Ira Shapiro

Primary consultant for a CIO / CISO advisory firm

Working with franchisors and small to midsize businesses who need temporary or fractional CIO / CISO help

Transitional leader to help organizations utilize technology as a strategic advantage and through digital transformations

Self-motivated, with a strong sense of personal responsibility to improve technology effectiveness.

Services include Fractional CIO/CTO/CISO, technology strategy, department management, program / project management and cyber-security services.

• Improved systems performance and efficiency through a technology assessment and modernization program for a franchise brokerage
• Enhanced company performance by implementing strategic plans and overseeing daily operations.
• Implemented a security awareness program and upgraded security protocols and tools
• Developed and implemented new strategies and policies to establish long-term business objectives and provide strong and sustainable organizational leadership.
• Oversaw business-wide changes to modernize procedures and organization.
• Deployed a new conference management solution which reduced TCO by 75% while adding new fearures

Prioritized current work streams for cybersecurity, policy and procedure development and project management best practices.

• Cultivated strong relationships with external partners to foster collaboration and maximize resources.

Executive in charge of information technology strategy, solitons, and team management at the tactical and financial management level for both the franchise network and corporate entity for AlphaGraphics and PostNet International, the two US Brands with 500+ locations for MBE Worldwide

• Technology strategy development and alignment with corporate goals and initiatives including:

Championed innovative product development efforts, driving the creation of new revenue-generating technology solutions including:

• National Ecommerce, the first national sales solution for AlphaGraphics, is estimated to generate an additional $25 million in revenue in its first full year
• Point of Sale (POS Systems): Working globally with the MBE parent, developed a new web-based POS and shipping solution for the PostNet brand It is the center piece for a new technology stack at PostNet including integrated CRM, enhanced shipping options and pricing that will fuel 10% YOY revenue growth

Fostered strong vendor relationships to negotiate favorable contracts and ensure timely delivery of products and services and opened new markets for our franchisees

• Franchisee Support Portal: Executive in charge of team to identify, acquire and deploy a new SaaS help desk solution including ticketing, knowledge base and community forums which improved franchisee support response times and provided a self-service solution
• Improved customer satisfaction to a monthly average of 94% while reducing staffing by 10% This solution was adopted globally by the other MBE brands

Website: Executive over the cross functional team that replaced an on-premises Adobe solutio with a cloud- based solution

• This allowed for both a national website and local website for each location in a structured hierarchy
• Collaborated with franchise network, Ops, IT and Marketing
• Simplified interface which enabled Franchisees to maintain and update their local websites Improved SEO performance while maintaining brand standards and improved SEO/SEM management Lowered total cost of ownership by 80%

Cybersecurity - Deployed the first HQ and network wide solutions to protect our brands from email-based threats (highest threat vector) for our network

• Integrated the Proofpoint solution set
• Additionally, deployed solutions for endpoint and HQ network security as part of our risk management program
• Established policies and standard operating procedures to improve overall security at HQ and locations across the networks

Infrastructure/DevOps: Established a cloud strategy which reduced by 25% overall data center costs and enabled better management of CapEx and OpEx budget

Emerging Technologies included our use of arHficial intelligence (AI) soluHons across our business.

• Primary consultant for a CIO / CISO advisory firm
• Working with small to midsize businesses who need temporary or fractional CIO / CISO help
• Transitional leader to help organizations utilize technology as a strategic advantage and through digital transformations
• Increased customer satisfaction through continuous improvement initiatives and excellent customer service.
• Services include Department Management, Program / Project Management in addition to Technology Infrastructure, IT Procurement Process improvement and Information Security consulting.

Executive of the IT function for a technology centric commercial printer.

• Technology solutions addressed the complexities in managing print and digital communications for compliance driven, geographically dispersed industries (Healthcare, Financial Services, Insurance, Gaming
• Responsible for emerging technologies to improve operational efficiencies and opened new markets and partnerships including a partnership with a national photo products provider that increased revenue by $5M annually through an automated print/fulfillment solution

Streamlined IT operations by consolidating systems and implementing process improvements.

• Achieved cost savings through strategic vendor negotiations and management of technology resources.
• Solutions included semi-custom e-commerce sites that allowed self-service ordering and fulfillment, API’s and process automatons which enabled high volume programs such as healthcare enrollment and online retail/ custom greeting/photo card solutions
• Developed high-performing teams through effective recruitment, training, and performance management strategies.
• Drove the business intelligence utilized for customers and executives that measured performance, identified new opportunities and provided near real time customer information/reporting

Financial and management responsibility for Application Development, QA, IT Infrastructure and Procurement, PMO and CISO including business continuity planning, and privacy policy creation and enforcement.

• Enhanced cybersecurity measures by conducting risk assessments and implementing security protocols.

IT department head of operating division of RR Donnelly for both operational and budgetary management

• Aligned IT to business strategies and identifying new innovations that would improve our technology and business outcomes
• Solutions enabled self-service management of highly variable, personalized print/fulfillment and email communication programs for the healthcare, insurance, pharma, and other highly regulated and compliance driven industries
• Processing automatons were key to support and grow the volume of work produced each day
• Fully integrated fulfillment system to manage both warehouse fulfillment and print-on-demand orders

Direct management of PMO, QA, Compliance and DevOps

• Primary point of contact with RRD headquarters IT on cross location solutions, business continuity planning and risk management monitoring and remediation for the highly regulated industries we served.
• Implemented cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive company data and maintain compliance with industry standards.
• Enhanced IT infrastructure by implementing strategic technology upgrades and streamlining system processes.

As Sr.Manager, collaborated with senior leadership to leverage business systems assets to meet company strategies

• Provided strong leadership to enhance team productivity and morale.
• Set the technical direction and execution ensuring system flexibility in a changing business climate.

Led cross-functional teams to achieve project milestones and deliver high-quality results including:

Enterprise Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence- Built and led a team of IT/BI professionals that established a best-in-class data warehouse enabling real-time analytics and reporting driving more and profitable sales

• Enhanced data management process/procedures to keep the Data Warehouse current and accurate
• Enterprise Data Warehouse made $30MM in new revenue from the analytics created for sales

PeopleSoft (Financials and HCM) - Improved reporting of financials through the implementation and upgrade of PSF

Database Architecture - Responsible for PCI compliance through database management

EDI - Lead IT Procurement for application development working with our purchasing department with major vendors

Managed and mentored 8 managers and 75 indirect IT professionals.

• Collaborated closely with peers from other departments to drive organizational success jointly as one cohesive unit.
• Mentored junior staff members for skill development and career progression within the organization.

Started an IT consultancy focused on developing and managing solutions for organizations building and seeding data warehouses and analytical / reporting platforms

• Consulted with customers to assess needs and propose optimal solutions.
• Worked with client staff on requirements, business rule development, testing and deployment of systems focused on data quality

Developed and maintained strong relationships with clients, resulting in repeat business and referrals.

• Clients included Ameritech, Bank of NY, Lexis/Nexis, Harris Bank, etc