Asfoor Rana
Senior Global Incident Manager (Service Management) - VP
Brooklyn,NY
Summary
ITIL Expert-certified Senior Incident and Service Delivery Manager with over 15 years of experience in leading high-severity incident resolution, cybersecurity collaboration, and SLA-driven IT operations for global financial institutions like BNY Mellon and Citibank. Proven track record of reducing resolution times by 20%, optimizing ServiceNow workflows, and ensuring compliance with MAS, RBI, FCA, GDPR, and SOX regulations. Skilled in matrix-managing cross-functional teams to resolve critical outages, minimize business disruptions, and deliver high ROI for IT investments. Possesses a unique blend of strategic 'helicopter view' and deep technical expertise in incident/problem management, root cause analysis, and stakeholder communication. Committed to driving transformation through ITIL best practices, automation, and fostering partnerships to align IT service delivery with business objectives.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
1
1
Certificate
4
4
Languages
4
4
years of post-secondary education
Work History
Vice President - Global Incident and Production Management
Bank of New York (BNY Mellon)
Singapore
05.2020 - 10.2024
- Spearheaded Command Centre (CTOC) operations, reducing incident resolution time by 20% through automation and cross-functional training.
- Response Coordination: Assess severity of incidents, Lead and coordinate response efforts during critical response efforts during critical technology related incidents, ensuring timely resolution and minimal disruption to operations.
- Led war rooms for 100+ P1/P2 incidents, ensuring compliance with MAS, RBI, and GDPR regulations.
- Collaborated with ServiceNow developers to enhance incident workflows, improving team efficiency by 30%.
- Actively responded to cyber threats (including DDoS attacks) alongside the Cybersecurity team, containing risks and hardening defenses.
- Voluntarily assisted weekend release deployments, guaranteeing disruption-free changes via meticulous planning and execution.
- Expertise in handling service disruptions while ensuring compliance with financial, data privacy, and operational resilience regulations across Singapore (MAS), India (RBI), UK (FCA), and the US (SEC, FINRA). Adept at implementing incident response protocols that meet SOX, GDPR, and regional PDPA requirements.
- Communication: Facilitate clear and timely communication with stakeholders, including senior management, technical teams, and external parties, to provide updates and manage expectations.
- Escalation Management: Implement escalation procedures as necessary, escalating incidents to higher-level support or management when required to ensure resolution.
- Root Cause Analysis: Conduct thorough post-incident analysis to identify root causes and contributing factors, facilitating the implementation of preventive measures to avoid future occurrences.
- Acted as the face of Incident Management, collaborating with ServiceNow developers to communicate new requirements, enhancements, and workflow optimizations on behalf of the team.
- Tested and validated new ServiceNow changes, ensuring seamless integration with Incident Management processes before deployment.
- Trained and onboarded new hires on ServiceNow Incident Management workflows, ensuring rapid proficiency in tool usage and best practices.
- Documentation: Maintain comprehensive documentation of incident details, response actions, and resolutions for future reference and improvement.
- Continuous Improvement: Continuously review and refine incident management processes and procedures to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
- Reduced Incident Resolution Time: Implemented proactive measures that led to a 20% reduction in average incident resolution time, resulting in increased system uptime and improved user satisfaction.
- Enhanced Communication Protocols: Introduced standardized communication protocols during incidents, resulting in clearer and more efficient communication among stakeholders, reducing confusion and improving response coordination.
- Improved Incident Response Strategy: Spearheaded the development and implementation of an incident response playbook, streamlining response procedures and ensuring consistency across teams, which resulted in a 15% increase in incident response efficiency.
- Mitigated Major Incidents: Successfully managed and mitigated several high-severity incidents, minimizing business impact and preventing potential revenue loss, earning recognition from senior management for calm and effective leadership under pressure.
- Developed Cross-Functional Training: Designed and delivered cross-functional incident management training sessions, equipping teams with essential skills and knowledge to handle incidents effectively, resulting in a more resilient and responsive organization.
- Implemented Automation Solutions: Led the integration of automation tools into incident management processes, reducing manual efforts by 30% and enabling faster incident detection and resolution.
- Achieved Compliance Goals: Ensured incident management practices aligned with industry regulations and standards, leading to successful compliance audits and maintaining organizational reputation and trustworthiness.
Vice President – Global Incident Management & Quality Assurance Team
Citibank
Singapore
02.2012 - 05.2020
- Company Overview: [Consumer & Institutional Banking Division of Citi Group, a multinational financial services corporation headquartered in New York, USA]
- Managing day to day Incident Management Operations.
- Taking care of escalations to Senior Leadership and Stake Holders during Incident calls.
- Making sure right people are engaged on High severity incidents.
- Working closely with Production support teams from Consumer Banking, Private Banking and Institutional Banking, Problem and Change management team assuring accurate data is provided to them which would help them in identifying the root cause.
- Attending Global Service Assurance Head and other Regional Leads on weekly basis.
- Represent Incident Management on Daily Operations Review (DOR) call held daily where past 24 hours' incidents are discussed.
- Participation in Weekly Service Quality (SQ) meeting with Head of Production Support and Network Team.
- Reviewing Quality of Data in Major Incident Ticket post incident resolution.
- Reviewing communication sent for ongoing incidents and quality of Alerts /SMS sent to Senior Management.
- [Consumer & Institutional Banking Division of Citi Group, a multinational financial services corporation headquartered in New York, USA]
Assistant VP - Global Incident Management
Citibank
Singapore
06.2014 - 06.2018
- Providing strategic vision to the management of critical incidents that have a high impact on the group's global business viz. consumer banking, markets, transaction services, financial technologies, etc; I steer senior cross-functional teams to create strategic processes aligned to support key incidents, overseeing experts in driving and resolving outages for major lines of business (e.g. ICG, GCT, CTO, etc.) as well as across all Mainframe and Distributed platforms.
- In addition to my core responsibilities, I am a member of the Quality assurance team representing ASPAC Incident management, consistently brainstorming possible enhancements to the process and communicating vital additions/changes to incident management.
- Swiftly moved on to climb the hierarchical ladder, starting as an Assistant Manager, and moving on to become a Manager, and now, an Assistant VP.
- Playing a pivotal role in the development of a Balanced Scorecard management tool that will be used to effectively measure employee performance across the organization comprehensively.
- Ensure the delivery of a consistently superior service when driving incidents to resolution.
- Perform end to end chronology of a major incidents post resolution to improve the process from a holistic approach.
- Lead/support continuous improvement activities to improve overall incident management process to ITIL V3 standards.
Assistant Manager /Senior Incident Manager
Citibank
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
01.2012 - 01.2014
- Owning full accountability for driving activities related to the Critical (Severity 1 or 2, 3) Incident Management process in accordance to Citi's documented processes, I was responsible to marshal the evolution of the Group's Incident Management; working to consistently upgrade and develop functions, processes & procedures for the end-to-end delivery of service quality and 'industry-best' customer service.
- Managing, driving and coordinating the technical calls, escalation and notifications to all senior and executive stakeholders across the firm, I established the means and directed activities to resolve the incident and return processes back to BAU as rapidly as possible.
- Helped senior team members create business aligned support of Incidents, with experts in driving and resolving outages for our major lines of business (e.g. ICG, GCT, CTO, etc.) as well as across all Mainframe and Distributed platforms.
- Ensured important communications are sent to senior management keeping them advised on incidents and client impact.
- Assisted other Global Command Centres, Business Command Centres and Incident teams on business application outages including the Global Network Command Centre (GNCC) for network outages.
- Ensured Incident records are fully documented in support of Meantime to Restore Service (MTRS) metrics, both during and after the incident.
- Worked in close conjunction with other global units to help maintain an acceptable audit rating.
Senior Incident Manager
COMPUTER SCIENCES CO-OPERATIONS (CSC) SDN BHD
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
01.2009 - 01.2011
- Company Overview: IT COMPANY
- Managing high-priority incidents using ITIL methodology platforms to meet contractual SLAs of multiple Australian Accounts, I coordinated expert domain resources (referral/support group) and ran bridges/service restoration teams (SRT) for the prompt resolution of critical issues; accurately prioritizing, monitoring, and escalating incidents/recurrences to service & problem managers and maintaining effective liaison with customers to provide timely status updates.
- Acting team lead in the absence of the team leader, I implemented strategic changes across business, technology and processes and ensured excellence in IT service management to meet client Service Level Agreements (SLA) at all levels.
- IT COMPANY
- Promoted from an Incident Coordinator to a Senior Incident Manager in a year on account of exemplary performance.
- Reviewed/improved the accuracy & content of the Service Management processes & system knowledge base.
- Expertly handled intense and critical outage, change management, problem management and Incident tickets request with key deliverables such as service-level reporting, risk, and contingency planning.
- Took action on high severity incidents providing quick break/fix solution, avoiding major impact on BAU activities.
- Restructured procurement processes, procedures and trade techniques to reduce costs.
- Directed software development & application upgrade plans, and implemented standardized reports for SLA transactions to enhance efficiency in the delivery of SLAs of key accounts.
IT Helpdesk Specialist & Process Owner
KEMS
Kuwait
01.2008 - 01.2009
- Company Overview: INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER (ISP)
- Directing resources for the support, operations & delivery of engineered IT services & application solution, I provided second line support to all service/functional requests; effectively interfacing between clients and 3rd parties to supply diagnostic information and escalating issues to senior teams to ensure speedy & prompt resolution.
- Spending significant time on core Lotus Notes troubleshooting, I was further responsible to manage new/change initiatives; ensuring adherence to all standards and close supervision of systems & services to add to overall internal business performance.
- INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER (ISP)
- Provided prompt resolution to customer call logs, achieving increased levels of customer satisfaction feedback.
- Automated & introduced better cross-functional resolution processes, thereby reducing case-resolution time notably.
- Generating weekly variance reports to team leader to help monitor service levels and further improve productivity.
- Extensively introduced and trained new hires on various aspects of the call handling and escalation process.
Senior Sales & Marketing Executive
Alghanim Industries
Kuwait
03.2001 - 12.2004
Education
Business Administration - Business Administration
INTI International University & Colleges
Penang, Malaysia 05.2003 - 05.2007
Skills
IT Service Management Cross-functional TrainingStakeholder EngagementVendor ManagementProcess ImprovementBusiness & Requirements AnalysisProject ManagementDisaster RecoveryCybersecuritySLA/OLA GovernanceServiceNow AdministrationIT Strategy & OperationsProblem ManagementIncident ManagementITIL Expert CertifiedIT Service ManagementTeam leadershipDecision-makingResults-driven
Accomplishments
· Reduced Incident Resolution Time: Implemented proactive measures that led to a 20% reduction in average incident resolution time, resulting in increased system uptime and improved user satisfaction.
· Enhanced Communication Protocols: Introduced standardized communication protocols during incidents, resulting in clearer and more efficient communication among stakeholders, reducing confusion and improving response coordination.
· Improved Incident Response Strategy: Spearheaded the development and implementation of an incident response playbook, streamlining response procedures and ensuring consistency across teams, which resulted in a 15% increase in incident response efficiency.
· Mitigated Major Incidents: Successfully managed and mitigated several high-severity incidents, minimizing business impact and preventing potential revenue loss, earning recognition from senior management for calm and effective leadership under pressure.
· Developed Cross-Functional Training: Designed and delivered cross-functional incident management training sessions, equipping teams with essential skills and knowledge to handle incidents effectively, resulting in a more resilient and responsive organization.
· Implemented Automation Solutions: Led the integration of automation tools into incident management processes, reducing manual efforts by 30% and enabling faster incident detection and resolution.
· Achieved Compliance Goals: Ensured incident management practices aligned with industry regulations and standards, leading to successful compliance audits and maintaining organizational reputation and trustworthiness.
Certification
ITIL Expert
Timeline
Vice President - Global Incident and Production Management
Bank of New York (BNY Mellon)
05.2020 - 10.2024
ITIL Expert
07-2015
Assistant VP - Global Incident Management
Citibank
06.2014 - 06.2018
Vice President – Global Incident Management & Quality Assurance Team
Citibank
02.2012 - 05.2020
Assistant Manager /Senior Incident Manager
Citibank
01.2012 - 01.2014
Senior Incident Manager
COMPUTER SCIENCES CO-OPERATIONS (CSC) SDN BHD
01.2009 - 01.2011
IT Helpdesk Specialist & Process Owner
KEMS
01.2008 - 01.2009
Business Administration - Business Administration
INTI International University & Colleges
05.2003 - 05.2007
Senior Sales & Marketing Executive
Alghanim Industries
03.2001 - 12.2004
Work Availability
monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
swipe to browse
Languages
English
Full Professional
Arabic
Full Professional
Hindi
Full Professional
Urdu
Full Professional
Key It Project Tools
- Teams
- ServiceNow
- Splunk
- Jira Service Management
- Outlook
- Virtual Tech
- Infoman - Change Ticketing Tool
- OneNote 2010
- Alarmpoint /Netinfo / OneNote
- Dialogic Remedy 4 & 7
- Impact - Incident Monitoring Tool
- Lotus Notes & Sametime Chat
- Impact Monitoring Tool
- MS Office Suite
Miscellaneous Information
MS Office Suite (Advanced User), English, Full Professional Proficiency, Urdu, Full Professional Proficiency, Arabic, Intermediate Proficiency, Member, Institutional Banking (ICG) & Service Management Core Committee - Citibank Singapore
Core Competencies
ITIL Expert Certified, Incident & Problem Management, IT Strategy & Operations, ServiceNow Administration, SLA/OLA Governance, Application Support & Integration, Cybersecurity & Disaster Recovery, Regulatory Compliance (MAS, RBI, FCA, SEC, FINRA, SOX, GDPR, PDPA), Project Management, Business & Requirements Analysis, Service Delivery Management, Process Improvement, Contingency & Transformation Planning, Vendor & SLA Management, Stakeholder Engagement, Cross-functional Training & Capability Building, ServiceNow Release Coordination, Major Incident Management in Financial Services, Compliance & Risk Mitigation, High-Severity Incident Resolution
Professional Courses Certifications
- ITIL Expert Certification, Axelos Global Best Practice, Singapore, 2015
- I.T Infrastructure Library (ITIL) V3 Foundation Certified, EXIN, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2010
Key It Project Tools
- Teams
- ServiceNow
- Splunk
- Jira Service Management
- Outlook
- Virtual Tech
- Infoman - Change Ticketing Tool
- OneNote 2010
- Alarmpoint /Netinfo / OneNote
- Dialogic Remedy 4 & 7
- Impact - Incident Monitoring Tool
- Lotus Notes & Sametime Chat
- Impact Monitoring Tool
- MS Office Suite
Miscellaneous Information
MS Office Suite (Advanced User), English, Full Professional Proficiency, Urdu, Full Professional Proficiency, Arabic, Intermediate Proficiency, Member, Institutional Banking (ICG) & Service Management Core Committee - Citibank Singapore
Core Competencies
ITIL Expert Certified, Incident & Problem Management, IT Strategy & Operations, ServiceNow Administration, SLA/OLA Governance, Application Support & Integration, Cybersecurity & Disaster Recovery, Regulatory Compliance (MAS, RBI, FCA, SEC, FINRA, SOX, GDPR, PDPA), Project Management, Business & Requirements Analysis, Service Delivery Management, Process Improvement, Contingency & Transformation Planning, Vendor & SLA Management, Stakeholder Engagement, Cross-functional Training & Capability Building, ServiceNow Release Coordination, Major Incident Management in Financial Services, Compliance & Risk Mitigation, High-Severity Incident Resolution