Increased productivity for clients by as much as 20% through delivery of new IT service offerings.Architected an integrated Cloud environment for a Fortune 50 client that involved Virtualization of a large computing environment, large scale Data environment, Network, End-User environment and Voice-over-IP solution which led to a signed contract in excess of $3 million and client stated satisfaction with the solution and the team involved.Contributed to management of new technology acquisition and implementation, such as Intel servers, desktop end-user environments and all associated peripherals, which resulted in maximized space allocation, increased number of customers that could be accommodated, and enhanced customer satisfaction. Advised and supported clients regarding new technologies, trends, and service offerings regarding business continuity/resiliency and disaster recovery. Researched and recommended new equipment, IT services and vendors available in the marketplace to ensure leading edge offerings. 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  • Manager – Technology Operations - Client Server, End-User, Mobile Vendor, Print Technology

    Mar 2011 - Nov 2015

  • Manager – IT Solutions Development

    Mar 2009 - Mar 2011

  • Sr. IT Solution Architect

    Jun 2000 - Mar 2009
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  Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey

  Nov 2015 - Feb 2020

  Develop, manage and maintain the strategic direction of Datacenter Operations within the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Enterprise IT environment. Responsible for all equipment and environmental maintenance tasks. Manage a large team of onshore and offshore support staff. Manage all datacenter administrative duties. Develop business case justifications, cost/benefit analyses and vendor evaluation for IT spending and initiatives. Negotiate and establish contracts and Service Level Agreements.Manage the delivery of development, production, or operational support.Manage projects and maintain project plans of varying size and complexity.Perform resource management, develop time and cost estimates, monitor budgets for areas of responsibility and perform HR activities for team members.Direct the teams by setting priorities, coordinating, and reporting group activities and performance.Coordinate work performed by outsourced vendor staff.Monitor internal and external technology trends and make recommendations for operational improvements.Responsible for patch, firmware and vulnerability management across IT infrastructure.Responsible for all Horizon datacenters, co-location sites and Disaster Recovery locations.Manage work in accordance with the IT Operating Model.Accountable for maintaining effective internal controls over the processes and transactions under areas of responsibility including the completeness and accuracy of financial information and transactions, compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and the effectiveness and efficiency of operations. Show less Develop, manage and maintain the strategic direction of the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey disaster recovery and business resumption plan. Extensive management of Business Resiliency, Crisis Management, Emergency Management, Incident Management, technology platforms and technology vendors to design world class business resilience/recovery processes.  Execute the Enterprise Disaster Recovery and Resiliency Plan as required, manage the IT and business recovery process and coordinate all IT and Business Recovery functions. Responsible for the end-to-end management of all IT and Business Recovery related partner vendors and contractors. Develop, manage and coordinate Disaster Recovery exercises during the calendar year and develop Business Continuity, Security and Business Resumption Planning. Develop, implement and test a plan to provide operational fail-over capacity of all mission critical servers, applications, networks, infrastructure and facilities elements. Develop plans for Disaster Recovery and Resiliency initiatives designed to modernize and streamline the recovery environment including improvements in RTO, RPO and operational efficiency. Develop standardized documentation for all recovery plans and procedures utilized for WAN, LAN, application, platform infrastructure recovery and overall Business Resiliency.  Create, review and standardize all recovery plans, including process and procedural standards to address routine backup, redundancy and recovery architectures. Provide leadership in organizing and implementing business resumption planning sessions with Senior IT and Business Management, Business Continuity, Security, Audit, Regulatory Agencies, Incident Management, technology partner vendors and other areas within IT and business. Validate and verify critical business processes and establish internal and vendor resources required for the successful resumption of business operations in the event of a outage. Show less

  • Manager - Datacenter Operations (interim)

    Jan 2018 - Feb 2020

  • Manager - Enterprise IT and Business Recovery/Data Backup/Restore

    Nov 2015 - Feb 2020
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  IPC Systems, Inc.

  Feb 2020 - now

  Officer (Sr. Director) - Global BCP and IT Disaster Recovery at IPC Systems Inc.