Rich Benfield
Director of Technology at th4ts3cur1ty.company- Claim this Profile
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Bio
Credentials
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EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & DISCRIMINATION AWARENESS
Staff Skills TrainingOct, 2021- Nov, 2024 -
What is Money Laundering? Certification
Staff Skills TrainingAug, 2021- Nov, 2024 -
Microsoft Certified Small Business Specialist
MicrosoftJan, 2007- Nov, 2024 -
MCSE1: Messaging on Windows 2000
MicrosoftSep, 2003- Nov, 2024 -
MCPS: Microsoft Certified Professional
MicrosoftNov, 2002- Nov, 2024 -
MCPS: Microsoft Certified Professional
MicrosoftNov, 2002- Nov, 2024 -
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer + Messaging
MicrosoftJan, 2002- Nov, 2024 -
BCS Professional Member
BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT
Experience
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th4ts3cur1ty.company
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United Kingdom
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Computer and Network Security
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1 - 100 Employee
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Director of Technology
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Jun 2023 - Present
Director for three departments within the business.Manages departmental budgets, including profit/loss for each service.Directs strategy and service developmentProvides Technical directionOutbound promotionSpeaker at conferencesPodcastsPublishes Written articlesSupport sales processesSenior point of escalation for customers
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Head of Technology
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Feb 2023 - Jun 2023
Managed various customer-facing projects to successfully embed our SOC into their businesses. Prepared Proposals and pitched to potential customers.Line Manager for Engineering TeamDesigned our own brand of SOC appliances.Domain expert for Windows infrastructure.
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HR DataHub
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United Kingdom
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Technology, Information and Internet
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1 - 100 Employee
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Head of Technology
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Jun 2022 - Feb 2023
Responsible for all technology decisions in this SaaS business. Manage a multi-skilled DevOps team following Agile/Scrum principles. Set the technical vision for the platform, manages the cloud architecture that the platform runs on. Effective in reducing costs whilst improving the back-end infrastructure. Other duties include managing Information Security, influencing Product Management, co-ordinating hackathons, hiring team members, allocating budget appropriately. Key Contributions • Successfully reorganised the DevOps function to improve productivity. • Implemented an ISO:27001 Information Security Management System. • Re-engineered back-end platform to improve performance and reduced cloud costs. • Opened new communications channels between the DevOps team and the Data team to improve efficiency. • Improved the product by extending influence into the Product team. • Contributed to winning a government grant for Innovation in Technology. Show less
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Quintessentially
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United Kingdom
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Travel Arrangements
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500 - 600 Employee
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Global Head of Technology
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Apr 2019 - Jun 2022
Head technology on a Global scale, in 68 countries. Manage a diverse team of IT Professionals in multiple regions to provide a truly global IT service. Reports into the Chief Operating Officer in a 1500-strong international organisation. Improves productivity through digital transformation. • Provided strong technical leadership and recruited high-performing technical teams. • Manage Technology Architecture, TechOps, SecOps. • P&L responsibility • Outsourcing/Insourcing • Technology Contracts • IT Strategy / Roadmaps • Server virtualisation projects in multiple sites • Hybrid Cloud Strategy in AWS and Azure connecting 68 sites. • Global SharePoint implementation • Over £4M savings against previous budgets • Global Contact Centre Telephony platform build • Salesforce CRM redevelopment and conversion to SF Lightning. • Full-scale security programme (Penetration testing, IDS/IPS, Vulnerability management, ISO:27001 alignment) • Implemented next-gen endpoint solution. • Various Digital transformation projects • Implemented Data and Insights • Introduced both web and email filtering solutions • Provided new suite of IT policies and procedures. • Terminated a failing outsourced IT helpdesk and hired all new permanent team. • Implemented ITIL Framework to service desk. • Remote working design and build due to Covid Pandemic. • Launched new main Website and numerous microsites for clients. • Rescued an outsourced App build from “pre-launch failure” and avoided contractual penalties with the client. • Ran cyber security investigations and took appropriate action based upon findings. • Achieved optimal IT processes whilst taking regional legislation into account. Show less
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Ventrica
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United Kingdom
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Outsourcing and Offshoring Consulting
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200 - 300 Employee
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Senior IT Manager
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Mar 2016 - Mar 2019
Functionally equivalent to IT Director, part of the Senior Management Team (Board Level role). Department head of a team of Developers, Server/Network Engineers and Desktop Support. Designed technical proposals for RFP tenders resulting in additional £11M of contract wins (Jimmy Choo, New Look, McDonald’s, Canon etc). Scaled from 200 users to 900 users in three years. • Ran IT Operations with input into Business Operations. • Improved uptime from circa 85% to 99.97% through extensive virtualization project • Saved approx. £600,000 on approx. £1M of new IT equipment spend. • Built state-of-the-art Contact Centre on new “greenfield” site. • Won an award for “Best Support Team” against major industry competitors. • Achieved ISO:27001 and PCI-DSS Certification • Rebuilt IT Service Desk function, added SLA’s and KPI’s, built processes and aligned with ITIL framework. • Designed Customer Services solution for McDonald’s, replacing Oracle with Zendesk. • Worked with New Look (fashion retailer) to transition from SAP Hybris platform to Zendesk for their customer services function. • Implemented Office 365 solution and extended Active Directory into Azure/Office 365. Also linked into further Office 365 products such as Power BI, Azure backups, and Azure virtual servers. • Formed Cyber response team and associated policies/procedures Show less
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The Legal 500 (Legalease)
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United Kingdom
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Book and Periodical Publishing
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100 - 200 Employee
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Network Manager
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Mar 2015 - Mar 2016
Managed a team of Support Engineers and Developers. Completed IT Transformation project which replaced their entire physical server infrastructure with a clustered Hyper-V environment to provide a resilient, high-availability system. Completed Software Asset Management audits with Microsoft. Scoped and Designed a solution within Microsoft Dynamics CRM and managed the RFP process to find a suitable software vendor. Implemented Desktop standardisation and PC imaging solution to improve reliability and enable bulk-installation of new PC’s. Show less
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Systems Engineer
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Apr 2007 - Apr 2015
I managed the end-to-end IT solutions for numerous prestigious clients including Credit-Agricole S.A. (London Branch), the UK’s largest independent Music Management Company, Big Life Management, and the Association of British Healthcare Industries. My clients were from a variety of industries, and ranged in size from start-ups to full-scale enterprises with disaster recovery sites. For each of these clients, I managed their complete IT solution and ensured their systems remain as reliable as their budgets allow. In addition to my regular clients, I also provided top-level skills to several other local IT Support companies and as such built a reputation based upon my technical skills and was highly regarded in my field. Show less
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CA IT Solutions Ltd
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United Kingdom
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IT Services and IT Consulting
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1 - 100 Employee
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Senior Systems Engineer
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Jan 2004 - Apr 2007
As the Senior Systems Engineer, and the lead technical resource within the company, this position involved managing the development of the Technical staff and also attending client sites. Client visits often involved board-level consulting, but also included “hands-on” server builds, support and even complete disaster recovery. This role provided great exposure to over fifty clients running a variety of server configurations and applications. Computer Assist is one of the longest-running IT Support Companies in the UK, albeit under new ownership since my leaving. Show less
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IT Manager
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May 2003 - Dec 2003
In this role, as their first IT Manager, I brought their ADSL/VPN Roll-out up to speed and had their 11 sites connected to the head office using a WAN over broadband, thus saving the company a huge expense in ISDN data calls. This was whilst providing both desktop and server support to the head office and to the sites. Support of the sites was provided by telephone, remote assistance and by site visits where necessary. In this role, as their first IT Manager, I brought their ADSL/VPN Roll-out up to speed and had their 11 sites connected to the head office using a WAN over broadband, thus saving the company a huge expense in ISDN data calls. This was whilst providing both desktop and server support to the head office and to the sites. Support of the sites was provided by telephone, remote assistance and by site visits where necessary.
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IT Manager
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May 1999 - May 2003
Reporting directly to The Chairman, I was tasked with running the IT systems for the company. This included the identification of technology requirements, preparing budgets, speaking and advising at board meetings. I was also responsible for managing the technical support team who in turn ensured the smooth running of all critical systems. One particular project I managed was the complete systems replacement which cost somewhere in the region of £300,000 back in 2002. Reporting directly to The Chairman, I was tasked with running the IT systems for the company. This included the identification of technology requirements, preparing budgets, speaking and advising at board meetings. I was also responsible for managing the technical support team who in turn ensured the smooth running of all critical systems. One particular project I managed was the complete systems replacement which cost somewhere in the region of £300,000 back in 2002.
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IT Trainer
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1997 - Apr 1999
Provided training for Windows Operating System and Microsoft Office Suite Provided training for Windows Operating System and Microsoft Office Suite
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