Mark E. Skalman
Chicago,USA
Summary
Seasoned IT leader with a proven track record at Goldman Sachs, adept in Data Center Management and fostering robust supplier relationships. Spearheaded the buildout of a secondary datacenter, significantly reducing downtimes by implementing preventative maintenance programs. Excelled in global project management, enhancing operational efficiencies and collaboration across continents.
Overview
35
35
years of professional experience
Work History
Head of Technology Operations
Legal and General (LGIMA)
Chicago, IL
01.2018 - Current
- Responsible for all IT infrastructure management including 2 US Equinix data centers, ITIL based IT Service Management, Networks, Service Desk, Application and Front Office Support, Voice and IT Operations, cloud platforms and desktop engineering
- Manage team of 4 managers (Infrastructure, ITSM, Productions Support, Project Management), 2 team Leads and 10 Technology Specialists
- Service provider manager with ownership of all IT vendors including onboarding, security due diligence questionnaires, SLA accountabilities, annual material assessments, contract management and quarterly engagements
- DR/BCP Manager responsible for planning, implementing, and maintaining measures that ensure system and data recovery in the event of a disaster including coordinating tabletop exercises, managing remote access platforms, ensure business resiliencies and oversee annual failover and alternate workspace tests
- Business and Operations resiliency and risk committee member responsible for ensuring all technology workflows, applications and systems are prioritized with proper KPI’s and backup procedures
- Responsible for IT budget planning and keeping spending under budget for $2.5m cost center
- Managed the buildout of a secondary datacenter in Elk Grove, IL
- Design includes redundant core network stacks, internal and external firewalls, DMZ, file storage with backups to AWS and Azure, domain controllers and VM servers with active/active connectivity to primary datacenter in Chicago
- Stabilized infrastructure by implementing preventative maintenance programs to improve monitoring and leverage manufacturers recommendations on updates, patches, and regular reboots
- Also, upgraded all critical circuits including MPLS, Equinix fabric to AWS and Azure and added internet redundancies with dual vendors and upgraded services to accommodate future cloud migrations
- Customized IT ticket system (ServiceNow) to automate multiple processes for tasks and requests including call outs and on/off boarding employees
- Orchestrated Skype for Business and MS Teams rollouts to dramatically improve collaboration in the office and bolstered our work from home experience resulting in saving over $100,000/year in audio bridge and long-distance costs with our London office alone
- Redesigned our transition to service model to improve turnaround times getting projects from development to production
- Migrated multiple backend services to cloud-based platforms including business applications, domain servers, Office 365 and proxy security
- Created emergency work area recovery program during pandemic to provide proper remote platforms for business continuity including corporate laptop imaging, secure VPN tunneling, mobile MDM solutions and secure access to Azure cloud tenant
- Managed technical buildout of Chicago office expansion including network design, desktop builds and connectivity, Microsoft Teams Room (MTR) conference rooms, wireless data and power design
Global IT Multimedia Manager
Mayer Brown
Chicago, IL
01.2014 - 01.2018
- Managed global IT team and services responsible for multimedia and unified collaboration platforms in North America, South America, UK and Asia
- Disaster recovery agent providing collaboration tools and platforms for work area recovery situations
- Member of the DR/BCP team responsible for maintaining and updating plans to ensure business workflows continue during a crisis
- Responsible for engineering and maintenance of all global IT systems including upgrades and standardizations
- Service provider manager and owner of all IT vendors providing Multimedia and unified communication services
- Implemented new technologies to improve and simplify user experiences including a Virtual Meeting Room system, migrating outdated appliances to VM and introducing cloud solutions for lower tiered services
- Created a preventative measure program to mitigate outages and improve downtimes by developing test plans, dashboards and procedures to proactively discover issues before they become a production issue
- Globalized team processes that dramatically improved user experiences by providing follow the sun support leveraging remote solutions and cross regional communications
- Improved business relationship with Technology by implementing regular open house sessions with all global Directors and Heads of office
- These sessions were used to develop global strategies and align the IT model with the business needs
- Successfully directed large scale office refresh projects in Chicago, New York, Houston and Washington, D.C
- Including integrated systems with network, cloud and voice solutions
- Designed and managed the implementation of our global VMR on-premises solution using Pexip VM nodes
- This solution provided the Firm with a multipoint video option on the Cisco desktop video phones and desktop client
- This system also provided an interoperability solution with Codian MCU’s, CUCM, VCS and Jabber/S4B
- Developed global standards in equipment and processes that resulted in over 50% reduction in implementation and service costs and exponentially reduced outages and downtimes
- Improved IT vendor management program by restructuring process to build relationships with the manufactures to ensure products are good fit for the business by testing and setting up proof of concepts in a test environment
- Extensive experience incorporating industry leading technologies into the AV and collaboration environment using manufactures Shure, Extron, Cisco, Vaddio, Crestron, Mersive, Barco, Pexip and more
- Successful migrated from Polycom to Cisco end points globally
Vice President, Technology
Goldman Sachs
Chicago, IL
01.2012 - 01.2014
- Infrastructure cable management Manager for Americas, Global Preventative Maintenance Program Manager, Asset Management Team Support Manager and DR/BCP coordinator for regional offices
- Global Project Manager for voice data and AV buildout projects
- Responsible for IT support team of 200+ Asset Management sales team including developing support modules and training for Service Desk agents in Salt Lake City and Bangalore
- Oversight of service provider management program including annual risk assessments and security due diligent feedback
- Managed infrastructure cabling projects for over 50 locations in North and South America
- Developed global multimedia preventative maintenance program significantly reducing production issues using root cause analysis process
- Directed global PM multimedia team in North America, Asia, Bangalore and Europe
- Led multimedia buildouts for Americas regional offices
- Analyzed desktop support needs for Chicago campus by assigning resources to cover business needs
- Co-Managed 60 seat disaster recovery buildout of North American facility at Sungard
- This was a 24/7 dedicated workspace that ran independently of the downtown office and datacenters and was used during the East coast Super Storm Sandy crisis for our New York and New Jersey critical users
Technology Analyst
Goldman Sachs
Chicago, IL
01.2004 - 01.2012
- Coordinated IPT rollouts for Chicago campus for 1100 users migrating from Avaya to Cisco platforms
- Responsible for system administration and remote support specialist of Windows desktop environment
- Support Desk triage and battle station specialist
- Led switch management and station cabling projects ensuring up-to-date infrastructure
- Oversaw $1.5 million multimedia build-out project for Chicago campus
- Developed IT training modules for remote help desks in Salt Lake City and Bangalore as well as multimedia training modules for Americas regional offices
- Led training for Cisco IPT phone upgrades and for multimedia support
- Provided Risk Management analysis for IT vendors ensuring minimum risk to the firm
Customer Support Technician/Engineer
SPL Integrated Solutions
01.2000 - 01.2004
Support Desk Supervisor
Morrison Knudsen Consulting Firm for 3Com
01.1997 - 01.2000
Support Services Supervisor
Kirkland & Ellis Law Firm
01.1990 - 01.1997
Education
Some College (No Degree) - Computer and Information Systems
South Suburban College
South Holland, ILCertificate Degree - Nutrition
Ashworth College
Norcross, GASkills
- Global IT Director
- Project Manager
- Data Center Management
- UC Platforms
- DR/BCP
- Citrix Environment Management
- Supplier Relationship Management
- Data and Voice Systems
- LAN and Cable Infrastructure Management
- Risk Management
- Multimedia Engineering
- Office 365
- Mobile Solutions
- ServiceNow Administration
- Cloud Computing Solutions
- Incident Resolution Management
- Impact Assessment Expertise
Timeline
Head of Technology Operations
Legal and General (LGIMA)
01.2018 - Current
Global IT Multimedia Manager
Mayer Brown
01.2014 - 01.2018
Vice President, Technology
Goldman Sachs
01.2012 - 01.2014
Technology Analyst
Goldman Sachs
01.2004 - 01.2012
Customer Support Technician/Engineer
SPL Integrated Solutions
01.2000 - 01.2004
Support Desk Supervisor
Morrison Knudsen Consulting Firm for 3Com
01.1997 - 01.2000
Support Services Supervisor
Kirkland & Ellis Law Firm
01.1990 - 01.1997
Some College (No Degree) - Computer and Information Systems
South Suburban College
Certificate Degree - Nutrition
Ashworth College
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