Short Term (0-2 years):
Senior leadership role to develop and implement Technology-based Business Solutions.

Continuous:
To derive professional satisfaction by constantly broadening and deepening my personal portfolio of skills and competencies, while making a positive impact to the World.

• Professional with 18+ years of progressive experience in Information Services/Technology, notably in Applications Development & Integration and Business Systems with an active role as a key customer solution contact.
• Above average skills in the development of business cases, evident from comments made by two CEOs of my former employer Thomas Cook Group.
• Experienced in vendor relationship management, gained while managing multiple projects most of which included external technology providers, software and hardware vendors and development consultants.
• Very strong data collection and analysis skills acquired during my career developing information systems, obvious by the results achieved to date, including a Thesis on Business Process Reengineering delivered as part of a Master degree at University of Toronto.
• Proven capability to start and complete projects on time and on budget, demonstrated by the number of projects delivered.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills.
• Excellent understanding of network capabilities, data storage, web hosting and e-commerce applications, evident by the type of projects managed in recent years.
• Proven effectiveness in achieving service and financial results through business process reengineering, customer service focus, leadership, creativity, innovation, planning and organization.
• Comfortable with risk, proactive and self-directed.

1. Master of Information Science (1995)
   Thesis on Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
   Faculty of Information Studies
   University of Toronto
   Toronto, Canada
   
   
2. Bachelor of Computer Systems (1987)
   Universidad Autónoma de Centro América (UACA)
   San José, Costa Rica
   
   
3. Bachelor of Science, Letters/Arts and Philosophy (1981)
   Colegio Centro América
   Managua, Nicaragua
   

• Top Team Award. Presented by Gary R. McDonald, Executive Vice President, Thomas Cook Financial Services Americas. September 30, 1999.
• Five Years Service Award. Presented by James Kinnear, Senior Vice President, Information Technology, Thomas Cook Group (Canada) Ltd. January 1994.
• Best Video: Hollywood Project. Global IT Conference, Thomas Cook Group, Los Angeles, USA. 1993.
• Thank you Letter and Voucher from Peter Middleton, Group Chief Executive. To thank my efforts on Measuring User Satisfaction, a key element for the achievement of the Thomas Cook Mission. The voucher was for a weekend at the Deerhurst Resort in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. 8 January 1991.

• Hardware: SUN SparcStations and Enterprise 450 servers, HP/IBM/COMPAQ desktop computers (x86 and Pentium), Toshiba laptops, NCD terminals, Hayes & US Robotics Modems, WYSE terminals, IBM S/34 & S/36, iOmega Zip drives, HP ScanJet.
• Software (Programming Languages): PowerBuilder v3, v4 & v5 (6 years); HTML v3.0 & v4.0 (5 years); Business Basic (5 years); IMB Basic (4 years); IBM Cobol (4 years); RPG (1 year).
• Software (Operating Systems): MS-Windows v3.1, 95/98, NT (9 years); Novell Netware 4.11 (2 years); MS-DOS 3.x & 6.x (6 years); IBM OS/2 v2.0 & v2.1 (3 years); SUN UNIX and Solaris (4 years); Thoroughbred O/S (4 years); IBM System Support Program S/34 & S/36 (4 years).
• Software (RDBMS): Sybase System v4.x (5 years); Sybase SQL Anywhere (3 years); Watson SQL (1 year); dBaseIII (1 year); MS-Access (2 years).
• Software (Web Development Tools): CuteHTML (4 years); CuteFTP (4 years); MS-Image Composer v1.5 (3 years);PaintShop Pro (5 years); Netscape and IExplorer browsers (5 years); O'Reilly Web Suite (2 years); Netscape SuiteSpot (2 years); Photo Deluxe (2 years).
• Software (Applications and Productivity Tools): MS-Word, Excel & Powerpoint (9 years); MS-Exchange/Outlook (4 years); WinZip (5 years); Visio v1, v4 & v5 (6 years); Workflow Analyst (2 years); Project Workbench and MS-Project (6 years).

Intelmark Inc., October - December 2002.
Sr. Business Process Architect based in Toronto, Canada.

• Worked with Intelmark on a project to create and document all Client Care Centre business processes for a Wireless Telecommunications company.

STIX Corporation, July 2002 - January 2003.
Information Architect based in Toronto, Canada.

• Implemented a new Information System using RDBMS and VBA development.

Labatt Breweries of Canada, September 2001 - present.
Sr. Project Manager and Information Architect based in Toronto, Canada.

• Created a Master Project Plan for the implementation of a new business. Currently consulting on the management of this plan.
• Conducted a Business Process Review of the HR core processes, culminating in 10 recommendations for improvement of HR information systems, data administration, training, systems integration and support processes. Currently consulting on the implementation of some of these recommendations.

Norigen Communications Inc., 2000-2001 (11 months).
Manager of Service Development based in Toronto, Canada (September 2000 to August 2001)

• Reporting to the Senior VP of Strategic Development and co-founder of Norigen, I was responsible for developing and implementing the strategy for Norigen's entry into the Application Service Provisioning (ASP) market space. I delivered the following:
1. Created the ASP Enablement (ASPen) Strategy presentation, which was used by both myself and the SVP of Strategic Development to describe Norigen's entry into the ASP market space to senior management and potential partners/vendors.
2. Created the Inventory of Potential SW Applications to use for the ASPen SW Architecture. This presentation focuses in five key areas (Operating system, database, middleware, security and horizontal applications) and was delivered to key executives within Norigen and to potential partners/vendors.
3. Produced the ASPen Business Case, which contains all the critical information required by senior management to make key decisions related to Norigen's entry into the ASP market as an ASP enabler. The business case outlines the following topics: the market opportunity, service description, Norigen infrastructure strategy, financial plan and Norigen's go-to market strategy. People from inside and outside Norigen have made positive comments regarding this business plan, both about its presentation and content. Several key partnerships were discussed as a result of sharing this business plan with selected organizations.
4. Conducted a comparison (competitive analysis) between services offered by Digex against proposed services to be offered by Norigen's ASPen business. This document describes key information related to Digex operations (e.g. customer types, positioning, designations/certifications and partnerships) and services offered by Digex, which allowed Norigen's ASPen team to refine their strategy.
5. Developed the ASPen SW Architecture, presented to key executives within Norigen and to potential partners/vendors. This architecture includes all SW components for the Hosting Infrastructure and Application Infrastructure Provisioning (AIP) elements of the ASPen business. One key partnership resulted from discussions of this architecture.
6. Conducted a capability assessment of Hostopia's technical competencies to identify potential opportunities (acquisition or partnership). The result of this exercise enabled Norigen's senior management to make an informed proposal to Hostopia.
7. Developed ASPen Knowledge Source (ASPenKS), a web site that contains key information related to the ASPen business. The web site has 6 key areas: Home, Goals, Team Members, Documentation, Milestones and Contact Us. The Documentation section has more than 20 documents. ASPenKS is a centralized repository of knowledge (intellectual capital) accessible by team members.
8. Conducted a market competitive analysis to compare Compugen's eMerge enterprise application against five potential competitors. Compugen is a company that Norigen acquired in 2000. This analysis will enable Compugen's senior management to make a decision about the strategic direction for this enterprise application.

Thomas Cook Group Limited, 1989-2000 (11+ years).
Manager of Applications Development based in Toronto, Canada (March 2000 to September 2000)

• I Managed the Applications Development team for the Americas region (US and Canada), responsible for a team of 13 on-site people plus external suppliers, playing a key role as customer solution contact for all application development, integration and maintenance requests. I delivered the following:
1. Launched TCNetAmericas, the intranet for the Americas region in a short time frame of 6 weeks. This project included all aspects of network requirements, data storage, web hosting and performance requirements, contributing to the business strategy of becoming an e-business.
2. Implemented database index clustering which reduced deadlocks by 90%.
3. Implemented a Commissioning System to support reporting requirements.
4. Selected development partner and implemented automation of US Compliance Form 4790 (cross-border shipments), thus enabling the centralization of such government reporting previously done by each Retail Branch (freeing them to focus on sales).
5. Hired two Application Developers/Support Specialists to improve the service delivery to the business.
6. Implemented a new process to fix DT file imbalances, reducing turnaround time from one week to one day.
7. Managed the creation of a Data Dictionary, which will enable the data mapping for introduction of a new systems within the CFX business.
8. Developed and deployed a user interface to enable business people to change client information (previously requested to IT), resulting in time saving of 2.5 person days per month.
9. Changes to applications support process to avoid frequent interruptions to developers resulting in increased developers productivity.
10. Implemented changes to the NOSTRO interface system, enabling the business to obtain information needed for US$ deposits to Toronto Dominion bank in Canada (changes affected two reports).
11. Disabled the capturing of marketing information (MLM) in all retail branches (~60) as requested by the business to speed up delivery of customer service, which will result in soft dollar savings of $56k per year.
12. Implemented Whitehill Enterprise, a business solution to automate distribution of reports via e-mail, reducing report production (4 person days per report eliminated) and distribution costs (FEDEX costs eliminated).
13. Developed and deployed a report to enable CFX business users to obtain client's beneficiary information. Previously they had to contact IT to get the information, a very slow and inefficient process. A minimum wait of 5 days has been eliminated, giving the business access to relevant information when they need it.
14. Delivered a web-based version on CD of two airport bids (Montreal Dorval and Mirabel), thus contributing to the business strategy of becoming an e-business.

• Created a project plan and started the core initiatives of BDCM (Business Driven Cost Management), one of the five key projects in the Americas region.

• Responsible for all IT elements of Project Focus, the reengineering of the Retail business in the Americas which resulted in revenue enhancement, cost containment and quality improvements with a bottom line impact of ~US$4.4M (210% above expectation). This is a clear example of my capability to stick to a project from inception to completion and delivering results. I delivered in Project Focus:
1. Prioritized list of processes to reengineer (with potential impact to operations).
2. Reengineering survey.
3. Model to track P&L impact (by project module).
4. Inventory Supply/Pre-packaging of currencies (pilot project).
5. Remote access to branch Point of Sale system (pilot project).
6. Internet Conferences/E-meetings (BRS).
7. Electronic filing of Compliance information (BRS, RFI, Supplier selection model, Feasibility Study).
8. E-mail implementation under budget (16.5%) and on time in 50 retail branches across North America (BRS, Cost model, Feasibility Study, Cost Control model, Communication Message, Users Guide). Three external suppliers involved. Anticipated cost savings in year 2000 is $126k (15%).
9. Created a project web site including relevant documentation produced by all team members.

• Developed a strategic framework for the implementation of Knowledge Management in Thomas Cook worldwide, to be presented to the CEO.

• Conducted a Workflow Analysis of the Heathrow Foreign Exchange operations, making recommendations for business process improvements. John Hempsey, Managing Director of the Financial Services division at that time (who became CEO of the Thomas Cook Global and Financial Services business worldwide) sent a card to me commending the quality of the report.

• Managed the following phases of Corporate IntrAnet implementation and all aspects of vendor relationship: Request for Proposal, selection of partner; creation of team (hired Implementation analyst, developer and web administrator) and contract negotiations with selected partner; development and testing of new environment (SUN, Solaris, Netscape SuiteSpot) and business applications; implemented to business areas, ~600 users (Oct 97 - Oct 98).
• Managed European Back Office Centralization project. Phases: planning, requirements (external analyst), development (external contractor), testing. (March - July 98).
• Conducted research to identify Potential Companies to buy, to help creation of new business division: Global Services. (July 97).
• Managed the implementation of a Business Pilot IntrAnet (July 97 - Jan 98). Three business applications: Travellers Cheques World Wide Acceptance information; MICR Library; and Direction 'P'. ~200 users, including CEO. NT, MS-IExplorer, O'Reilly Web suite.
• Conducted a review of the Foreign Exchange businesses in Singapore, and produced a Feasibility Study to implement a business solution to change current situation. A decision was made by senior management to implement almost all my recommendations (Apr-May/97).
• Managed the acquisition and implementation of a new Development Environment (enterprise server, cost of ~£50K) for the Development Pool within IT (120+ users). Phase 1 (Feb-May/97). Netware 4.11; upgraded all client desktops to Windows 95.
• Managed the IT elements of Commercial Foreign Exchange POS implementation in the UK during the following phases: end of development, system tests, user acceptance testing, parallel runs and promotion to live (Jan-May/97).
• Managed the following phases of CFX On-Line project (later renamed and split into VTD UK project; VTD Global project): Consolidated business requirements from Benelux, Australia, Asia, France, Italy and Spain for an on-line ordering and dealing system (Feb/97); Request for Information process (Jan-Jun 97); business case (Aug 97).
• Delivered a Functionality Comparison document (RIO vs TOM) on a very short period (3 weeks) to help senior management make a decision related to IT strategy (Nov/96).
• Managed the creation and delivery of a Contingency Plan for the Message Switch environment (Nov/96).
• Implemented a process to manage and resolve all issues related to the Message Switch project (Oct/96), thus bringing this project to a successful completion.
• Managed the creation and delivery of a Business Case for the acquisition of new hardware (cost of about £250K) for the Message Switch environment (Dec/96). John Donaldson, Managing Director of the Financial Services division at that time (who became CEO for Thomas Cook Group worldwide) who signed this business case, wrote the following comment next to his signature: "Excellent business case; well presented." A dedicated team implemented this environment (went live June 13th, 1997), which will provide Business Continuity through a highly resilient configuration and off-site disaster recovery for the Payments process within Financial Services.

• Successfully conducted a Workflow Analysis of 25 major HR processes in the Benefits Department, to help negotiate an outsourcing contract.
• Produced a significant portion of the Business Requirement Specification for the TOM POS (Total Operations Management Point of Sale) client/server foreign exchange system, which supports over 500 users in 150 foreign exchange branches throughout North America.
• Coordinated development of Business Requirement Specification and Plan for the Wire Transfer Link sub-system. Negotiated and successfully achieved agreement with business partners & contractors from three organizations.
• Designed the Security sub-system for the TOM POS.
• Developed the Branch Operations sub-system for TOM POS.
• Conducted User Workshops (Focus Groups) to create Business Scenarios, thus documenting the Financial Services business processes (current and future).
• Delivered a presentation about Business Lines at the Thomas Cook Global Information Technology (I.T.) conference held in Los Angeles. This conference gathered all senior members of Thomas Cook I.T. worldwide.
• Managed the development and implementation of a tactical Corporate Foreign Exchange system. This system, installed in seven corporate offices including one in London, England, allowed Thomas Cook to achieve outstanding customer service and to increase revenue by 30% within a year.
• Created a data model for TOM POS.
• Successfully reengineered, as a team member, the foreign exchange division. This facilitated the transformation of the business into a flexible, customer-driven and dynamic organization.

Intelmark Inc., October - December 2002 (2 months).

• Sr. Business Process Architect

• Information Architect

• Sr. Project Manager and Information Architect

• Manager, Service Development (Application Service Provisioning, ASP)

• Manager, Applications Development, 2000-2000
• Project Manager, 1999-2000
• IT Consultant, 1999-1999
• Business Transformation Specialist, 1998-1999
• Project Manager (multiple projects), 1996-1998
• Senior Business Systems Analyst / Developer, 1995-1996
• Business Systems Analyst, 1993-1995
• Project Manager, Front-Office Systems, 1991-1993
• Analyst / Programmer, 1991-1991
• POS Support Representative / Programmer, 1989-1991

• Sistemas ORDO, Systems Analyst / Programmer, 1987-1988
• Instituto de Computación NCR, Instructor, 1986-1987
• Corporación Superior, Programmer / Analyst, 1984-1987
• Universidad Autónoma de Centro América, Instructor, 1983-1983
• Instituto Nacional de Seguros, Technical Writer, 1982-1982

2001

1. HP Digital Renaissance Tour
2. eCustomer World 2001
3. SUN Fire Midrame Servers Launch
4. Securant & Gartner web-based seminar on Single Sign On
5. Nortel Networks Optical Ethernet
6. Secure eBusiness Across the Digital Enterprise
7. Cisco Seminar Series - Internet Data Centers
8. Planning for Success: Making e-Business a Reality through vision, plans and proven practices

1. HP web-based seminar: Build better customer relationships with eCRM details
2. ASP MarketSpace Conference [San Jose, CA, USA]
3. Whitehill Enterprise Insider's Forum [Moncton, NB, Canada]
4. Sybase Enterprise Portals Briefing
5. Plumtree Corporate Portal Seminar
6. Strategic Decision Works

1. Critical Success Factors for e-commerce
2. Leadership and Teamwork [Peterborough, UK]

1. Intellectual Capital conference [New York, USA]

1. Time Management [Peterborough, UK]
2. Knowledge Management conference [London, UK]
3. Customer Centred Change [Burnham, UK]
4. Advanced Communications [Peterborough, UK]
5. Customer Centred Strategy [Peterborough, UK]

1. Team Building

1. ActionWorkflow Process Analysis, Design & Specification
2. Mastering DataWindows

1. Introduction to Powerbuilder
2. Service Leadership
3. Software World & Client/Server World

1. Executive Symposium, Object-Oriented Technology

1. User Interface Strategies
2. Structured Techniques
3. Project Management
4. Performance Engineering Workshop

1. Sybase Fast Track

• Painting (oil, acrylic, pastel, pencil, ink).
• Writing poetry (Spanish and English) and some short stories.
• Playing the guitar, zampoña and marimba.
• Photography.
• Listening to music (Pink Floyd, Santana, Alan Parsons, U2, Mozart, Chopin, Nicaraguan, Latin American).
• Art (the impressionists, sculpture).
• Collecting fountain pens, stamps, coins and bank notes.
• Boxing Fan.

Available upon request.

If you want to get a copy of my résumé in MS-Word format, send me a request to renesandino@hotmail.com. I will forward a copy of the latest version. If you prefer a shorter version of my résumé let me know and I will send you that one instead of the detailed version you see on this page.