April Etter
Tewksbury
Summary
Experienced Information Technology Specialist with thirty-seven years at the IRS, specializing in IT equipment management and process improvement. Notable accomplishment includes the successful update of over 10,000 IT profiles for fiscal year 2024, highlighting proficiency in stakeholder engagement and quality assurance. Proven ability to communicate effectively and deliver results, enhancing collaboration and service delivery across teams.
Overview
37
37
years of professional experience
Work History
Information Technology Specialist
Internal Revenue Service
Andover
09.2009 - Current
- Company Overview: This is a federal job
- As an IT specialist I maintain the IT profile exceptions for hardware across the Agency
- I am responsible for over 135 thousand profiles and processing service catalog task tickets in accordance with the negotiated v19 rules established for title, grade, series, position description and equipment entitlements
- So far for FY24 I have updated 10,312 profiles be and exception, new hire, internal hire or pilot programs
- I collaborate with Business System Planner (BSP) stakeholders to handle their business unit requirements for IT Equipment Profile updates
- This involves processing profile rule changes, profile exceptions, requests for New Hire onboarding changes, and adding BSP approved iPads to executive profiles
- I attend the monthly BRM meeting forums and engage in discussions with the BSPs about their IT needs and the impact it may have on the IT Equipment Profile process
- I brief management when approval is needed for IT Equipment Profile Rule Changes for concurrence before processing any changes
- An example of process improvement that I identified was a trend in IT Profiles ticket request processing related to frequent telework and the inconsistencies in SETR and the Telework Portal
- I contacted the IRS Telework Office to request a generated report in People Trak telework portal for my analysis and decision making of granting exceptions for equipment and advise the Business System Planner (BSP) of budget constraints and limited stock to address the gap between entitlements and synchronizations of the telework agreement type between HR connect, SETR and the portal
- I recognized a trend with tickets for a Miami POD closure and a peak in demand for multi-functional devices
- I contacted the stakeholders from Facilities Management Shared Services (FMSS), Business Relationship Management (BRM), Small Business/Self Employed (SB/SE), and the UNS Local Continuity Representative to gather information and present a complete analysis to SPI Senior Management for a determination
- This analysis led to a decision to support provisioning at the POD enabling SB/SE to be in line with their mission goals
- Another example, When the WI Technology Demo III Project Manager wanted to know how to update profiles for 300 employees in Philadelphia, I researched the Work Request Management System (WRMS) and found Development/Modernization/Enhancement (DME) and an unapproved WR
- To achieve a unified effort for service delivery, I scheduled and facilitated the meetings with management, the Project, Continual Service Improvement (CSI) and Materials Management to propose groupings based on job series
- The meeting also verified whether equipment was available to meet the capacity requirements and the availability of stock
- I managed a team in writing and updating documents for the IT Profile exceptions and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), to keep peers and BSPs informed on policies and procedures
- In my New Hire program role, I developed a check list for profiles processing for both the employees and manger's tool kit
- I gained concurrence from the SPI Senior Manager and completed a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Pilot to develop knowledge and skills within SPI
- I hosted a branch learning session for Enterprise Remote Access Program (ERAP) Overview with an Engineering Subject Matter Expert (SME)
- I also hosted a learning session with Portfolio Management on the OneNote program as a free-form data gathering
- I sought ways to improve service to the BSPs while maintaining communication channels and roles and responsibilities to meet their approved requirements
- I collected pain points and customer complaints from BRM/BSP meetings and collaborated with service providers to provide solutions and technical research
- I have facilitated several Skype training sessions with the BSPs and their staff to show them how to submit Request Fulfillment (RF) tickets in KISAM
- I advised BSPs of budget considerations and the availability of equipment stock
- I promoted adherence to policy and advised BSPs to ensure accurately signed and modified telework agreements were uploaded to the telework portal and allow up to 3 weeks for changes affect
- I provided links in my documentation with resources to enable access to repositories
- I created and redesigned the IT Profile exception analysis workbook that is used to provide detailed information on profile rule changes or exceptions to enable Management to make informed decisions to approve or deny a rule request change
- Example: I penned correspondence which identified a trend of GS-0512 series non-compliance with their negotiated V19 equipment rule (portable printer) for multi-functional devices (MFD)
- Once it was brought to BSP attention a rule change was initiated and approved, so MFD are no longer an exception to the rule, it is the rule
- In 2022 I was an IT Specialist detailed (120 days) to Contact Center Support Division (CCSD
- I provided expertise and support for the Ribbon Protect project on the IRS toll-free infrastructure to combat robotic (bot) callers on the IRS Priority Practitioner services (PPS) line
- I collaborated with the Vendor (Google) and assisted in Developing a detailed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for the Ribbon Protect project
- I conducted meetings with the vendor to review any Project schedule modifications and ensure the project task were complete
- I also provided support to the Vendor for installation of hardware at the Ogden, UT facility for Ribbon Protect Project
- I ensured the Business submitted Unified Work Requests (UWRs) and availability of funding and appropriate resources
- I aided in developing roles and responsibilities for the project management plan to track and coordinate UWRs and Change Requests and Project Milestones for the Ribbon Protect Project
- I aided and supported the Verizon solution Priority Practitioner Services application (PPS) that will leverage Google’s Call Center Artificial Intelligence (CCAI) Dialogflow to allow callers access to the IRS PPS line for validation as humans by analyzing the caller’s audio input to disqualify machine-generated calls
- Experienced Information Technology Specialist engaging in various aspects of IT, Capacity, Continuity and Availability Management (CCAM), Demand Forecasting, Desktop Support, Quality Assurance, Analytics, Work Request Management System (WRMS) and Microsoft Teams for communication tool
- Excellent customer and peer skills
- Results-oriented with strong ability to communicate effectively with Executives, IT, and business audiences across the enterprise and externally
- I communicate using the latest communications technology available (MS Teams, Saba, Skype, softphone)
- I Contribute my skills and knowledge to cross-functional teams for New Hire, IT Hardware Profiles, and UNS Work Request Front Door
- I also partner with Business Relationship Management (BRM) with their monthly meetings with the different business organizations
- Assist others by providing methods to obtain new skills and knowledge levels
- As part of (CCAM) I performed analysis to make recommendations using KISAM tickets for future capacity, demand, and availability planning
- Example: During the storm/hurricane events, I took the initiative to fill gaps with our Continuity responsiveness, attended the UNS Daily Operations Call, and generated lists of UNS employees and addresses for the impacted states
- These lists were forwarded to our ACIO staff and distributed to UNS Directors and Executive Assistants for pre-event preparation with Situation Awareness and Management Center (SAMC)
- I used Business Objects Environment (BOE) to schedule reports to analyze and chart the impact on patterns of business activities for capacity and availability for projects
- I also used various tools/techniques for data gathering, i.e., Knowledge Incident/Problem Service and Asset Mgt
- (KISAM), Work Request Management System (WRMS), knowledge articles (KAs), Discovery Directory, Internet/Intranet, IT4U, IRS Source and ITIL best practices
- Processed software work requests through Work Request Management System (WRMS) established and facilitated pre-coordination meetings with requestors and suppliers providing requirements researched through Standard Change Release Management
- (SCRM) and Enterprise Architecture Standards Profile (ESP)
- I was the lead for the IT Profile process for adding exceptions for equipment via KISAM tickets
- Worked together with Business Relationship Management (BRM) on IT Profile issues and equipment rules
- Collaborated on several different projects within UNS and the Enterprise- ISRP/SCRIPS Workstation Support Transition to UNS from a stand-a-lone EOPs system to UNS owned
- Adobe Acrobat going from licenses across the Enterprise to a more cost-effective version of Adobe Reader
- This is a federal job
Information Technology Specialist
Internal Revenue Service
Andover
02.1988 - 09.2009
- Company Overview: This is a federal job
- As a Quality Assurance Evaluator (QAE) I was responsible for four campuses, Andover, Brookhaven, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia (ANSC, BSC, CSC, and PSC) which I traveled to once a month and performed onsite surveillance
- I ensured that the Integrated Document Solutions Enterprise (IDSE MEO met their contractual duties as stated in the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP)
- I evaluated multiple types of IT products and services to ensure that the IDSE adhered to contract specifications, so the business units could perform their daily duties effectively
- It may be through Control-d web, system logs through Tennessee Computing Center Sys-L (TCC) and Martinsburg Computing Center Sys-M (MCC), schedules, machine logs and printed output
- I document their performance and or discrepancies in accordance with their Performance Work Statement (PWS)
- I make recommendations or suggestions for resolution
- I then create a written report and forward my findings to Designated Government Representative (DGR), Territory Manager and Front-line manager
- I participated in weekly group meetings to discuss all my findings and discuss any question that may arise
- I posted my data findings from my sites to our Share Point site for a monthly accumulation of reports to be sent to senior managers
- I have regular contact with employees at each of my campuses, managers at all levels of MITS and the business units, outside vendors and contractors
- I maintain a complete file of each campus’s monthly surveillance reports, with all the attached documentation to support my findings
- I keep all documentation in a locked and secure cabinet for the life of the contract
- I have a wide range of analytical and diagnostic methods and procedures to identify actions and implement recommendations
- After a surveillance month has ended, all ITAMS tickets closed during that month are subject to review by the Government Program Management Office (GPMO)
- To accomplish this, I must export the excel ticket numbers and other information for that month from ITAMS to the IDSE ITAMS pull spreadsheet
- Once in the IDSE ITAMS pull file, I sort tickets into 10 different review groups based upon performance requirements specified in Section C of the PWS
- The Analyst then runs the ANSI randomizer software to generate the tickets for review in each category
- The review can be anywhere from one to over two hundred tickets
- This is a federal job
Education
High School Graduate -
Revere High School
Revere, MA, United States06.1982
Skills
- Microsoft Office
- Excel
- MS Teams
- Word
- Visio
- Project
- Typing
- Client-focused
- Results-oriented
- Customer service
- Stakeholder engagement
- Service catalog management
- IT equipment management
- Process improvement
- Team collaboration
- Communication skills
- Problem solving
- Hardware diagnostics
- Hardware updates
- Quality assurance
- Incident tracking
- Verbal and written communication
- Microsoft outlook
- Desktop support
- IT asset management
Affiliations
- State board member for Sons and Daughters of Italy
- Knights of Columbus
- Federally Employed Women (FEW) - Chapter President 2013-2015
Job Related Training
- Project Management courses
- Management Concepts Fundamentals of Business, Cost, & Financial Management
- Management Concepts Leadership and Communication Skills for Project Leaders
- Management Concepts Communicating Strategically
- Fundamentals of Process Improvement
- ESI International Managing IT Projects
- ITIL Service Capability r.1.6 - Service Offerings & Agreements
- ITIL Service Lifecycle r.1.6 - Strategy
- ITIL Service Lifecycle-Design
- Managing Your Client and Customer's Relationships for Analysts
- Data Driven Decision Making
- Work Request, HP- PPM Roles, & navigating WRMS
- Introduction to Business Analysis
Day Phone
978-783-8379
Evening Phone
978-851-5508
Performance Awards
Received performance awards 2000-2024
Typing Speed
90 words per minute
References
- Gary Chang, IRS, Information Technology Specialist, 415-837-6389, Gary.Chang@irs.gov
- James White, IRS Information Technology 609-744-2927
- Gary Boyden, 631-487-0626
- Christopher Tavares, Tufts University, Grounds, 781-640-2773
Work Schedule
Full-Time
Job Type
- Permanent
- Detail
- Promotion
Timeline
Information Technology Specialist
Internal Revenue Service
09.2009 - Current
Information Technology Specialist
Internal Revenue Service
02.1988 - 09.2009
High School Graduate -
Revere High School
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