Other Relevant Interim and Contract ICT  Experience

Eala Bhan IT Services

Company Formation.   Acquisition of an IT services organisation to speed company growth.

Government of Swaziland

A Strategic Specialist in a team reviewing the ICT function of the Government of Swaziland and making recommendations as to future direction.   This involved significant interaction with the King, Government Ministers and senior officials in the Swazi Government. 

University of Pretoria

A Senior Project Manager working on large Infrastructure projects, including roll-out of VoIP and WiFi systems, ICT departmental liaison with Architects and Construction companies on the design and build of new and refurbished buildings

IT Consultant/Advisor to the Medical Faculty, assessing and managing projects, advising on a long-term IT strategy and providing IT liaison with the National and Provincial Departments of Health.

Provincial Government  – Kwa Zulu/Natal                                                                                     

Headed a small team reviewing the tender submissions to the Kwa Zulu/Natal Provincial Tender Board on the provision of banking services to the Province.  Advised the board in open and closed session of the technical merits of the ICT component of each proposal and assisted them in coming to a decision as to preferred supplier.

Cato Manor Development Association                                                                                       

Cato Manor is an informal settlement situated within the boundaries of the Durban Metropolitan area, and is home to about 93000 people with a future population estimated to be 170 000.  It was an area that suffered greatly under the Apartheid government's policy of forced removal of squatters.  The development incorporates the need to redress these injustices and promote black empowerment.

The project consisted of the construction of a “New Town” infrastructure, including low-cost housing, schools, libraries, community halls, roads, and clinics.  In addition, the CMDA focuses on the stimulation of economic development and community empowerment through interventions such as training schemes and small, micro, and medium enterprise development.

The CMDA is the agency responsible for redevelopment and has secured substantial funding from the European Union, local, provincial and central government as well as other funding agencies.  To date, R380 million in public sector funding has been invested in the project.

Acted as CIO on a part-time retained services contract.  Provided strategic ICT advice to the CMDA on internal and external projects.  Provided retained management services to the ICT function.  Implemented Microsoft based general office systems.  Provided advice, support, and implementation services for specialised applications including Publications, GIS, population studies, and demographic analysis.  Provided pro-bono support and advice to emerging ICT entrepreneurs in the area.

A National Credit Company                                                                                                       

Acted as CIO on a part-time retained services contract.  Provided specialist services on the design of a web-based credit management system for internal and client use.  Oversaw the development and implementation.  Subsequently supervised the design and approval of external interfaces to third party information providers, including banks, the Land Registry and Deeds Office and credit reference bodies. 

Implemented a workflow and document management system including automated processing of incoming and outgoing faxes and emails.

A National Transport Company                                                                                                  

Acted as CIO on a part-time retained services contract.  The company provides management services to outsourced owner-drivers operating on behalf of large manufacturers and distributors including South African Breweries and ABI. 

Provided specialist services on the development of an integrated financial management, accounting and fleet management system.  Oversaw the development and integration of the system with external suppliers, banks, and internal accounting systems.

An UK based import-Export Company                                                                                       

The Hemel Hempstead-based company is a worldwide agent for the supply of edible oils.  It established a South African office with the intention of moving its administrative offices to Durban.  The company ultimately employed 20 people in Durban.

I worked with them to establish an appropriate technology infrastructure in Durban and to link that to their existing UK offices using terminal emulation technologies.  Implemented a VoIP infrastructure between the two countries.  Advised on the use of a worldwide financial collections service linking to their Sage accounting system.

Advocates Groups                                                                                                                   

Provided ICT strategic advice to several groups of Advocates based in a single building in Durban.  Implemented common access to information sources, for example Jutastat and Butterworths.  Implemented electronic document repositories for case work.  Provided expert opinion in respect of ongoing legal matters.

A Legal Firm                                                                                                                            

Acted as CIO on a part-time retained services contract.  Designed, programmed, and implemented a Visual Basic application to provide management information allowing the practice to develop a performance based management system.

A Publishing Group                                                                                                                  

The company publishes specialist magazines to a large subscriber base.  Acted as CIO on a part-time retained services contract.  Advised on the introduction of web-based incarnations of their publications and associated services.  Planned and developed several pilot projects.  Managed the interface of their Apple-based production and Windows management systems

Ernst & Young

A National Service Company                                                         October 1996 – December 1996

A review of their networking and communications strategy led to a review of the whole IT support structure. Implementation of a national Call Centre for fielding sales and service calls followed the review.

South African Sugar Association                                                    November 1995 – October 1997

Manager of a systems replacement project. The various project elements were comprised of: preparation of an IT strategy; hardware and software supplier selection; and replacement of packaged mainframe systems with systems developed by a third-party software house. The client was the Financial Aid Fund of the South African Sugar Association.

The implemented system was a key part of the FAF receiving a Mail and Guardian rural development award in 1998.

Beacon Sweets & Chocolates                                                              November 1994 - July 1995

Assisting Beacon Sweets & Chocolates with development of a business-led IT strategy, replacement of their existing systems and recruitment of an IS Manager.

The first stage of the project was a definition of a Business Information Strategy to support Beacon’s corporate strategy.  I worked with Beacon for some six months on a full and part-time basis, implementing the first stages of the new IS Strategy, and the final stages of which were to prepare a job specification, candidate specification and assist with the selection of the new IS Manager.

Natal Parks Board                                                                                       May 1996 - July 1996

Carrying out an IT review, strategy assessment/preparation and preparation of an IS manager candidate/job definition for the Natal Parks Board.

This assignment was very similar to that undertaken with Beacon Sweets.

Prior to Ernst & Young

Bull Information Systems - UK & Europe                                             May 1992 - September 1993

I worked as part of the Programme Directors Group with the Business Consultancy Unit, a small group charged with managing large projects, defined as those with a multi-million pound turnover.  The group’s remit covered both bid preparation and implementation projects.

Several key UK and European projects in which I was a member or leader of the management team included:

A major challenge facing Bull Information Systems was to re-engineer themselves from a traditional hardware manufacturer to a customer facing services led organisation.  My role in the two-year project was as a founding member of the Business Consultancy Unit. The Unit drew together multi-disciplinary teams from within Bull and from external suppliers to create System Integration proposals and implementations.  We had a key re‑education role within Bull to create the new outward looking view.

Aberdeen City Council needed to implement new accounting systems for the collection of local taxation.  Because of the high volumes of information to be processed, and the short time to implement, less than nine months, the systems were to be based around workflow concepts and were to automate as much of the processing as possible. I was Project Manager charged with the preparation of the Bull bid, which ultimately involved around 11 sub-contractors, including overseas suppliers of software and hardware.   The proposal was successful, and I moved onto manage the implementation of the solution.

The Portuguese Ministry of Finance had spent some three years attempting to implement a mainframe based tax collection system.  I was asked to prepare a strategy that would allow them to move to distributed systems based on local processing at area offices, linked by workflow to central databases.  Following preparation and acceptance of the strategy I worked on the initial stages of the implementation of the solution.

Other major projects undertaken

A Major UK Retail Discount Food Chain

Carried out a business consultancy study into the implications of a period of sustained rapid growth and the IT strategy needed to support the business during that period.  This required a restructure of the IS function, with significant staffing changes and the management of the HR processes involved during that period.

A City Council

Provided the business/technical interface in a major IT infrastructure project on behalf of Durban City council. 

A.T. Mays - a Top-Five UK Travel Agent

1.   Devised a corporate computer strategy for this UK-wide multi-branch organisation; and

2.   Defined, implemented and tested disaster planning and recovery services.

Derbyshire Constabulary

Undertook a financial and resource evaluation to prepare them for outsourcing their IT function.

An Electronics Company

Project management of the implementation of an AS/400 based financial and manufacturing applications package.

A Whisky Blender and Bottler

Project management of the implementation of a major stock management application for Customs controlled bonded warehousing of whisky stocks.

A Clothing Manufacturer

The company is a major supplier to Marks & Spencer in the UK, and has around 2,000 employees, of whom 1,800 are piece-rate workers.  The company’s turnover exceeds £100 Million per annum.

I was D.P Manager for four years, with full responsibility for all IT matters.  Originally a green-field site, during that period I selected hardware and software suppliers, defined the software development environment, recruited staff, managed and worked on the design and implementation of a piece-work payroll and production control system, and later extended it to include real-time shop-floor data collection.

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