ALEX HOWARD

233 79^th Street                                                                                                                                    (201) 868-7681

North Bergen, NJ 07047                                                                                                                     alexh1@verizon.net

(201) 854-29990, fax                                                                                                                          (201) 218-5955, cell

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IT SPECIALIST

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Overall Role Purpose:

Responsible for the co-ordination and management of IT infrastructure activities.  Liaising with the Global IT Services teams and supporting the Senior Regional Service Manager to facilitate sensational regional IT Service.

• Extensive hardware and software experience, including personal computer and laptop deployment.  Handle both business applications in corporate environments, and clients’ personal applications' data on their home computers.

• Leadership roles across the entire lifecycle of systems development, including design, testing, documentation, and implementation.

• Business analyst background, with expertise in translating clients’ needs into IT solutions -- assessing resources, estimating costs, purchasing, installing, and training.  

• Proficient in coordinating cross-functional implementation teams, and communicating effectively with technical and non-technical staff.  (Translate from-to English and Tech.)

• Support Microsoft operating systems, network configurations, as well as MS Office suites, and Internet.   

• Hire, train, and evaluate performance of Information Systems professionals.

• Manage/Administer Web sites for clients, perform site updates, and cover the full support of web sites for clients.

• Ensure that clients’ data – and web sites – are backed up to off-site locations daily for both minor and major updates to data, so that clients have no reason not to back up their data.

• Experience in programming and managing electronic security applications and systems.

[NOTE:  Overlapping Dates indicate concurrent consulting assignments and contracts.]

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OVERALL WORK EXPERIENCE

[Note: includes both Employee positions and Consultative Positions]:

 

Oxymoron Unlimited, North Bergen, NJ                                                                              1989 - present

Principal

§  Umbrella position:  As owner of this consulting company, I am able to span time between long term consulting contracts and/or permanent positions, by doing contract work at varying levels.  This consultancy covers time between full time positions in law firms, or other commercial organizations.  This company has a simple Internet Web Site:  Oxymoron.org.  I am the founder and owner of this consulting firm, which provides information management services for clients from such industries as law, accounting, financial services, health care, real estate, and publishing.  My clients include such market leaders as Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Toys R Us, AT&T Wireless, First Fidelity Bank (now Wells Fargo), Roche Labs, Deloitte & Touche, and Merrill Lynch, and others.

§  Develop clients’ system requirements for upgrading or purchasing new equipment and applications; propose, purchase, implement, test, and support the resulting hardware and software-based solutions.

§  Served as a long-term contractor to some of the businesses listed.

 

Proskauer Rose, LLP, New York, NY                                                                                   2005 - 2008

Desktop Support Specialist

§  Provided second and third tier support on Windows XP Pro, Citrix Remote, legal library and research applications, among them Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis.  Developed and supported Best Authority installation.  Provided support for RIM Blackberry, Microsoft Office XP, Microsoft Visio 2002, Microsoft Outlook 2003, DeltaView, Full Authority and CheckCite, DTE Time Entry, Adobe Acrobat, Interwoven Worksite, and Active Directory.  Worked on configuration of Blackberry hand-held devices and had experience with BES and SecurID as well.

§  Wrote documentation and solution tips for Help Desk personnel, and second/third tier support staff.

§  Used Dameware to remotely control End Users’ PCs, when doing service calls from our department.

§  When periodic reporting was necessary.  Used Crystal Reports to off-load information from Magic and integrate that information into Crystal.  Then after populating the reports, distributed them to management.

Lowenstein Sandler, Roseland, NJ                                                                                        2001 - 2003

Help Desk Technician

§  Provided telephonic and by-proxy support on Windows 2000 Pro, Netware 6.x, and Citrix-based VPN.  Responsible for support on MS Office 2K, Lotus Notes, and Notes Email, CMS Time Entry, Delta View, PC DOCS, and other applications to a user community of 500 lawyers and support staff, in offices in New Jersey and New York.  I wrote documentation and procedures to assist the User Community in understanding, and better utilizing, the systems and applications in use at the firm.

§  IT Management sent the lawyers and staff to me, to advise on purchase of their own personal computers, laptops, and printers, to help them make the best use of funds they had put towards these purchases.  Not a single person complained about the assistance given and, most times, the staff was not willing to have anyone else assist them in these tasks.

§  Learned to deal with SecurID for VPN logins, for our attorneys who were off-site.

§  Wrote short user guides to assist End Users in understanding some of the applications, which were moved into their areas on their computers, so that they learned how to take these apps over more quickly.

 

Merrill Lynch, 220 Broadway, NYC                                                                                     2000 - 2001

Systems Administrator (Exchange and Windows Server), Consultative Position.

§  Mostly performed administrative work on new and existing employees, as they moved between different areas of the marketing division.  Their Exchange accounts needed managing, such that they avoided the danger inherent in exceeding their allowed storage or other categorical quotas for storage.

§  Interfaced with the main corporation’s network administrators, such that their permanent backup preparations were constantly coordinated with that of the corporations.

§  Required to build new servers, and rebuild damaged servers when that came up.

 

Panasonic Industrial Company, Secaucus, NJ                                                                      1999 - 2000

System Administrator (Windows and Exchange Server), Consultative Position.

§  Monitored and managed backup processes on all servers across WAN; interceded when Backup Process stalled, or failed, and provided guidance on optimizing the process.

§  Service and support for over forty Application, Development, Exchange, Print, and PDC/BDC servers running Windows NT 4.0, nation-wide.  (PDC = Primary Domain Controller; BDC= Backup Domain Controller.)

§  Built and configured new servers for both special projects and standard usage.

§  Created and administered LAN and Exchange accounts.

HSBC Securities and Capital Markets, New York, NY                                                        1999 - 1999

Call Center Manager, Consultative Position, and lasting six (6) months.

§  Responsible for managing the coverage on trading floors and back office operations.

§  System Administrator for LAN and ccMail systems.

§  Managed 11 Support Technicians - HSBC Employees - and 4 Help Desk Technicians, who were Consultants.

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ADDITIONAL RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

 

New York City Department of Environmental Protection,                                                  1987 – 1989

Management Information Services: Assistant Director for Administration; Two Year Consulting Contract.

§  Oversaw operations of both Administrative and Personnel Departments.

§  Provided support to senior staff on PC-based applications (internal Help Desk).

§  Managed the construction of and move to a single new office, consolidating more than six offices located in all five boroughs.  Was recognized for my professionalism to remain set to perform as a perfect, on time and on budget completion of this project, even knowing that they were not going to retain my services past the time for me to become a non-provisional, or permanent, employee.

§  Worked for this department exactly one day shy of length of time required to be retained and hired as a permanent NYC Employee.

 

990 AvAmericas Associates, Long-Term Consultant:                                                          1987 - 2010

Systems Consultant on Property Management Software.

§  length of time spanned length of time spent as consultant on other client sites, as this client required constant support and coverage, due to software which was effective, but not terribly reliable during those days, when they were still dealing with the monumental changes to Microsoft Windows as it grew from Windows 3.1 through Windows 95, and upwards.

§  Installed and configured Yardi Property Management System.  Continual support for Yardi System and other PC-based applications like Microsoft Windows, Office, Norton Backup, etc.

§  Trained new Bookkeeper-End User when the first user of the system left, due to personal reasons.

§  Performed continual analysis and upgrade of the software and integration of that software when the company bought new hardware over the years.

Included the ability for their three computer systems to function properly using a Verizon FiOS WiFi network.  Ensured that the Yardi System was able to perform its Year End processing, by keeping it up to date with the systems upgrades

Citibank, NA, New York, NY                                                                                                1980 - 1987

Manager, Legal, and External Affairs Group

§  Directed support for 300 PCs (End Users included CEO and senior executive staff); developed a corporate standard to evaluate all hardware and software for inclusion and support.

§  Responsible for the installation, removal, and modifications to all ATMs in the Upper Manhattan Region for Citibank; from 34^th Street to the top of Manhattan.  Worked with the teams who did the sweeps, daily, to replenish the ATMs cash dispensers.  Ensured that the enclosures were built completely to specification, so that the machines were completely secure in their installations.  Advised if ay of the programming of User Interface software needed modification (which it never did).

§  Performed analysis, internal consulting, and training for all End Users on PCs.

§  Consulted to the Chairman, former Chairman, and former President (Retired Executives), Public Affairs, General Counsel's Office, and Customer Affairs. 

§  Negotiated all vendor and service contracts, and managed the venders and service personnel when they came on-site to provide their services.

§  Managed the Technology portions of a move to the new Service Support Center for Upper Manhattan Region, on West 33^rd Street, and the consolidation and management of Senior Executives to a Senior Executive Center, in the Headquarters.  Both projects came in on time, and under budget.  I received awards for each of them, separately.

Mosler STS, Wayne, NJ                                                                                                         1978 - 1980

Programmer, Designer in Security Systems Development Group

·         Learned DEC’s MACRO-11 (Assembler Language) to enable me to develop the User Interfaces for all modules – more than 100 – brought to the screen during the operation of this high-level Security and Alarm System.

·         Performed analysis, wrote documentation and manuals for training of all End Users on this system.

·         System was sold to US Military Installations, Israeli Army, Diamond Exchange in Tel Aviv, Citicorp, and many other locations, both classified and not.

·         System utilized a packet transmission system, which did not utilize repetition in any way, such that no one monitoring the lines to determine when to breech this system would be able to find a location in the packet transmission.

 

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 EDUCATION and TRAINING

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Iona College, New Rochelle, NY (Business Administration Major), Dean’s List

Hunter College, New York, NY (Computer Science, Journalism, co-Major)

Spiritual Science MC, four year course; (Ordained as Minister) - nondenominational

Rutgers City College of Jersey City, NJ (Accounting Major)

Lebanon Valley College, Annville, PA (Mathematics - Actuarial Science; freshman, Scored 2 of 5)

AMA, Functioning as an “Assistant To”

Burroughs Ed. Program, B1000 Systems

Burroughs Ed. Program, B1000 Data Communications

CDC, WF3700 - MS/DOS Usage

Citicorp, Managing People for Middle Managers

DEC, PDP11 FORTRAN & BASIC

IBM, Using IBM PC Networks

IBM, Managing Personal Computers

DEC, PDP1170, RSX11M Programmer

IBM, Technical Coordinator Program

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BETA TESTING BOTH PAST AND ONGOING

 

 

Awards and Certifications

·         Earned Extra Special Performance Award, for completing the Citibank SSC Relocation Project both on time and under budget.

·         Earned ESP award from Citibank for completion (technology portion) of the Senior Management Office Space relocation Project, in Headquarters.

·         MCP and MCSE from Microsoft, for beta testing each certification examination over an 18-month period each.