“Warhorse of computing”

Here is an interesting New York Times article, written by Steve Lohr,  titled “Why Old Technologies Are Still Kicking”.  I would agree with Steve in describing the IBM mainframe as  ”the aged, yet remarkably resilient warhorse of computing.”

 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/technology/23digi.html?_r=1

Steve McConnell’s blog

I recently came across Steve McConnell’s blog, 10x Software Development, http://blogs.construx.com/blogs/stevemcc/default.aspx., which is geared toward significantly improving development productivity across individuals and development teams. Ever since I first read Steve’s Rapid Application Development book in 1997, I have been a big fan. I remember studying the chapter describing various life cycles before beginning development on a large scale Billing System. I also recall successfully using the estimation model to level set expectations with difficult business partners. Finally, I would always keep in mind the ”classic mistakes” that were identified whenever I ran a new project. As you can imagine, I highly recommend the Rapid Application Development book for those working on development projects. I would also recommend checking out Steve McConnell’s blog, 10x Software Development. The first thing you will notice on his blog is the original ”classic mistakes” have been refined and improved based on extensive research in 2007.

Successfully implemented a new LMS

I recently led a technology team in the deployment of Saba 5.3 LMS to 240,000 learners and administrators, located worldwide. As part of this effort, 12 million transcript records were converted from the legacy system. Lastly, I led the effort to decommission the legacy system. 

About me

Summary:

I am an accomplished IT Leader with over 20 years of experience working with business and technology partners, defining requirements, and delivering systems solutions that support business and financial objectives.

I am a respected leader, able to build highly motivated technology teams that are driven to succeed.  I keep up-to-date with changes in the industry through continuing professional development.

Specialties:

* Partnering with the Business
* Project Management
* Application Management
* Solution Delivery
* Talent Management
* Vendor Management

Achievements:

Over my career, I have worked on some very exciting and challenging application projects.  Some of my proudest achievements include:

* Leading a $2.5 million Sales Force Automation (SFA) project resulting in improved sales force productivity for 300 sales reps worldwide

* Implementing a new order management system for a $500 million computer manufacturer

* Managing the creation of an Oracle star schema end user computing environment utilized by a Finance organization.
 
* Leading the development of a new Defined Contribution (401k) Client Billing System, which reduced cycle time from 60 days to 3 days
 
* Leveraging the Billing application across  Defined Benefits, Health and Welfare, and HR Payroll businesses

* Managing an integrated application delivery team, serving up millions of web service transactions per month to consuming web applications 
 
* Helping to determine the strategic direction for the next generation web services platform
 
* Implementing the Saba Learning Management System package to support 240,000 worldwide end users for a large client in the Banking industry.  

* Fully decommissioned the TEDS Learning Management System application, removing 38 servers from the systems  infrastructure and attaining $3.2 million in annual cost savings 

My Website is:  www.georgegarabedian.com