Robert Knoeppel
Olathe,KS
Summary
IT professional with extensive experience in both operational and support roles. A dedicated and highly energetic person who thrives in pressure situations and can be counted on when the going gets tough. Fosters a lively and professional work environment and values commitment to excellence, innovation, and customer service. Detail-oriented team player with strong organizational skills. Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously with a high degree of accuracy.
Overview
25
25
years of professional experience
Work History
Middleware Engineer III
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City
01.2010 - 01.2024
- Working with Infrastructure Support team providing 7x24x365 production support for WebSphere Application Servers, IIS Web Servers
- IBM License Metric Tool administrator for BlueKC Enterprise
- Installation and configuration of Cognizant applications: Workflow, NetworX, POS, CDHAdapter, Modeler/Analytics, TCS and VBB twice a year for the release schedule in Spring and Fall
- Opening trouble tickets with vendors, identifying and resolving root cause (RCA/ICA)
- Building out Application Server/Web Server to application and developer specifications for development, test and production environments
- Actively work group assigned tickets in ServiceNow trouble ticketing system
- Migrating WebSphere Application Servers from versions 7.x and 8.x that are out of vendor support to current vendor supported version 9.x
- Assisted in the development of disaster recovery plans, ensuring business continuity in case of unexpected events.
- Developed and maintained middleware infrastructure, resulting in improved application performance.
- Automated routine tasks through scripting, increasing productivity while reducing human error possibilities.
- Contributed ideas and suggestions in team meetings and delivered updates on deadlines, designs, and enhancements.
- Coordinated deployments of new software, feature updates and fixes.
- Optimized middleware configurations for increased scalability and reduced resource consumption.
- Managed vendor relationships to maintain up-to-date knowledge on product offerings, features, and roadmaps.
- Coordinated with security teams to ensure compliance with industry regulations by properly configuring middleware components within the infrastructure environment.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to design and implement custom middleware solutions tailored to business requirements.
- Evaluated emerging middleware technologies, recommending adoption when beneficial to company objectives.
- Implemented monitoring tools for proactive issue detection and resolution, improving overall system stability.
- Established documentation standards for internal team use, promoting consistency and ease of troubleshooting efforts throughout the organization.
Contractor
CenturyLink
01.2009 - 01.2010
- Working with the Infrastructure Support team providing 7x24x365 production support for BEA Weblogic Application Server, SUN One Java System Web Server, Java and Apache on servers running Windows, HP-UX 11.x, Solaris 5.8 & 5.10, AIX and Linux
- Opening trouble tickets with vendors, identifying and resolving root cause (RCA/ICA)
- Building out Application Server/Web Server to application and developer specifications for development, test and production environments
- Deploying application code in development, test and production environments
- Working group assigned tickets in USD trouble ticketing system
- Migrating BEA Weblogic Application Servers from versions 7.x and 8.x that are out of vendor support to current vendor supported versions 9.x and 10.x.
System Integrator II
Sprint–Nextel Corporation
01.1999 - 01.2009
- Worked with the Third Party Support team providing installation and 24x7 production support for BEA Weblogic Application Server, SUN One Java System Web Server, Java, Apache, MapMarker and IBM WebSphere on servers running Windows, HP-UX 11.x, Solaris 5.8 & 5.10, AIX and Linux
- Participated in a 24x7 on-call support rotation for Third Party Support products
- Opened trouble tickets with vendors, identifying and resolving root cause (RCA/ICA)
- Facilitated the integration of Savvion Business Manager into the Third Party Support matrix
- Created technical documents for certification, installation and support of Savvion Business Manager within Third Party Support
- Led a class for team members to educate them with how to install and support Savvion Business Manager
- Worked closely with project managers and application owners in the creation of Infrastructure Engineering Design Documents (IEDD) for projects
- Built out Application Server/Web Server to application and developer specifications for development, test and production environments
- Deployed application code in development, test and production environments
- Involved with identifying and upgrading applications using out of support software versions
- Upgraded identified versions of BEA Weblogic 5.x and 6.x to current best practice version 8.1.6
- Upgraded identified versions of Sun One JAVA System Web Server 4.x, 5.x to current best practice version 6.1sp6
- Conducted internal audit of BEA Weblogic licenses, saving over $1.2 million
- Worked directly with vendor and contract management to identify valid license per server
- Reclaimed any duplicate licenses and any license found on servers to be decommissioned
- Key member of team contributing to substantial cost savings based on the shutdown of Intrepid and Alternate Channels applications resulting in a Testing savings of $985,000 and IT Application Development savings of $844,693 by transitioning the commissioning of the Business Sales Reps to the end-state TrueComp Weblogic application.
Systems Programmer II
Sprint–Nextel Corporation
01.1999 - 01.2003
- Worked on the HP-UX Platform Team testing and certification of new hardware and software
- This included using HP-UX Ignite for the installation of new servers being installed into the Sprint Enterprise for projects
- Reduced server patch times by creating quarterly Blockpoint images when new media was released from HP
- Organized HP-UX media to ensure most current versions were readily available
- Administrator of the software depot for all UNIX platforms
- This software depot was a repository for the following software: Ignite Golden Images, BEA Weblogic Application Server, SUN ONE Java System Web Server, JAVA, MapMarker, BMC Patrol and Oracle
- Provided second level support for HP-UX system administrators
- Opened tickets with HP to identify and resolve (RCA\ICA) on system crashes
- Provided HP-UX system administrator support during disaster recovery exercises at SunGuard.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Computer Information Systems
DeVry University
Kansas City, MO01.1999
Skills
- Team building
- Multitasking
- Attention to Detail
- Dependable and Responsible
- Friendly, Positive Attitude
- Customer Service
- Task Prioritization
Timeline
Middleware Engineer III
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City
01.2010 - 01.2024
Contractor
CenturyLink
01.2009 - 01.2010
System Integrator II
Sprint–Nextel Corporation
01.1999 - 01.2009
Systems Programmer II
Sprint–Nextel Corporation
01.1999 - 01.2003
Bachelor of Science - Computer Information Systems
DeVry University
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