Rob McPherson is an IT consultant with over 30 years experience - from Systems Analysis, Design and Development through to Systems Suitability Studies, Business Consultancy, Product Management, Programme Management and Systems re-engineering
With a solid track record of pragmatic problem-solving, level-headed thinking, task multi-threading, and board-level communication, Rob also has extensive experience of global Resource Management; building outsourced Professional Services and Application re-engineering development teams in Asia
Also experienced in the area of corporate trouble-shooting, with projects including PA-DSS certification, PCI-DSS business scoping, new market feasibility studies, cost-saving analyses and company car scheme transitions
PA-DSS / PCI-DSS Consultancy Payment application certification management, PCI-DSS scope definition, PA-QSA selection and management, project management, production of all customer documentation
IT and Business Process Outsourcing Vendor selection, P&L-level delivery of large-scale offshore operations (including both IT and Business Process outsourcing), new-market penetration strategies, outsourcing cost/benefit analyses, ROI modeling, and onshore reversion projects
Project Management Significant project management experience from the very small through to enterprise-level ERP implementations. Experience of board-level report and presentation, risk management, team building and pragmatic problem-solving
Product Management Roadmap definition, release planning, integration planning, competitor analysis, and change control oversight
Company Car Scheme Migrations Scheme exit planning, salary alternative modeling, staff transition support, lease company selection, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) modelling
Corporate Troubleshooting / Business Analysis From cost/benefit analyses, through post-implementation reviews, change management and cost-saving projects, to new market strategies
Enterprise Application Re-Engineering From the initial scoping activities, through architecture planning, application and data migration, revenue / release planning and associated project management
Contract Negotiation and Creation Significant experience in the creation of a wide variety of contracts including reseller / partner agreements, joint-venture agreements and master-hire agreements
ROI Modelling Financial return-on-investment analysis of software implementations, policy transitions, expansion activities and outsourcing go/no-go decisions
Partner / Vendor Management Support in the process of partner / vendor shortlist and selection, contract creation, engagement planning and ongoing partner management
Consultancy Projects: Case Histories
PA-DSS CertificationA project to manage the PA-DSS certification process from start to finish
Global OutsourcingA project to deliver outsourced development services in Asia
Car Fleet TransitionsA project to research car fleet options, salary alternatives and rewrite the car policy
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Multimedia Projects: Case Histories
Website Design A mixture of website designs, from simple, static pages, through small-footprint Javascript sites, up to full database-driven dynamic sites using extensive CSS and PHP
Videography and Editing A showcase of video projects, including pure 'editing' jobs where footage was supplied, up to full-service multi-camera videography and editing projects
Desktop Publishing A mixture of desktop publishing projects, mostly for friends and small business. Print-ready proofs, optimised for CMYK printing, were generated in each case
This website for a local Jewellery ⁄ Arts & Crafts business was recently redesigned from the ground up, with DHTML, PHP, Zen Cart e-commerce and full PayPal Order Basket integration
If you're reading this, you've already visited it!. A very lighweight website, with a crisp, clean corporate look. Extensive use of Javascript effects and layered CSS stylesheets
Video Projects
Chris & Laura's Wedding
Actually a wedding present for a friend. Footage from myself, plus a variety of guest cameras, with a nice intro, soundtrack, and visual effects. Short showreel here only
BIC New Trends 2012 - Corporate Seminar
HD Corporate video, involving capture of seminar footage plus editing, soundtrack and video overlays to deliver a slick, finished product
Desktop Publishing Projects
Common Leys - Event Flyer
A simple project for a local customer, with a design brief to convey the key points of the event in a rural, yet contemporary, style. Produced as a hi-res, CMYK print proof. Flyers were printed in A4 and A5
Contact Details
Rob McPherson MCP (Multimedia and Consultancy Projects) Ltd Gaythorn Cottage Aston Road Ducklington Oxfordshire OX29 7QY
PA-DSS / PCI-DSS Consultancy This project concerned the end-to-end project management and production of documentation for the PA-DSS certification of Publishing Technology's author2reader enterprise software suite, and included:
Selection of a PA-QSA. NGS Secure were selected after a short selection and due diligence process
Creation of a test lab. This involved dedicated network infrastructure, database servers, application servers, PSP interfaces and test data
Production of comprehensive documentation, including implementation guide, installation guide, payment flow diagrams, network diagrams and cryptographic key management procedures
Forensic penetration testing, undertaken by NGS Secure
Application, documentation and infrastructure remediation
The application was submitted to the PCI council in early January 2012, and certification was granted in March 2012
Project Background
Global Outsourcing This project spanned a number of years, beginning in 2004, and was primarily concerned with the outsourced re-engineering of the customers' legacy software to the .net framework, with the benefical by-product of the creation of offshore Professional Services teams. Principal responsibilities and activities included:
Assistance with the production of the partner ITT document
Selection of an offshore partner. Virtusa (located in Colombo, Sri Lanka) were selected as the re-engineering partner, complementing the existing support partnership with Impelsys (in Bangalore, India)
Creation and management of a 20+ man re-engineering team and 5-man Professional Services team at Virtusa, and a 7-man Professional Services team at Impelsys (supporting Oracle Forms technology)
Creation of an outsourced, revenue-generating, customer infrastructure management service combining blended onshore and offshore resource
On-site support of teams in Sri Lanka
P&L responsibility and management of offshore budget
Project Details
Project Management Experience in this area has ranged from the small (30-40 day mini-projects and software development cycles) through to large, enterprise-level, comprehensive end-to-end management processes. Key activities undertaken have included:
Systems Suitability studies and Requirements Definition workshops. Understanding the 'as-is' and 'will-be' scenarios, capturing user requirements and quantifying 'gap' and development requirements
Project Planning. Identification and definition of project phases and milestones. Creation, load-balancing and socialisation of project plans with all parties
Project Management. Including burn-rate analysis, risk management, stakeholder communication and steering committee management
Phase / Milestone Signoff. Ensuring customer is aware of milestone completion and securing stage payments if required / agreed
Post Go Live. Including the handover of the project to support personnel, and finally, the execution of a post-implementation review
Project Background
Product Management A popular area of attention for all forward-thinking organizations developing software solutions. Competitive advantage requires focus in each of the following areas:
Product Roadmap Definition and Release Planning. Breaking down the product development and defect backlog into manageable groups for the development team, and grouping planned developments into release cycles
Definition of functionality matrices. Breaking down the application functionality into discrete business processes for easy comparison of features and functions
Internal and External feedback. Regular and continuous engagement with staff and clients in order to identify application shortfalls and/or opportunities
Training and Support of business development teams. Providing assistance with business proposals, customer queries and application demonstrations
Best-of-breed integration opportunities. Identification of application integration opportunities with third-party solutions or organizations
Project Background
Car Fleet Transition The customer wished to update its aging car fleet policy, and investigate a number of contemporary alternatives, including green fleet, salary alternatives, withdrawal of fuel cards and also a potential lease company transition. The project included:
Modelling of salary alternative packages for current fleet drivers, including TCO (total cost of ownership) elements
Identification of new baseline vehicles for each salary band
Staff communication sessions
Lease company review and selection process
Negotiation of new Master Hire Agreement (MHA) with new lease company
Rewrite of corporate fleet policy including duty-of-care, new HMRC regulations and 'green' car policy
Subsequent renegotiation of individual vehicle leases and poolfleet agreement once new policy had been implemented and matured for approximately 18+ months
Project Background
Corporate Troubleshooting This area has encompassed an eclectic mix of issues over the years; some challenging and some relatively straightforward. Highlights have included:
New Market expansion studies. These were undertaken for a customer in order to qualify and quantify the opportunities and challenges of expanding operations into Australia and China. Both involved significant research and communication with external consultants. Deliverables in both cases were a board-level white paper detailing opportunities, costs, and recommendations
Post-implementation project reviews and analysis. These analysed a variety of issues, including such elements as project time overruns, root underlying causes of defects, project profitability and also 'phase 2' activities - such as technology migration options - following a successful project implementation
Cost-Saving analyses. Focussing primarily on areas of high expenditure or overspend, these were typically approached by reviewing the expected / desired level of expenditure, negotiating with vendors / suppliers if necessary and then implementing (or proposing) revised solutions or processesin order to achieve desired cost levels
Project Details
Enterprise Application Re-Engineering The client wished to migrate their proprietary-technology Enterprise Systems to a cutting-edge, extensible, open technology that would allow them to maintain their position within the industry. This was a significant undertaking, with many people playing a part in the project. Key activities undertaken in this project included:
Technology selection. After reviewing the pros and cons of both Java and .net technologies, .net and SQLServer were selected as the core framework elements
Re-Engineering partner selection. Due to the amount of work required, the vast majority of the project resource was provided by an offshore partner (Virtusa), who delivered a blended onshore and offshore resource model
Project Management. This initially involved day-to-day oversight of the re-engineering strategy definition, followed by oversight of offshore project progress and delivery of onshore engineering responsibilities
Project Details
Contract Creation & Negotiation Covering a number of different scenarios over the years, the key engagements of note were as follows, with each being either created from scratch, or based upon a heads-of-agreement:
Foreign Market reseller agreement. This particular agreement allowed an overseas partner (reseller) to sell the customers' product in the resellers' territory. Careful attention was paid to reseller financial targets and resellers' end-user agreements, such that the customer was fairly represented, yet also appropriately protected
Overseas Partner Integration agreements. This agreement dealt with the day-to-day rules of engagement, intercompany resource management, ongoing phased integration and ultimate 'option to purchase' for an overseas agent
Application Integration Reseller Agreement. This agreement provided the customer with the right to resell (bundle) a 3rd-party product with their own. A painstaking process yielded a contract that provided a well-defined and robust framework that defined respective support responsibilities, product prices and deployment models
Project Details
ROI Modelling These were primarily feasiblity studies to qualify the potential costs, revenue and return on investment from various speculative projects such as new market expansion. They were also produced as sales tools that allowed end-users to qualify the ROI of the customers' products. Projects included:
Product ROI Tool: Allowing end-users to understand the financial benefits of implementing the customers' software. Included modelling for elements such as head-count savings and efficiency ⁄ productivity gains
Global IT and Business Process Outsourcing: Allowing the business to see the fully-loaded cost of using outsourced resource, the most efficient onshore ⁄ offshore resource mix, and the potential margin from outsourced business process activities (for example, Typesetting)
New Market Expansion: Modelling the potential new market revenues against the costs of recruitment, new premises and international travel; illustrating when the break-even ⁄ profitability tipping point would occur, and allowing an informed go/no-go decision on the new market
Project Details
Partner ⁄ Vendor Management Liaison and Management of third-party application vendors, product resellers and strategic partners. Primary responsibilities included:
Third-Party Integration Vendors: From initial interactions at ITT shortlist stage, through due diligence, contract negotiation, payment scheduling and agreement of ongoing business engagement model
Strategic Partners: From initial ITT, through contract negotiation, monthly resource management, issue resolution, new business management and finally exit/transition
Product Resellers: Taken from initial heads of agreement, through application training, collaboration on co-branded marketing collateral, review of reseller royalty reports and ongoing partner liaison
+44 (0)7775 723948
rob@robmcpherson.net
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