Val E. Cummins

2655 Homelands Drive  ¡  Mississauga, Ontario  L5K 1H7

905.403.1131  ¡  capsa@sympatico.ca

Senior Project Manager / Program Manager / Portfolio Manager

Specialist in Enterprise Technology Projects & Project Turnarounds

 

Accomplished Senior Portfolio/Program/Project Manager with exhaustive experience and technical knowledge leading enterprise-level technology projects for Fortune 500 companies.   Proven track record for successfully leading and/or rescuing the toughest and most complex large-scale projects.  Held senior PM, consulting, and leadership roles at all corporate levels across a full range of industries.  Advanced problem solving and solutioning capabilities.

 

Project management experience ranges from establishing PMO’s and standards from scratch to managing entire project lifecycles, including project planning, expectations, testing, implementation, and budgets as high as $150 million.  Skilled leader and team manager able to build, merge, coach, and manage cross-functional specialists into dedicated high-performing project teams.   Works comfortably in both IT and Line of Business arenas.

 

¡  PMP ongoing  ¡

¡  Enhanced Security Clearance  ¡

 

Areas of Expertise

 

¡    IT Project Management

¡    Enterprise Architecture

¡    Application Development

¡    Project Management Office (PMO)

¡    Database Design / Management

¡    Data Warehousing

¡    Systems Integration / Migration

¡    OO Design & Development

¡    SDLC / IDLC

¡    Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

¡    Network Communications

¡    Capacity Planning

¡    Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP)

¡    Web / e-Commerce (.NET)

¡    Zachman Framework

 

Employment & Project Experience

 

CAPSA Consulting Inc., Mississauga, Ontario

Senior Consultant / Project Manager                                                                                                            2000 – Present

Contracted to lead major and enterprise-level development, architecture, and IT operations projects for major corporate clients throughout the GTA.  Engagements range from web-based development assignments through Senior Project Manager roles overseeing multi-phase architecture, development, package review/implementation, and operations engagements. 

Managed all projects through entire project lifecycle – defined project charter/plan, assembled and managed team/resources, managed budgets and timelines, and oversaw required development, UAT, and implementation.  Major projects include:

¡    Sun Lifeas Senior Project Manager successfully lead teams in application and infrastructure projects. Projects included: RFP and vendor selection, PL/1 upgrade, Risk Management, Architectural reviews, Tool Rationalization and FileNet P8 Conversion. Managed a program for Employee Communications improvement. Mainframe and Distributed environment.

¡    Royal Bank Insurancehired as Senior LOB Project Manager and Program Manager to lead a suite of Pricing and Regulatory projects and several additional individual projects. Projects ranged across Network Interactive Voice Response (NIVR), EFT, Do not Solicit and several insurance initiatives.  AS400 and XP Pro environment.

¡    Schneider Foods – hired as Senior Project Manager to lead 12 distinct line-of-business IT projects, including enterprise and plant systems integrations (stand-alone to integrated corporate applications), hardware upgrades for the plant floor (selection and capital acquisition), and HRIS systems mergers.  Unix and Windows NT environment.

¡    WSIB – as Manager of Project Architecture and Solutioning, led a major 8-month engagement to design and implement a customized SDLC.  Directed a team of Project Architects assigned to all application and core infrastructure projects.  Led a separate team of Solution Architects responding to customer requests and presenting Architected Solutions to match requirements.  Acquired and reviewed all project artefacts for inclusion into Ptech and Zachman Frameworks.  Chaired weekly Solutions Committee.  IBM Mainframe, Active Directory (Single Sign on), SAN, SNA, CICS, COBOL, DB2, SUPRA, PeopleSoft, Windows 2000/NT, SQL Server

¡    TD Bank – Senior Project Manager overseeing an enterprise-wide application conversion required to meet new US citizenship/taxation regulations.  Oversaw project team and met target.

¡    Fitness Institute – managed development / implementation of a web-based booking system for courts, classes, and events used by 500 members within the Club.  Written in ASP, JavaScript, Vbscript, HTML, DHTML, Access

¡    SCUBA portal – managed development of www.goodtimeinthewater.com, a massive portal serving the SCUBA industry and featuring eCommerce (Cart32) storefronts and B2B functionality.  Currently 35,000+ pages.  Written in ASP, JavaScript, Vbscript, HTML, DHTML, Access

 

Bank of Montreal, Toronto, Ontario

Project Director / Senior Manager                                                                                                                      1997 – 2000

Senior PM role charged with managing all Y2K solutions for 4 of 9 divisions across the Bank – Capital Markets/Treasury, Risk & Reporting, Nesbitt Burns, and Corporate Banking.  Established and managed 2 PMO’s from scratch and managed staff as large as 100+, with full accountability for all Y2K testing, compliance, disaster recovery planning, and business continuity planning.

Controlled project/planning budgets of $38.8 million budget over 3 years and defended the $150 million budget for all 4 departments.  Held full signing authority for due diligence on behalf of BMO.  Credited with meeting or exceeding all corporate Y2K deadlines and expectations.  Y2K and other project highlights include:

¡    Set up the Capital Markets PMO with direct accountability for the compliance of 468,000 spreadsheets and 1800 PC’s across 32 trading floors worldwide

¡    Co-designed and co-produced BMO’s Y2K policy, standards, and corporate manual

¡    As Senior Project Manager, led BMO’s conversion from MS Mail to MS Exchange in 8 cities across Canada, the US, and Mexico

¡    As Senior Project Manager, coordinated BMO’s implementation of the new FX-VAR (Value at Risk) system, merging 20+ different financial feeds into one Risk Calculation Engine

¡    Nominated for the Chief Technology Officer Award (1998)

 

CAPSA Consulting Inc., Mississauga, Ontario

Senior Consultant / Project Manager                                                                                                                 1986 – 1997

Senior Project Consultant providing customized IT consulting and software development for Fortune 500 companies, governments, colleges, and corporations.  Further directed the sale of 15 different Windows/OO HRIS and IT software packages to clients that include McDonalds Restaurants, Bell Mobility, Manulife, Centennial College, and Humber College.  Noteworthy project engagements include:

¡    Beaver Lumber – Project Manager on a $20 million project to implement new POS hardware and software systems across all locations across Canada.  Coached and mentored the Development Manager.

¡    Confederation Life – As Senior Project Manager, managed the 1-year installation and implementation of EDS’s Insurance Machine. Managed 58 staff, 6 Managers, ad 26 testers.  Chaired the CISP Steering Committee responsible for tracking progress, agreeing to upgrades, and approval of user requests.  $20 million project reporting directly to the AVP.

¡    Merrill Lynch – Contracted as Development Support Manager responsible for revitalizing an underperforming IT division.  Implemented new standards for SDLC, Project Tracking and Reporting, Time Reporting, and Library Control.  Conducted skills gap analysis for all 60 staff and coordinated required training and education.

¡    Canada Life – directed multiple projects using structured/object-oriented analysis and design methodologies (IEF, IEW) within their Group Claims division.  Includes collecting data and meta-data for the data dictionary.

 

Thomas J. Lipton, Toronto, Ontario

Manager, Computer Services                                                                                                                              1985 – 1986

Managed all functional areas of the IT department supporting the company’s operations, including Maintenance, Development, Technical Support, Operations, Data Centre and IT Administration.  Credited with spearheading the complete turnaround of the IT Department – infused a new team spirit, introduced standards for documentation, implementation, project planning, and budgeting, and dramatically improved user support and project delivery  Managed a $5 million capital and operating budget.  Accomplishments include:

¡    Developed and implemented a custom SDLC – established the new PMO and Development Support Centre, set document standards, and created new time sheet and project reporting systems

¡    Implemented the first PC LAN and first Tapestry/Token Ring topology in Canada

¡    Built a $500,000 computer facility from scratch and successfully moved two mainframes within 4 months

¡    Managed the day-to-day operations of the Computer Centre, maintaining continuous 24/7 operation

 

 

Previous employment includes IT analysis, consulting, and leadership roles for

DMR, Ministry of Education, Guardian Insurance, SEEPAC Systems, and Shell Canada

Technology InventoryPartial List

 

 

Operating Systems:

Windows 95/98/2000/NT/XP, UNIX, Sun Microsystems, IBM DOS/OS/OS2

Languages:

VB 6.0, HTML, DHTML, JavaScipt, VBScript, ASP, Assembler, Cobol

Applications:

MS Office Professional MS Project, VISIO, Project Workbench, MS FrontPage, DreamWeaver, Crystal Reports

Databases:

MS SQL Server, Sybase SQL Anywhere, Access , Clipper, Dbase II/III+/IV

Hardware:

IBM 90xx/43xx/360/370 Series, Sun Microsystems,  Burroughs, Honeywell, Dec, VAX

 

 

(see Addendum for full Technical Inventory)

 

 

Training & Certification

 

 

PMP Preparation Course                                                                                                  Project Management Institute (PMI)

Certified TOGAF Architect – The Open Group Architectural Framework                                              The Open Group

Capability Maturity Model                                                                                                Software Engineering Institute (SEI)

Problem Solving & Decision Making                                                                                                                 Kepner-Tregoe

LOMA Fellow (FLMI) (ongoing)                                                                                               Life Management Institute (LMI)

 

Other programs include:

 

¡      Influence Management

¡      Interviewing, Coaching & Counselling

¡      Human Dynamics

¡      Middle Management

¡      Six Thinking Hats

¡      Thinking Outside the Box

¡      Managing Growth Resources

¡      Ptech 5.5

 

 

 

Education

 

 

B.Sc., Math and Chemistry                                                                                                                        University of Brandon

Computer Analysis and Programming, Diploma                                                                                      Red River College

 

 

 

Personal Accomplishments

 

 

¡      Certified SCUBA Instructor

¡      Certified Swimming Instructor

¡      Certified First Aid Instructor

¡      Certified CPR Instructor

¡      Certified Nitrox Instructor

¡      Certified VHF Inspector

¡      Private Pilot’s License

¡      Big Brothers of Canada

 


Val Cummins

2655 Homelands Drive  ¡  Mississauga, Ontario  L5K 1H7

905.403.1131  ¡  capsa@sympatico.ca

Addendum: Technology Inventory

 

Languages

 

 

¡      VB 6.0

¡      PowerBuilder

¡      HTML

¡      DHTML

¡      Java Script

¡      VB Script

¡      ASP

¡      Fortran

¡      Clipper (Summer 87 & 5.xx)

¡      Focal

¡      PL/1

¡      Assemblers

¡      Cobol

¡      RPG/RPGII

¡      PHP

¡      Easytrieve

¡      Mark IV

¡      APL

¡      Lomac Adam (English)

¡      Basic

¡     .Net

 

 

Operating systems

 

 

¡      Windows NT

¡      UNIX

¡      Solaris 5.1

¡      Windows 95, 98, 2000,XP

¡      IBM: DOS, CMS, VM, VSE, OS,OS2

¡      PC-DOS, DR-DOS, MS-DOS

¡      MOD 1

¡      VS/9

¡      Burroughs MCP

¡      Tops 20 V3 & V4

 

 

 

 

Software Packages

 

 

¡      MS Office Professional

¡      VISIO

¡      MS Project

¡      Project Workbench

¡      MS Front Page

¡      DreamWeaver

¡      PowerPlay

¡      Impromptu

¡      Crystal Reports

¡      OS Utilities

¡      Lotus Notes

¡      Librarian

¡      OS Sort/Merge

¡      SharePoint

¡      S.P.S.S.

¡      Sync Sort

¡      ChangePoint

¡      Easytrieve

¡      Hasp

¡      Jes 2

¡      Cotune

¡      T.M.S.

¡      Pac II

¡      Edit

¡      T.S.O             

¡      PL 1022

¡      SEU, DFU, OCL

¡      TPS Editor    

¡      Verify

¡      HotDog Pro

¡      PC Anywhere

¡      Web Development Tools

¡      CICS

 

 

Databases

 

 

¡      MS SQL Server

¡      Sybase SQL Anywhere

¡      Access

¡      Dbase II, III+, IV

¡      Watcom

¡      Clipper

¡      DB2

¡      1022

¡      DMS II

¡      INFO

¡      1032

¡      System 2000

¡      IMS

¡      Total

¡      ADABAS        

¡      Foxpro

¡     MySQL

 

 

 

Hardware

 

 

¡      AIX

¡      IBM 90xx, 43xx

¡      IBM 360:20/30/50

¡      IBM 370: 125/135/138/145/148/155/158/165/168

¡      IBM 4341,30xx

¡      IBM Sys/34, Sys38

¡      IBM 5280, 9060

¡      Honeywell 4200

¡      Dec 2020, PDP/8,

¡      VAX 11/780, MicroVax

¡      Univac 9060

¡      SUN Microsystems

¡      Logical Machine Corp.

¡      ICL 2903/4

¡      PC, XT, AT, 286, 386, 486, PS/2, PS III