Brad Howe

Principal Architect at Wolters Kluwer Canada
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Contact Information
us****@****om
(386) 825-5501
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, CA

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Experience

    • Canada
    • Information Services
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Principal Architect
      • Oct 2023 - Present

      Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    • Lead Enterprise Architect
      • Feb 2021 - Oct 2023

      Toronto, Ontario, Canada Responsible to have technical knowledge across multiple technology constructs within the overall system architecture. Focus is to define a domain target architecture definition against the scope defined within a set of high level requirements. Required to gather and translate a set of business requirements and develop target definition visions complete with roadmaps, high-level business case, design patterns, reference architectures, standards and to ensure the delivery of this… Show more Responsible to have technical knowledge across multiple technology constructs within the overall system architecture. Focus is to define a domain target architecture definition against the scope defined within a set of high level requirements. Required to gather and translate a set of business requirements and develop target definition visions complete with roadmaps, high-level business case, design patterns, reference architectures, standards and to ensure the delivery of this vision is met through predefined set of governance processes. * Translate highly technical and complex subjects to business and senior stakeholders, whilst engaging, steering, and guiding the aligned engineers in delivering their architecture definitions. * Provide mentorship & training and guidance in the deployment of new tools, platforms and concepts to the Team. * Focuses on Strategy and Architecture including logical models of components and interfaces, to contribute to the development of systems architectures in specific business or functional areas.

    • DevOps Manager
      • Jan 2017 - Feb 2021

      Toronto, Canada Area Responsible for managing the Operations / DevOps staff, planning and implementing scalable, high availability solutions (code, infrastructure or otherwise). Working directly with and providing leadership in support of application architecture, design, troubleshooting, debugging, and load testing. * Planning and directing of incidents, requests and project activities within the team to ensure the timely development and delivery of reliable and efficient systems-related solutions to… Show more Responsible for managing the Operations / DevOps staff, planning and implementing scalable, high availability solutions (code, infrastructure or otherwise). Working directly with and providing leadership in support of application architecture, design, troubleshooting, debugging, and load testing. * Planning and directing of incidents, requests and project activities within the team to ensure the timely development and delivery of reliable and efficient systems-related solutions to business requirements and manage scheduled deadlines. * Provide mentorship & training and guidance in the deployment of new tools, platforms and concepts to the Team. * Provide architectural input for system design to improve scalability, reliability and adaptability of infrastructure to Development Teams. * Deliver key DevOps and initiatives including planning and team organization and execution. * Orchestrate the provisioning, load balancing, dynamic configuration/re-configuration, monitoring and spend optimization of servers across cloud providers, data centers, availability zones. * Work in collaboration with the Development Teams to ensure the management, maintenance and evolution of the solutions within the Application Lifecycle Management ecosystem. * Support, Virtualize and manage Windows and Linux environments. * Training and implementation of supported tools and initiatives. * Manages the recruitment and selection process of vacancies, performance management of staff, completed performance reviews and other related administrative functions. * Participate in WK sponsored Initiatives including data gathering exercises

    • Technology Operations Manager
      • Jan 2012 - Jan 2017

      Toronto, Canada Area Manage a Team of 4 and report to the Director of Technology as the subject matter expert for CCH Canada overall technology needs. • Plan, coordinate, direct, and design IT related activities, as well as provide administrative direction and support for the daily operational activities of development teams. • Provide strategic vision, leadership, and management to the business. • Serve on planning and policy-making committees regarding WoltersKluwer global IT… Show more Manage a Team of 4 and report to the Director of Technology as the subject matter expert for CCH Canada overall technology needs. • Plan, coordinate, direct, and design IT related activities, as well as provide administrative direction and support for the daily operational activities of development teams. • Provide strategic vision, leadership, and management to the business. • Serve on planning and policy-making committees regarding WoltersKluwer global IT policies. • Hold departmental meetings to review strategic goals and initiatives, promote team building and work to develop growth opportunities for employees. • Provide day-to-day supervision, conduct performance appraisals, and delegate tasks to employees. • Act as subject matter expert in the development, design, and implementation of new applications and changes to existing computer systems and software packages. • Maintain the integrity and continual operation of the IT infrastructure. • Ensure the continual functioning of mission critical applications.

    • Team Lead - Operations, Technology
      • Dec 2007 - Dec 2011

      Managed and maintained all CCH Canadian Ltd applications (Internal and Customer Facing) to ensure production stability. • Performed evaluation of business requirements, processes, technologies, applications, and information systems to minimize expenditure, avoid redundancy, and improve overall reliability • Participated in discussions pertaining to solution architectures and recommended future state designs. • Developed transition plans by performing gap analysis prior to… Show more Managed and maintained all CCH Canadian Ltd applications (Internal and Customer Facing) to ensure production stability. • Performed evaluation of business requirements, processes, technologies, applications, and information systems to minimize expenditure, avoid redundancy, and improve overall reliability • Participated in discussions pertaining to solution architectures and recommended future state designs. • Developed transition plans by performing gap analysis prior to major implementations. • Shared knowledge of IT security technologies such as intrusion detections systems, firewalls, and patch management. • Directed development teams on how to incorporate best practices with respect to ITIL principles and change management processes during the Software Development Life Cycle. • Provided twenty-four hours support of all in production applications. • Implemented, supported and maintained inventory control of all applications. Key Accomplishments: • Appointed to the IT Governance committee. • Acquired/Implemented low cost Server monitoring. • Initiated re-architecture plans, which reduced WAN latency, IT footprint & business costs. • Planned and successfully executed NT4 domain and TFS upgrade to Active Directory 2003. • Worked with Backoffice Team to architect a plan to upgrade to Oracle 10g on Windows 2003 platform. • Interfaced with developers to provide permanent solutions to recurring issues with online application Architecture. • Recognized for quickly troubleshooting problems and offering effective low-cost solutions to meet requirements on minimal operating costs. • Awarded the CCH High Achievers Award for 2007.

    • Software Build Configuration Engineer
      • Oct 2005 - Dec 2007

      • Acts as policy guardian for the change management process, including responsibility for standards issuance and revision of procedures or forms, as appropriate. • Using ITIL/ITSM standards to continuously improve the maturity of the change and configuration management processes and procedures. • Lead weekly change advisory boards (CABs) for Incident, Request & Problem analysis. • Responsible to ensure risks/impact of deployment are known and operation steady team is ready to support… Show more • Acts as policy guardian for the change management process, including responsibility for standards issuance and revision of procedures or forms, as appropriate. • Using ITIL/ITSM standards to continuously improve the maturity of the change and configuration management processes and procedures. • Lead weekly change advisory boards (CABs) for Incident, Request & Problem analysis. • Responsible to ensure risks/impact of deployment are known and operation steady team is ready to support the change. • Ensured that all changes have been properly documented, tested, communicated, approved and successfully implemented throughout each platform in order DEV, STG, PRD from documentation to port-implementation. • Acted as the primary contact to communicate to the business about potential impacts on interdependencies of changes on upcoming and/or ongoing projects. • Administered the change & configuration management databases, ensuring accuracy and consistency of data. • Ensure that any incident are properly tracked and documented using the Change Management Process. • Continuously measure, reinforce and improve existing process maturity. • Provides training on the change management process. Key Accomplishments: • Designed CCH’s DEV & QA Virtual environments to mirror production configurations. • Implemented Source Control and Team Foundation Server Infrastructure for development teams. • Institutionalized release management procedures for production code releases. • Migrated 23 servers in a weekend during the CCH Data Consolidation Project. o Appointed Key Configuration Manager for CCH during the migration. o Designed and executed Project schedules. • Facilitated the acceptance of CMMI development life cycle by implementing MS Team Foundation Server. o Implemented, configured, administered and trained staff on the SDLC and use of TFS. • Awarded the CCH Bronze CAP Award for Q2 2006

    • QA Analyst & Bilingual Technical Support
      • Sep 2004 - Oct 2005

      Provided on-call support for worldwide customers in French and English for all of CCH Canadian Ltd products. • Answered, categorized, documented and resolved all technical support questions/queries received by phone, email, etc. • Reviewed application releases, including documentation, flow diagrams, feature details to develop test cases that will perform according to user requirements. • Implemented TFS (Team Foundation Server) as source control repository for Test Case Management… Show more Provided on-call support for worldwide customers in French and English for all of CCH Canadian Ltd products. • Answered, categorized, documented and resolved all technical support questions/queries received by phone, email, etc. • Reviewed application releases, including documentation, flow diagrams, feature details to develop test cases that will perform according to user requirements. • Implemented TFS (Team Foundation Server) as source control repository for Test Case Management and our primary Defect tracking tool. • Sets up tests at request of user to locate and correct program operating error following installation of program. • Conducts compatibility tests with vendor-provided programs. Monitors program performance after implementation to prevent reoccurrence of program operating problems and ensure efficiency of operation.

    • Information Technology Consultant
      • Jan 2010 - Present

      Toronto, Canada Area Working with businesses to reduce Technology costs and increase operational efficiency.

    • Canada
    • Higher Education
    • 700 & Above Employee
    • Senior Desktop Support Technician
      • Sep 2002 - Aug 2004

      Reported to the Director of IT Services and managed onsite Desktop deployments, procurements and lab configurations. • Installed and configured all faculty & staff computers and peripherals for Glendon Campus. • Created guides and training manuals for Student Technical Support analysts in resolving common problems and responding to end user queries. • Designed and Implemented Student Lab & Staff images using sysprep and Image Magic to streamline deployment. • Arranged schedules… Show more Reported to the Director of IT Services and managed onsite Desktop deployments, procurements and lab configurations. • Installed and configured all faculty & staff computers and peripherals for Glendon Campus. • Created guides and training manuals for Student Technical Support analysts in resolving common problems and responding to end user queries. • Designed and Implemented Student Lab & Staff images using sysprep and Image Magic to streamline deployment. • Arranged schedules for disposal of old hardware and/or donation to charities. • First point of contact in all computer hardware/software problems or requests. • Provides support for internal legacy applications. • Lead IT projects as directed by Director such as new Lab Buildouts, Virtual Classroom setups, Projection Setups Show less

Education

  • Glendon Campus of York University | Campus Glendon de l’Université York
    ITECH, Information Technology
    1999 - 2004
  • Red Hat Linux System Administration
    Specialized, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
    2010 - 2010

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