Release Manager

• Feb 2022 - Present

Environment and Release Analyst

• Feb 2021 - Mar 2022

There are 3 main responsibilities to this role: 1) Release Management – coordinating and implementing work streams moving change from development through UAT environments and onto production 2) Environments Support - ensuring high availability of the senior non-production environments, automating monitoring, carrying out BAU tasks and application support 3) Deployments – Deploying code to senior environments (UAT and Production) Key responsibilities: • Setup, configure and maintain environments • Incident support and capacity planning for the UAT environments • Ensure that the necessary environments are in place for the products being delivered (both virtual and physical) to support all layers e.g. Development, SIT, Pre-Production, and Production including the data and integration of external applications • Setup, maintain and script SFTP hosts, connections and actions. Analyse SFTP logs for failures • Run test batches and refreshes • Document environments and underlying components to appropriate standards • Track and coordinate release schedules amongst work streams • Work closely with the other teams to facilitate continuous integration and continuous delivery • Work with internal development teams and 3rd party suppliers to resolve environment related incidents • Ensure all system changes are effectively tested prior to implementation into the live environment • Recommend solutions to problems/issues that impacts the work of others • Keeps abreast of new technologies and techniques in the environment management realm and actively promote improvements to our tools and processes • Manage the booking of UAT workstations • Represent the Environments team at the weekly change / release meetings Show less

Software Release and Problem Manager

• Mar 2016 - Dec 2020

During the company merger, it was identified that neither a robust problem/release system and process were in place. The process I had originally created for one product was rolled out to all product lines within the global company. Using my solid understanding of the software development lifecycle, customer bugs were migrated to my system and processes. Collaborated with DevOps to design and implement the integration service used between Engineering and Support systems. Utilizing my years of experience in Technical Support Teams and exposure to Engineering processes, I acted as a subject matter expert for all crossover workflows and processes, being the go-to person for both support and engineering teams. The role involved a balance of ensuring existing processes were being followed and continuous system/process improvement (using data and analytics) in line with business needs. •System design, change, ownership, acceptance testing, roll-out and extensive documentation •Implementation of global post-release process in Salesforce for Support Teams •Strengthened relationships between Engineering, Product Management and Support, whilst identifying areas of process/system improvements •Introduction of scrub/grooming sessions between Support, Engineering and Product Management •Worked with Global Engineering/Support to ensure software release cycle was adhered to and improved upon •Owned the global support problem & release processes including documentation and systems •Continuous analysis and improvement of systems and process to ensure timely release of problem and software from Engineering •System and process training for Support and Engineering •Negotiated and prioritised with the Business Analyst Teams, changes and system improvements •Introduction and standardisation of knowledge articles •Cross department analytic/data ownership. Developed and maintained a set of queries for consistent approach across all products and Engineering Teams. Show less

Support Project / Release Manager

• May 2012 - Mar 2016

I was promoted to Support Project Manager, working with the software development release cycle, from a support perspective. Having succeeded in my Project Management role, I was further promoted to Release and Problem Manager, creating much needed processes and system changes, centred around the software release cycle, from start of software project all the way through to software release and customer communications. I created analytics which were used to understand global release data and trends. I created the global framework for customer problem management and software release process that the company still uses today.•Built strong relationships across departments (Product Management, Engineering and Support) with the sole purpose of ensuring software and customer problems were dealt with swiftly and efficiently using systems, process and data analytics•Kept relevant stakeholders informed of any high visibility / major incidents•Managed all aspects of release management activities for the Global Support Team•Maintained a good level of understanding of case management and Engineering systems in use (SFDC, Heat, Azure DevOps, Fogbugz, Jira)•Global backlog reduction of customer bugs and system migration•Managed the ‘release to market’ process, for the Support Team. Ensured technical references etc. were delivered in a timely manner for Support Team to prepare for a release•Meetings with Development Teams to ensure correct priorities on support raised incidents were progressing in a timely manner, re-prioritised where necessary and appropriate action taken•Worked with the Technical Service Managers in the orchestration of problem management and Development liaison•Attended release readiness and change control representing the Support team•Management of customer testing, arising from an impending release•Provided weekly reports to Head of Support regarding current projects and updates•Created, rolled out maintained support processes Show less

Technical Support Consultant / Team Lead / Technical Relationship Manager

• Nov 2005 - May 2012

I joined AppSense as a Technical Support Consultant and a few years later, was promoted to Team Lead. I was then further promoted to Technical Relationship Manager. I was responsible for working with a broad range of internal and external AppSense customers providing in-depth technical support for AppSense products.• Provided 2nd/3rd line support, diagnostics and troubleshooting (AppSense, network, Windows, Active Directory, Citrix)• Major incident management, acting as a Technical Relationship Manager for large customers• Resolved issues within an agreed SLA (configuration issues, server crashes, blue screens, diagnosing bugs)• Recreated customer issues using virtual environments• Installed, tested and undertook fault-finding new technologies on the market, in order to preempt potential integration issues with the software within clients’ systems• Analyzed crash dumps, detailed log files and registry configurations • Quality assurance testing for customer bugs resolved within a release• Team lead to 5 Technical Consultants, liaising with middle and upper management staff• Interviewed Technical Consultants and training new starters• Maintained a close relationship with the Development Team• Provided regular input on product roadmaps with Product Management Show less

Senior Systems Administrator

• Jan 2004 - Nov 2005

Support and maintenance of the European network which consisted of 1000+ users and 20 servers. • Network and Windows Server support, maintenance and troubleshooting • Network peripherals maintenance and troubleshooting (hubs, switches, routers etc.) • Desktop / laptop support, troubleshooting and maintenance • Exchange maintenance • SAN / EMC administration • Avaya IP phone maintenance and support • Various projects, including visits to European offices migrating networks to the company domain / IP ranges. Rolled out software and training • All areas of IT purchasing and software licensing Show less

IT Systems and Support Manager

• Mar 2002 - Jan 2004

Assisted in the planning and implementation of the network upgrade and relocation. Support of 200+ employees, local and remote. Responsible for all areas of IT and the infrastructure. • Server and network maintenance, administration and support • Writing SQL queries • Undertook fault finding and diagnostics • Desktop and laptop Support (hardware and software) • Maintenance and administration of the telephone system • Remote access support • Printer and peripheral support • All areas of IT purchasing and software licensing Show less

IT Systems Support

• Jul 2000 - Mar 2002

IT and system support for 500 internal and external users 1st to 3rd line support (hardware and software). Fault finding, problem solving and diagnostics. Tested new technologies. Back-ups and restores. Laptop / desktop re/installations. Server, network and desktop support, administration and maintenance. IT and system support for 500 internal and external users 1st to 3rd line support (hardware and software). Fault finding, problem solving and diagnostics. Tested new technologies. Back-ups and restores. Laptop / desktop re/installations. Server, network and desktop support, administration and maintenance.

Junior Technical Support Engineer

• Jul 1999 - Jul 2000

Assisting Technical Support in day-to-day operation of IT department Assisting Technical Support in day-to-day operation of IT department