Brad Wernicke
Melrose Park
Summary
Technology Manager with 35 years of IT experience and a diverse skill set. Experienced with IT Infrastructure & Operations, Systems Development, and Service Desk fundamentals in both corporate and cloud environments. Leadership-Experienced department manager with both budgetary and people management responsibilities. Systems Diversity-Accomplished Project Manager & Developer on multiple hardware platforms, and various programming languages. Innovation-Played leadership or key role at multiple companies, and multiple technologies. Business Expansion-Implemented processes and systems that support rapid growth and acquisitions.
Overview
31
31
years of professional experience
Work History
Vice-President, Senior Systems Engineer
Societe Generale
Chicago, Illinois
03.2023 - Current
- Managed partnerships with several external vendors that support the bank's GMI application.
- Senior Systems Administrator for 7 IBM I LPAR's, 6 IBM VIOS servers, 2 IBM DS8950F Storage arrays.
- Responsible for maintaining systems at two production data centers and routinely (twice per year), switching production workloads between them leveraging advanced technologies such as IASP Flashcopy, Global Mirror, and Rocket iCluster.
- Implemented IBM I LPAR Based Guarded Copy on production LPAR. Safeguarded copies taken every hour and retained for 9 days. Bootable on demand within minutes and used often by bank users for system point-in-time analysis.
- Developed documentation for repeatable processes to update over 400 system components per year including software, hardware, and firmware.
- Performed all system administration related activities for IBM SKLM for physical tape encryption as well as the IBM License Metric Tool. Activities included starting from bare metal through production use and establishing DR version of said components.
- Migrated 7 LPAR's on 3 IBM Power 9 servers to IBM Power 10 servers over the course of three weekends with no incidents.
- Implemented Kerberos Authentication on 6 IBM I LPAR's using three different regional Windows domains as the authentication source.
- Responsible for building IBM ACS packages for distribution via the Microsoft Company Portal application for 1,000 users.
- Developed countless tools using Excel and Visual Basic to execute system integrity checks and demonstrate the value of services provided via graphs built over pivot tables.
- Societe Generale is an international bank with approximately 150,000 employees worldwide and they are the 17th largest bank in the world. In my role with them I manage the entire IBM Power infrastructure including Power 10 servers, Storage, and HMC's, and system related applications.
Director, Cloud & Managed Services
Meridian IT, Inc.
Deerfield, Illinois
01.2014 - 01.2023
- Managed a team of 15 including Data Center Operators, Senior Operators, and Level 2 Help Desk support for Meriden IT customers worldwide. Services provided on a wide variety of hardware platforms including IBM Power and x86 in virtualized environments.
- Participated as a member of the Meridian Cloud Change Advisory Board and participated regularly in multiple customer change management meetings to support cloud customers.
- Focused on measurable, continuous improvement so that cloud services would easily scale to many customers and systems.
- Worked with multiple enterprise customers to develop and execute HA & DR practices on IBM Power and other platforms.
- Responsible for the team that performed monitoring and management of over 300 IBM I LPAR's, more than 30 VIOS servers, and dozens of HMC's.
- Meridian IT is an international provider of Cloud and Managed Services for businesses around the world.
Cloud Engineer
Global Support Center Manager
07.2015 - 07.2017
- Managed a team of 11 supporting Data Center Operations, along with Level 1 and Level 2 Help Desk support for Meriden IT customers worldwide. Services provided on a wide variety of hardware platforms including IBM Power and x86 in virtualized environments. Responsible for turning around an operation without processes and procedures with customer satisfaction issues. Metrics driven management philosophy that demonstrates the value of services provided.
- Provided managed services and level 3 support on many platforms for Meridian IT customers.
Technical Services & Communications Manager
Chamberlain
Elmhurst, Illinois
01.2000 - 01.2013
- Key areas of responsibility include Data Center Operations, Telephone & Contact Center systems and applications, Video & Audio Collaboration systems, Video Surveillance and security systems. As a manager of these key areas, I can provide and measure IT value provide the following ways:
- Roadmaps - Established and maintain three-to-five-year technology roadmaps and package them as standard IT products and service that are aligned with business requirements. Roadmaps are established by working with cross functional teams.
- Budget Management - Management of the Infrastructure Department $6 million expense budget, and $2 million capital budget. Metrics are used with key services provided to measure actual vs. plan, illustrate trends for future planning, and are used as tools with department leadership and with business leadership as need dictates.
- Vendor Relationships & Management - Establish and maintain relationships with solution manufacturers and implementation partners to provide assistance starting with roadmap development through implementation, aligning cost effective solutions with business needs.
- Contract Negotiations/RFP - Renegotiate technology-related contracts every three years to ensure that services provided provide the intended business value. Core telephone & WAN expense; equipment hardware, software and support maintenance are just a small part of my experience.
- The above practices were used consistently, but most recently on the following key projects:
- SIP Migration - Completed migration from legacy POTS/ISDN PRI services to SIP for all North America locations. This consisted of porting over 10,000 local DID and toll-free numbers, and eliminating legacy technology support the POTS/PRI solution. Cost savings annually were over $1 million when combined with RFP results for new services.
- Data Center Consolidation - Consolidated four data centers into three resulting in cost savings of approximately $250,000 annually. This included construction of a brand new 2000 square foot data center at Chamberlain's office in Tucson Arizona. This multi-million dollar project was completed on budget, and on time in only four months. Data center engineering is based on supporting a $100 million SAP ERP solution implementation.
- Cisco Voice Implementation - Completed implementation of a Cisco voice solution from project inception to conclusion. Facilitated negotiations with Cisco and Avaya to establish five-year total cost 'of ownership, and feature/functionality matrix to arrive at a solution which aligned with Chamberlain's business need.
- IBM System I Consolidation - Consolidated three IBM iSeries systems while implementing a practiced disaster recovery solution. This project resulted in higher system availability and a cost avoidance of $750,000.
- Chamberlain is the worldwide leader in providing access control solutions to residential and commercial customers with approximately 25 locations worldwide.
Group Manager – Platform Integration
New Resources Corporation
Schaumburg, Illinois
01.1995 - 01.2000
- Transitioned from role as charter employee to Group manager based on results as a consultant. Was promoted to Group Manager, and given control over the formation and direction of the group.
- Organized training programs, marketing materials, and marketing education for the entire sales staff.
- Played a closing role in sales and marketing calls to secure business for the Platform Integration Group.
- Successfully opened six new accounts in the first half of 1996 with Platform Integration projects.
- Continued role as consultant, billing part time & awarded “Top Gun” award for technical prowess.
- A general consultancy with a focus on systems development serving companies in five different states.
Management Consultant – Platform Integration
01.1995 - 01.1996
- Hired as the charter employee to start the Platform Integration Group.
- Hired as a key employee to form the New Resources Platform Integration Group.
- Set a new standard for client deliverables within New Resources Corporation.
- Received New Resources Corporation Performer of the Month award for March & July of 1996
- Expanded revenues by identifying and closing additional projects at multiple clients.
Education
DePaul University
Chicago, Illinoisundefined
Pink Elephant ITIL Foundation Training
Las Vegas, NevadaSkills
- Skills: AV Systems Architecture, Budget Management, Contact Center, Data Center Operations, Disaster Recovery, Project Management, Security Architecture, Penetration Testing, Vendor Management
- Service Providers: AT & T, Comcast, Century Link, Intercall, Premier Global, Sprint, Verizon
- ERP Systems: BPCS, EDI, PKMS, SAP
- Operating Systems: AIX/Linux/UNIX, IBM System I, Windows XP, Window 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista/XP, Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows 2008, Windows 2013
- Databases: IBM DB2, MySQL, MS SQL
- Manufacturers: Acme, AMX, Avaya, Axis, Caterpillar, Cisco, Extron, F5, Generac, HP, Juniper, Liebert, NICE, Panasonic, Polycom, Tandberg
- Technology: Audio Conferencing, Citrix, Routing, Switching, SIP/H323, SNMP, Video Conferencing, Video Surveillance, VPN, Wireless, Structured Cabling, Cat 5/e, Cat 6, Coaxial, Fiber
- Software: Assyst, HP Insight Manager, HP OpenView, Lotus Notes, MS Office Suites, MS Project, MS Visio, Solariwinds, Logic Monitor, Avaya Interaction Ctr, Avaya (EAS ACD), Avaya Interaction Ctr, Cisco (IPCC), NICE Quality Mgmt, GMT Workforce Mgmt
- ITIL: Incident Management, Change Management, Foundations Certified
- Programming: HTML, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Shell Scripting, CL & RPG, XML, VBA
- Certifications: ITIL Foundations V2, V7000/Flash Systems, DS8900F, IASP Flashcopy, Global Mirror, Safeguarded Copy, Rocket iCluster, Maxava
CAREER AWARDS
SAP Implementation Participation Award, CEO, Chamberlain (2012), Recipient of CIT Journey Award by Vice President of IT, Chamberlain (2009), Recipient of “Technology MVP” award by Vice President of IT, Chamberlain (2006), Received “Top Gun” award for technical prowess - New Resources Corporation (1996), Recipient of multiple “Outstanding Performer of the Month” awards – New Resources Corporation, Received “Presidents Award” for Loyalty, Commitment, Dedication – BPSI (1994)
Timeline
Vice-President, Senior Systems Engineer
Societe Generale
03.2023 - Current
Cloud Engineer
Global Support Center Manager
07.2015 - 07.2017
Director, Cloud & Managed Services
Meridian IT, Inc.
01.2014 - 01.2023
Technical Services & Communications Manager
Chamberlain
01.2000 - 01.2013
Group Manager – Platform Integration
New Resources Corporation
01.1995 - 01.2000
Management Consultant – Platform Integration
01.1995 - 01.1996
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Pink Elephant ITIL Foundation Training
DePaul University