Richard Laabs

Spearheaded and led three dynamic product teams overseeing the website, mobile applications, and a cutting-edge digital advice platform. Directed a group of 28 talented individuals and collaborated seamlessly with contracted support teams. Championed special projects
• Led a test automation initiative, achieving annual labor savings of $650,000.
• Orchestrated the launch of a digital advice platform, resulting in $16 million in investment purchases in the first year.
• Revamped the company website to optimize productivity and enhance customer experience, achieving a rank of #3 in the Fintech sector.
• Oversaw the launch of mobile applications on Apple and Android platforms, ensuring seamless user engagement across multiple devices. cross-functional teams to successfully launch a dynamic mobile app, supporting end users by developing a robust, easily accessible API management platform with minimal configuration updates. Additionally, updated and revised the company website to include new features, improved purchasing and trade capabilities, and an innovative digital advice program to help investors navigate their investment journey successfully

• Manage multiple projects including managing cloud cost and optimization.
• Designing and building platform for consumption analytics for Partners and Service Providers.
• Manage projects and direct Product Owners in building solutions for the company specific to cloud use with a focus on Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud Platform.
• Key Achievements:.
• Starting with the customer, interviewed and gathered requirements from customers to build consumption analytics for Service Provider solution – allowing the SP to manage and report on each customer data metrics, resources, and make intelligent decisions towards enhancements to customer resources.
• Based on customer feedback, provided Product Management support of cloud cost management solution while defining future state based on customer feedback.
• Manage cross-project relationships and issue resolution between project teams to ensure the work my teams work was accomplished within set guidelines / deadlines and remove impediments stifling completion.
• Manage multiple relationships between products internally, 3rd party partners and vendor resources.
• Lead a design team providing clarity and direction for consumption analytics project to provide tools and processes for customers to save costs on cloud related resources.

• Manage a group of 28 cloud architects and engineers with the direction of building solutions to integrate with our MSP offerings.
• Focused on Azure and AWS, I direct work delivered from Product Managers and break it down into manageable tasking for engineering with the focus of completion within a PI timeframe.
• Focused on automation and management tools to provision all forms of access to resources from the entrance to the cloud to internal server and network resources.
• Heavy focus on task automation with Terraform and delivered through CircleCI.
• Team focuses on automation of management and maintenance of the full environment Key Achievements:.
• Based on customer need and request, managed a team of architects and engineers to build full scale active trial / production environment of our MSP offering provisioned completely through automation.
• Lead design discussions and implementation, based on customer feedback and requirements, of the customer access portal to request access to trial and full environment.
• Directed process changes to utilize Azure Security Center, Qualys, and Dome9 to maintain the highest level of security and assurance of solid productivity for automated tasking including provisioning of systems.
• Manage cross-project relationships and issue resolution between project teams to ensure the work my teams work was accomplished within set guidelines / deadlines and remove impediments stifling completion.
• Manage multiple relationships between products internally, 3rd party partners and vendor resources.
• Part of design team providing clarity and direction for consumption analytics project to provide tools and processes for customers to save costs on cloud related resources.

• These include lead engineer for Azure, Citrix, VMware (ESX, Horizon), NetApp (Storage) and Microsoft (Hyper-V, Active Directory) supporting clients with health and status of their environments along with design, implementation, enhancement, and training.
• Work closely with a team of engineers/architects, supporting both server and proprietary applications and connectivity.
• Basic networking/troubleshooting.
• Key Achievements:.
• Worked with customer to identify their business challenges and provide solutions to enhance their infrastructure to solve those requirements.
• Built out a stable and secure environment in Azure focusing on an Infrastructure as a Code model using Terraform, to support production resources, document and train team members in maintenance and administration of Azure – Migrate production resources to Azure – improving both cost, uptime, and manageability.
• Implementation of Active Directory services and application-based servers to Azure (cloud) to provide stability, enhanced levels of productivity, more manageable maintenance, and ease of administration.
• Upgrade end of life server operating systems to 2016 server platform to increase productivity and meet advanced levels of productivity and supportability for vendors including Active Directory and SQL.
• Office 365 Migration and Administration – OneDrive for Business, Skype for Business, Teams, etc.
• Resulting in supportability, productivity, and administration enhancements over antiquated systems.
• Worked on implementation team to create a reliable and dependable monitoring solution (SCOM), monitoring and automation support to SCCM (Tanium) to support multiple user interaction and support levels resulting in closer management of workstations for unapproved software and USB use, higher levels of patch management and virus/malware identification.
• Worked closely with many industry vendors to enhance relationships for client/customers and provide better solutions for them.
• Implemented and managed Splunk environment to support infrastructure and service desk needs and expectations.
• Support Veeam as a backup solution for all virtual and physical servers along with Office 365 and suite of products saving administration time, adding features and capacity to the backup process, and license savings overall.

• These include Citrix, VMware (ESX, Workstation,) and Microsoft (Hyper-V) supporting clients with health and status of their environments along with design, implementation, enhancement, and training.
• Working with administrators and Dev-Ops teams, supporting both server and proprietary applications and connectivity.
• Basic networking/troubleshooting.
• Key Achievements:.
• Analyze and make informed, supportive suggestions for clients to better enhance their infrastructure.
• Designed, planned, and implemented complete solutions for clients for including VMWare, Citrix, Active Directory.
• Supported customer multiple environments in support and architecture.
• Worked to support the management team on a reliable and dependable monitoring solution, change management, and a reporting structure to support multiple client interaction and support.
• Worked closely with many industry vendors to enhance relationships between client/customers and provide better solutions for them.
• Analyzed, reconfigured and stabilized Citrix XenApp 6.x & 7.x environments that were running poorly and inefficiently.
• Planning for implementation of critical application-based servers (including Active Directory services) to Azure (cloud) to provide stability, uniformity in service, maintenance, and administration.

• Contractor working with various environments and systems – both virtualization platforms including Citrix (XenApp, XenDesktop, and XenServer) VMware (ESX, Workstation, View, etc...) and Microsoft (both Hyper-V and Azure) along with physical servers - supporting clients with health and status of their environments along with design, implementation, enhancement, and training.
• Supporting an array of Microsoft Server platforms from early versions to Server 2012.
• Basic networking/troubleshooting with SonicWALL, Juniper, Cisco, and NetScaler.
• Strong Project Management Key Achievements:.
• Analyze and make informed, supportive suggestions for clients to better enhance their infrastructure.
• Designed, planned, and implemented complete solutions for clients for including VMWare, Network, Citrix, Active Directory.
• Supported customer environments in support and leadership roles while they sourced for permanent replacements.
• Implemented a new Help Desk and Change Management solutions along with S.O.P.
• And policy changes to enhance productivity of the Help Desk.
• Worked closely with many industry vendors to enhance relationships for client/customers and provide better solutions for them.
• Designed and implemented several Citrix XenApp 6.x & 7.x – XenDesktop 7.x environments including large multi-tenant solutions.
• Provide health analysis and service for environments for VMware, Active Directory, and Citrix XenApp 4.5 to current, XenDesktop 5.x to current, and XenServer 5.x to current.
• Migrated production environments to Azure (cloud) to decrease equipment cost and provide uniformity of management, maintenance, and service.
• Managed several projects in multiple capacities including Project Manager.

• Manage the company infrastructure and support multiple domains/brands for the current management structure.
• This includes network, VMware, Citrix, Active Directory, Databases (SQL), Lead Systems, TFS, and Exchange.
• Also manage the Service Desk and Operations.
• Assist in day to day management and project work for current environments.
• Key Achievements:.
• Analyzed and enhanced the current VMWare and Citrix environments for 3 brands – enhancing productivity and increasing uptime.
• Designed, planned, and implemented a full solution for a client/brand including VMWare, Network, Citrix, Active Directory.
• In charge of management and maintenance of hosting customers’ infrastructure to ensure high performance and consistently stable up times.
• Implemented a new Help Desk solution along with S.O.P.
• And policy changes to enhance productivity of the Help Desk.
• Worked closely with many company vendors to enhance relationships and provide better solutions for our company.
• Designed and implemented a multi-tenant Citrix XenApp 6.5 environment (upgraded from Citrix XenApp 4.5 Presentation Server).
• Managed and maintained environments for VMware, Active Directory, and Citrix XenApp 6.5.
• Evaluated and implemented a new monitoring solution for Glacier to react quicker to issues and enhance uptime.
• Coordinated monthly maintenance to ensure servers were patched and updated.
• Involved in several projects to tune and optimize Glaciers current infrastructure to enhance uptime and productivity (including VMWare, Active Directory, Databases (SQL), Citrix, and the Network.

• Manage the Windows environment for multiple domains/customers including Active Directory and Exchange.
• Integration of a multi-tenant environment for Citrix, assist in day to day management and project work for current infrastructure.
• Key Achievements:.
• Investigated, planned, and stood up a Domain level password reset tool for Denovo and clients.
• Attended Citrix Administrator training.
• Assisted in adjusting drive levels and tuning for older servers to relieve alerting issues.
• Analyzed and tuned Active Directory for better performance.
• Managed and maintained environments for VMware, Active Directory, and Citrix XenApp 6.5.
• Designed and implemented a Citrix XenApp 6.5 Proof of concept solution for hosted customer – implemented to production after testing.
• Evaluated and Implemented multiple automated solutions to monitor and alert System Administrators and Management when problems occurred.
• Coordinated monthly maintenance of over 400 servers, performed by 12 team members, to ensure the environment was patched and updated.
• Lead project team to analyze and optimize Active Directory environment, eliminating multiple problems with replication and server consistency.
• Researched, designed, and implemented a password reset solution for hosted customers to utilize.
• Implemented a monitoring solution that worked with multiple customer domains and reported back to the management domain – (Multi-tenant).
• Implemented a Multi-Tenant Active Directory solution to incorporate hosted customer under one management domain for management and administration.
• Decommissioned and stood up a small data center for hosting customer in the Netherlands.

• Directed activities of North American IT Service Desk and Site Support.
• Responsible for management of 2 on-site associates and 4 remote system administrators, supporting 7 manufacturing and distribution facilities.
• Serve as primary interface within IT for all Service and Support related issues.
• Defined new standard for Desktop and Laptop computers, reducing acquisition costs for new hardware by an average of 20% per system purchase.
• Migrated on-site and remote sales users to new anti-virus solution, without requiring shipment of hardware back to Service Desk.
• Implemented software/hardware inventory software, ensuring license compliance for desktop software.
• Designed new process for new hires and exiting employees to ensure accounts were created and disabled with repeatable accuracy.
• Lead project team to analyze and optimize Active Directory environment, eliminating multiple problems with replication and server consistency.
• Utilized available tools and reporting applications to clean up Exchange environment, eliminating over 100 unused distribution lists.
• Corrected Exchange Global Address List replication issues, eliminating outdated or incorrect contact information for associates.
• Upgraded multiple VMWare Infrastructure servers to latest version, allowing for expanded capacity to virtualize approximately 100 servers on 7 hosts.
• Implemented storage migration plan, to move a total of 12 Terabytes of SAN data to new hardware.
• Identified and analyzed servers for virtualization, ultimately reducing power and cooling requirements for data center by over $4,000 per month.
• Increased Service Desk First Call Resolution to over 14%, by driving process improvements and visibility to Service Desk activities.
• Evaluated and Implemented multiple automated solutions to monitor and alert System Administrators and Management when problems occurred.
• Coordinated monthly maintenance, performed by 7 team members, to ensure servers were patched and updated.

• While working for, , taught as IT Management Instructor.
• Developed and taught curriculum in aspects of Information Technology, including: Information Security, Microsoft Certification and System Administration.
• Key Achievements:.
• Engaged and assisted over 250 students over a period of 2 years with advancing their education in IT, Criminal Justice, and Management process.
• Developed curriculum for classes based on Microsoft server, workstation, and office products as well as beginning Unix administration and Game Design.
• Scored high on a consistent basis in both student satisfaction as well as faculty evaluations.
• Continued relationships with former students for consulting and assistance.