Phil's CV

This CV was last updated on 8th April, 2006.

It intentionally lacks contact details and referees - this is to preserve privacy. If you require a copy of my CV, please send me an email.

SUMMARY

As an IBM Certified Advanced System Administrator for Notes and Domino 6 (and previously a Principal Certified Lotus Professional (PCLP) in System Administration for both R4.6 and R5), I have over eleven year's experience with Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino as well as extensive networking and security skills. I am also highly competent in Windows NT/2000 and Exchange Server 5.5/2000 administration, and have a history of providing excellent service in challenging environments where customer service is a high priority. I am a proven manager of projects and people, as well as a self-starter capable of managing my own time and resources where required.

SKILLS

EMPLOYMENT

Healthcare Commission

At the Healthcare Commission, I have the role of Messaging and Document Management Administrator. I am responsible for all messaging technologies and the document management systems. This includes managing the BES server, mail template customisations, some custom applications and the Domino.Doc servers.

Messaging and Document Management Administrator

The Healthcare Commission has seen a rapid growth in users, and I joined at a time when their infrastructure was designed for 300 staff and had to cope with 1000 staff.

Whilst at the Healthcare Commission, I have accomplished the following:

  • Stabilised existing systems by troubleshooting and solving load related problems due to sudden organisational growth
  • Implemented an upgrade from R5.x to R6.5
  • Implemented an external webmail system
  • Provided internal webmail systems for emergency access
  • Advised on integration with new incoming systems, particularly Siebel CRM
  • Supported and developed improvements for internal applications on Notes
  • Rationalised the infrastructure to allow for future growth and correct anomolies in the service that are due to previous growth
  • Supported the IT department staff and trained shadows in better support of Lotus Notes/Domino/Domino Document Manager

Freelance IT Consultant

Self Employed Working On A Project Basis
07/2002 to present

After leaving Level 7 Communications Ltd., I undertook several project-based contracts for a variety of companies. These are examples of the work I have done:

  • Upgrades to from Windows NT 4 domains to Windows 2000 and Active Directory
  • Upgrades from Domino/Notes Release 4.6 and Release 5 to Release 6
  • Troubleshooting problems on Windows 2000 servers, Domino servers, Exchange 5.5/2000 servers
  • Health-checks and resulting cleanups in both Windows and Domino domains
  • VPN implementations
  • Security auditing of Domino servers

Level 7 Communications Ltd.

Level 7 Communications (L7C) is a consultancy and development company specialising in Lotus Domino and Lotus Notes, providing workflow and knowledge management solutions. They also provide support and implementation services for Lotus Domino and the Notes client. L7C provides these services to a wide range of organisations, in both the public and private sectors. In the public sector, they work with both councils and housing associations. Their private sector customers range from small ten-person companies to large multinational corporates, in sectors from recruiting to financial services.

Support Coordinator
01/2001 to 06/2002

In this position, I retained all of the roles and responsibilities of a Senior Systems Engineer. It also required that I accomplish the following:

  • Coordinating the activities of all members of the support team
  • Managed the personal development of members of the support team
  • Liased with managers in other departments and L7C customers, to ensure that support was able to meet their needs
  • I planned projects and allocated resources from the support team, and ensured that customers and other departments were aware of any impacts of those projects
  • Monitored the support team's activities (via helpdesk reports, timesheets and direct feedback) to identify problem areas, training needs in customers, and otherwise ensure that support's resources were not being abused
  • I worked with L7C's directors to specify new SLAs and amend existing support policies

The following are representative of the types of projects I was involved in during my time in this role:

  • Migrated the L7C IT infrastructure from an old server room to a new one, completing the move of 30 machines within one day (outside of business hours) to minimise disruption. The entire project - from planning to completion - took two months and did not disrupt any customer's projects or internal development.
  • Planned and carried out the migration of hosted systems from Windows NT 4 domains to a Windows 2000 Active Directory environment, and seamlessly switched without any significant downtime for the customers - this was accomplished within a month.
  • Audited a Domino installation and then produced an upgrade plan to move the primary mail server to a cluster and separate non-mail services onto another server. I implemented this plan, then produced training materials on concepts and best practices for clustering and delivered this to the client's Domino administrators.
  • Implemented iNotes and DOLS on L7C's systems, and developed a custom welcome page that could take users directly to their mail/calendar/to-dos and bespoke internal systems once logged in.

Senior Systems Engineer
03/2000 to 01/2001

This position held all of the roles and responsibilities of a Systems Engineer, and also required that I:

  • Provided advice and best practice guidance to L7C's developers, sales force and customers
  • Assumed responsibility for network, Windows and Domino security on both internal and hosted systems
  • Performed emergency site visits to fix priority problems
  • Helped new employees learn various aspects of their job by shadowing me

During my time in this position, I accomplished the following:

  • Planned and implemented many upgrades from Release 4.6 to Release 5 of Domino and Notes
  • Planned and implemented application rollouts that integrated Domino applications with Exchange Server via the Microsoft Connector for Lotus Notes
  • Planned and implemented upgrades to Domino and Notes from cc:Mail and Exchange Server
  • Migrated all L7C's desktops and laptops to Windows NT and Windows 2000

Systems Engineer
08/1998 to 03/2000

As a Systems Engineer, I provided support for internal and external customers at L7C. In this role, I was required to do the following:

  • Check logs, create/modify/remove users, monitor servers and analyse server performance under both Domino and Windows NT
  • Maintain and administer L7C's network and Windows/Domino servers, and their connections to other networks such as the internet
  • Take helpdesk calls and log them in a custom helpdesk application
  • Make site visits as appropriate to resolve helpdesk calls
  • Perform rollouts of and migrations to Lotus Notes and Domino
  • Perform upgrades to existing Notes and Domino installations
  • Roll out and upgrade applications written for Domino/Notes by L7C
  • Support Microsoft Office
  • Evaluate and recommend software

During my time in this position, I also accomplished the following:

  • Directly responsible for the planning, implementation and maintenance of a secure Domino/Notes system for an intellectual property solution
  • Developed small-scale solutions such as group calendars for the Domino/Notes platform
  • Redesigned the network to meet future needs at L7C, and implemented the new design
  • Implemented DHCP, WINS and DNS on the internal network, and a firewall on the internet connection
  • Implemented and maintained trusts between many Windows NT domains

ICL Sorbus UK Ltd.

ICL Sorbus UK is the outsourcing and support division of ICL, and specialises in the outsourcing of telephone support helpdesks.

IT Support Engineer
06/1996 to 08/1998

After having worked on a variety of helpdesks and been involved in the implementation of the Notes/Domino infrastructure for many others, I was moved to the IT Support Department. This was to stop the demand for my skills with Lotus Notes/Domino conflicting with my main duty of taking calls.

  • Responsible for all Lotus Notes/Domino servers at the site I worked at - including maintaining links to customer's Domino systems for email communication and to replicate data for helpdesks to use
  • Maintained and administered LANs and WAN connections
  • Maintained and implemented servers running Windows NT, Microsoft Exchange Server, Internet Information Server, Microsoft SQL Server (versions 4.2 and 6.5), Backup Exec, ArcServe, Novell Netware (versions 3.12 and 4)
  • Worked on patch panels, hubs and switches
  • Provided end-user desktop support of the Windows platform, Microsoft Office applications, Lotus Notes and other (ICL bespoke) desktop software

Telephone Support Agent
03/1995 to 06/1996

The role saw me working on various telephone helpdesks in a call centre.

  • Provided solutions to customers over the telephone within fixed SLAs
  • Was second line support on an internet service provider's technical help-line
  • Worked on a corporate support desk supporting Microsoft Office, Lotus SmartSuite/Notes and (then) Novell's WordPerfect suite
  • Supported Microsoft's operating systems and networking issues for Microsoft UK

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

Education

I attended Kelsey Park School for Boys from 1986 to 1994, where I achieved 6 GCSEs grades A-C including Maths and English.

Vocational Qualifications

Qualification [Year Attained]

  • IBM Certified Advanced System Administrator - Lotus Notes and Domino 6 [2003]
  • Performance Tuning a Domino R5 Infrastructure (PCLP, R5) [2002]
  • Implementing and Supporting Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 (MCP) [2001]
  • Domino Applications Administration (PCLP, R4.6) [2000]

REFEREES

Referees are available on request.