QUALIFICATIONS

• 20 years of experience in IT.
• Highly successful IT planning, implementation and project management experience.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate technical subjects to diverse groups, coordinate and negotiate effectively with others.
• Proven ability to quickly learn new skills and technologies.
• Comprehensive knowledge and experience with the following software, tools and databases:
• Cognos 10.2.1, 8.4: Report Studio, Query Studio, Analysis Studio, Event Studio, Framework Manager, Workspace, Workspace Advanced, Insight, Transformer, Cognos Cafe
• Sunguard Banner Sunguard ODS
• Quality Center
• Oracle 8/10g, SQL Server, Teradata
• Windows OS NT, Windows Server
• SQL Server Management Studio
• MS Access, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Project

WORK EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Confidential

Manager BI Reporting

• Managed BI reporting team, consisting of 1 Cognos administrator, 2 Cognos developers and 1 Cognos consultant. Assigned work among the team and managed resources to ensure the correct projects were being focused on. Provided project and resource planning to upper management and supported team when issues/conflicts arose. Coached staff to maximize productivity and promote their professional development. Assisted staff in outlining training/development plans. Served as Project Manager BI only projects and BI Project Lead for projects spanning multiple departments for multiple projects: provided detailed level of effort, cost estimates and resource capacity planning prior to project launch managed BI resources, work effort and budget during project execution worked with other PM's and PL's in planning/managing projects through the project lifecycle.
• Served as reporting team lead for 7 student information system deployments. Guided report development through all phases of the SDLC requirements gathering through post production support . Managed all reporting related tasks updating project leader on a weekly basis on the status/progress of the entire reporting team architecture, ETL, business analysis, report development, report administration . Ensured reporting tasks were completed on time and according to specifications. Performed project management, business analysis, report development and training duties during various phases of each project.
• Led internal project to upgrade Cognos 8.4 to Cognos 10.2. Mapped out upgrade timetable and tasks. Set-up working sessions with Cognos power users individual report developers not part of the BI team to assist them with report testing comparing 8.4 Cognos reports to 10.2 Cognos reports to ensure they did not have any issues. Managed internal BI team testing of reports documenting and correcting any issues discovered. Developed task list for Cognos Administrator to track all items needed to successfully upgrade. Worked with IT department to ensure all network items related to the upgrade were documented and assigned. Updated existing documentation with new information relating to Cognos 10.2. Created new interactive training items screen capture with audio to supplement existing Word files. Worked with the BI team to create a new Cognos front page portal. New portal was designed to be more user friendly and contained significant improvements that helped reduce the number of issues/ tickets sent to the BI team for review.
• Led 2 separate outreach projects with 2 campuses to address internal concerns. Spent two days onsite at each campus working with individual business groups to address concerns regarding Cognos reporting. Educated users on reports in individual breakout sessions by business area and created task list to track new development and break/fix issues. Provided training to business on using existing reports as well as report development tools. Managed the post visit support to ensure fixes were completed and new reports the business needed were developed and delivered. The visit was extremely successful and the internal customers had a much more positive view of the BI team after these visits.
• Created, developed and led the 2013 BI User Conference. This was a three day conference held in our Baltimore headquarters that included 1 day of BI led sessions overview of reporting tools, overview of data available, portal and report user training, self service report training as well as two days of power user report development training report/cube tools . Attendance was 40 people and included individuals who traveled to the conference from Europe and other offices throughout the Confidential.

Confidential

Sr. Cognos Developer

• Developed 300 Cognos Report Studio prompt reports ranging from simple lists to complex crosstabs to graph and chart reports. Developed reports in Report Studio utilizing various joins unions, except, inner and outer . Created custom/tabular queries accessing multiple data sources tables and views from SQL Server and Oracle databases . Validated reports using SQL queries run in SQL Server Management Studio and TOAD. Worked as business analyst on numerous projects, meeting with the business to gather and document requirements, obtain signoff on project scope/reports.
• Worked with numerous departments within the company to design, develop and implement Cognos reports to meet their needs. Created reports against the Banner ODS db for the following internal departments: financial aid, registrar/bursar, enrollment, accounts receivable, sales/marketing, university administrationand student life.
• Used Cognos 8.4 Transformer to create multiple cubes for internal customers. The cubes tracked inquiries and enrollment data for students/potential students. These cubes contained multiple dimensions college, country, tile score, etc. and measures count of inquiries, count of enrollments, of leads that enrolled, etc. Published the cubes to Cognos Connection and setup automated daily builds of the cubes via a batch file and Windows scheduler. Created numerous Report Studio reports graph/charts that used the cube as the data source. Created Analysis Studio training documentation and conducted numerous training sessions for internal customers to allow the business to use cubes for self-service reporting.
• Created numerous Cognos Framework Manager models against various data sources Oracle 10, SQL Server 2005/2008 . Created, published and maintained packages for reporting.Developed models that included campus level access restrictions Oracle database contained information for multiple campuses but the model checked active directory for each user and limited the data they could use in a package to their campus only .
• Performed Cognos Administration tasks of creating users and applying folder based security in Cognos Connection. Granted power users appropriate permissions to access the various studios as needed. Served as the primary backup for the Cognos Administrator and handled all duties successfully during his absences vacations . Experience with Event Studio developed simple events and assisted in the maintenance of more complex jobs/agents .
• Created and maintained BI documentation to ensure the BI team had everything needed to run the business in my absence. Documentation included: spreadsheet of all reports in production including details on the package and SQL involved in each report production promotion log tracking the details on each report promotion to production including details on testing and the changes/additions made to reports details on the cube build process and the location of all files involved in the cube builds various documents for power users detailing tips, tricks and hints for successful/efficient report development.
• Created andadministered a two day Cognos Query Studio training course for internal power users. Developed 64 page Power Point training manual with 4 report building demos and 9 workshops. Trainees were also given specifications to create their own reports with solutions also included for reference. Training also included separate break out session by business unit with specific report development based on each business groups needs. Also created a similar day Report Studio training course. Trained new report users on available reports during numerous student information system deployments.
• Provided production support on all reports. Handled modifications to reports when users requested additions/changes as well as defect fixes when errors/issues were discovered. Includes investigation of complex custom SQL reports created by previous developers. Worked with ETL team and data architects to fix non-report related issues database/data load issues . Served as main BI contact to various campus relationship managers change control to make sure all parties were aware and agreed to report modification/changes. Served as the main contact for all power users providing assistance in creating their own queries in Query Studio, Report Studio and Analysis Studio as well answering questions regarding the various data sources.
• Mentored new BI developers and consultants brought onboard since my arrival at the company. Provided documentation and training on accessing the various Cognos tools and databases as well as best practices and tips on report development.
• Conducted numerous phone screens and face to face interviews with potential BI Developer, Business Analyst and management candidates. Provided recommendations to management and HR regarding the candidate's qualifications and skills.

Confidential

Team Lead - BI

• Team lead of the report development team 4 developers . Worked with partners and sub-contractors to ensure the BI team was able to deliver complex reports that exceeded customer expectations. Assigned work among the team and managed resources to meet ever evolving internal and external demands/needs. Guided the entire BI process through all phases of the SDLC.
• Used MS Project to manage time and resources for BI team to ensure deadlines were met.Provided updates to upper management on the progress of the BI team.
• Created in depth documentation on BI standards as well as user guides to assist new users in understanding the data, database design as well as the reporting tools Cognos Query Studio, Cognos Report Studio and Cognos Connection . Created and conducted numerous training sessions designed to familiarize internal and external customer on the BI toolset Cognos ReportNet .
• Developed complex ReportNet reports containing multiple prompts, cascading prompts, in report prompting, tabular SQL, master/detail relationships, custom formatting, list, crosstab, drill through reports and multiple queries. Created and administered scheduled/burst reports to capture month end snapshots of the data.
• Created and maintained Framework manager models and packages against various data sources/databases Oracle, DB2 and Teradata . Created customized calculations within the package to meet specific business rules.
• Assisted management in a RFP for a major Government contract. Provided support and guidance on BI role in the potential project as well as details and estimations on the level of effort and resources that would be needed.
• Conducted numerous phone screens and face to face interviews with potential BI Developer candidates. Provided detailed notes and recommendations on individual candidates to Human Resources.

Sr. Systems Analyst III

• Installed, implemented and configured Cognos ReportNet in a single server environment including setting a content store database Oracle SQL Server and setting up an IIS web server .
• Re-created complex reports in Report Studio to replace existing inefficient Impromptu reports.
• Maintained and modified existing Cognos cubes using PowerPlay. Created new cubes and Impromptu reports based on user requests.

Confidential

Sr. Systems Analyst

• Assisted in the design and development of security guidelines for user access to data warehouse information available via the web. Successfully implemented security for all Cognos applications PowerPlay cubes, Impromptu and Cognos Query limiting user access to data based on corporate requirements.
• Used MS Project to manage various phases of the Business Intelligence BI project rollout. Developed and met timelines and milestones necessary to keep various BI projects on target and produce deliverables for corporate users. Created extensive documentation and guidelines to assist other members of the Business Intelligence BI team with preparations for rollout of the toolset to corporate users.
• Worked with numerous departments to coordinate and develop Cognos PowerPlay cubes. These cubes allowed users to access data warehouse information on their own and also permitted them to take summary level data and drill down to create customized, detailed reports. Trained users on how to navigate the cubes effectively and efficiently.
• Used Window Scheduler to automate daily, weekly and monthly cube builds using complex batch files and scripting that executed the steps needed to build cubes and perform various other maintenance functions. Automation of these tasks freed resources to work on more pressing tasks.
• Worked with individual business users to implement the correct solution for their data needs. Created Impromptu Web Reports, PowerPlay cubes and PowerPlay reports to deliver vital corporate data to users in an easy to use format. Trained new users to use the tools available to create their own reports and cubes. Designed and maintained numerous Impromptu catalogs from a SQL Database creating joins, folders and complex security.
• Customized the corporate Cognos Upfront Web portal to match the corporate Intranet design. Edited existing HTML pages to change color schemes and logos to match corporate standards.