Head of IT Operations and Infrastructure
Commercial International Bank
مجموع سنوات الخبرة :25 years, 6 أشهر
Hired by the bank to bring IT Infrastructure, Network and Operations to world‑class levels. Within one year to bring robustness to the Infrastructure and Networks bringing planned service availability to 99% or above.
Responsible for building and running a robust Infrastructure and Networks. Heading up IT Operations for the largest private bank in Egypt. In 2015, CIB also acquired Citibank’s Egypt retail operations. Heading up a rapidly growing team of 150 people, and interacting very closely with Business, Architecture, QA and Application Support etc. and reporting to the CIO. Responsible for a budget of USD 22M for 2016.
♣ Remodeled organization and processes to be ITIL compliant, introducing Major Incidence Management and War Rooms
♣ Created Problem Management, Vendor SLA and Risk Management and Service Monitoring organizations. Mentoring them to maturity
♣ Led acquisition and implementation of Oracle Super Cluster technology and consolidation of Oracle databases on Exadata platform. Brought in scalability without significant change
♣ Oversaw acquisition and implementation of Continuous Data Protection technology including Oracle’s Zero Data Loss Prevention Appliance (ZDLRA), to improve RTO from many hours to minutes
♣ Oversaw implementation of IBM Power 8 platforms and migration of all services including T24 and Internet banking from Power 7
♣ Supported seamless integration of Citibank IT operations into CIB
♣ Instituted and chaired a mature Change Management process and Change Authorization Board to greatly improve planned downtime activity results
♣ Instituted several reforms aimed towards improving human capital including, training and development, Mentorship, Management Trainee program, Continuous Appraisal process
♣ Started Datacenter resilience initiative by building High Availability across the data center, and implemented production-like DR site.
♣ Implemented Production/Non‑Production Isolation and helped build a culture of strict UAT and Stress testing before cut-over into production
♣ Supported PCI compliance certification, Industry Grade Database Monitoring, Database Replication across DR
♣ Led planning and execution of Disaster Recovery fire drill for Critical Applications to ensure Business Continuity. This was done in close cooperation with various stake holders including and Business Continuity teams
♣ Oversaw migration of T24 database from J‑Base to Oracle and then moving the database to Oracle Exadata Super Cluster
♣ Started server consolidation, recycling and resource management to control costs and improve efficiency
♣ Led several cost optimization initiatives including renegotiating with vendors, Data Center Ops, remodeling Wide Area Networks to manage Carrier costs
♣ Member of leadership team to focus on communications with various Boards and Committees
♣ Instituted Knowledge Base and Known Issue Databases in IT Service Desk to identify opportunities for self help and to identify Problem Management candidates
♣ Championed the implementation of cut-over planning for all projects including to‑the‑minute Activity Rosters, Risk Mitigation and Thorough Test Planning
♣ Executive sponsor for the Business Process Orchestration project. Led it to successful completion
♣ Set up new redundant network connections over multiple carriers
Was given a mandate for controlling and improving deliveries, and growing business in the Middle East and
Africa, by drawing upon my development and leadership background and knowledge of Telecommunications
and the region.
Communications Global Business Unit (CGBU) builds, sells and delivers Operations and Business Support Systems, Security,
and Network Intelligence systems for the Telecommunications sector, particularly for the Telecommunications Operators.
As Practice Director, my role involved managing Deliveries, Sales and Business Development across Middle East & Africa,
and for ensuring a healthy P&L for the region. My responsibilities included devising quarterly strategies and putting them to
work through my team and peers, leading development of proposals, and closing deals through negotiations and contracting.
On the deliveries’ side, I was responsible for ensuring deliveries within time and budget, handling project and customer
escalations, capacity and resource planning for upcoming projects, and sourcing to address gaps.
- Won a net-new customers in the region
- Within two month of joining, successfully delivered a major upgrade project that was critically delayed, earning the customer’s appreciation and thawing of relations
- Established trust relationships with customers through a policy of openness and transparency
owing to policy of openness and transparency into
knowledge, only two escalations to my level and
no escalations above mine
- Achieved better quality deliveries and improved
control by improving quality of documentation and
designing clean delivery practices
- Generated numerous meaningful customer
engagements through coming up with creative,
cost effective and relevant solutions
- Created objective synergies between delivery and
sales functions, resulting in successful bids and
greater customer happiness index. This also
resulted in greater job satisfaction for the team.
Was asked to improve the Systems Integration function and give structure to the business. Initially, I was to focus
on a new customer in UAE while heading up Pakistan & Afghanistan. Was subsequently given bigger
responsibilities including heading up Gulf and the Middle East.
Mapped to NSN as a result of the JV between Nokia and Siemens. NSN went through a series of rapid transformations and
restructuring. I was given various leadership responsibilities in the Systems Integration function in Middle East and Africa.
Major responsibilities included Strategic development of business within region directly and through a team of reporting
consultants, protecting and increasing business footprint, ownership of business and achieving sales and revenue
targets through a direct reporting team. Funnel creation, qualification and budgeting, through various customer teams
and direct reports ensuring that Customer Account Teams have the right level of support. Initiating dialogues with
customers that resulted in meaningful relationships and leading focused teams of Systems Architects, consultants and
sales staff to create innovative solutions that were relevant to customer landscapes were central.
- Rescued a dwindling 3M Euro account and within a
year building it into 40M Euros
- Achieved a YoY growth of 20%+ for three years
- Reversed adverse customer perception and turned
it into a reference account for the region
- Established direct relationships with C-level
customers
- Consistently exceeded targets
- Doubled GSMR business in one year (USD 30M
with a gross margin exceeding 40%)
- Working with the Architectural practice, helped
streamline business processes and standardized
solution designs that achieved 30% quicker turn-
around time in a majority of cases
- Grew CSI accounts into 3 new countries with CSI-
led engagements
- Responsible for overall operations of the company's line-business
- Spearheading major projects undertaken by the company
- Business Development primarily in the US and for some select clients in Pakistan
- Chief consultant for NADRA project
- Principal architect for US based fortune 100 company's software product
- Principal architect for McDonald's Pakistan’s back-office system design
- Principal architect for various Data Warehousing projects
- Principal architect and consultant for various Mobile Computing solutions and projects for US clients
- Advisor to IT department, government of Punjab
- Responsible for representing the company at various forums
- Responsible for evaluating emerging technologies for building company's intellectual assets
- Line Business Policy and Organization Decision Making
- Customer Relationship
US Experience
- Spending almost 6 months in a year in North America
- Various business consulting assignments
- Business Development and Client Relations
- Conceiving solutions for business problems using mobile technology
- Conducted various presentations before several Fortune 100 companies based out of Florida, California, and Washington
- Designed and lead the team for development of an entirely new product for a Fortune 100 company based in the state of Washington
- Developed a Pocket PC based software for remote administration of Oracle Database Systems
- Policy Decisions
- Customer Relationship
- Control and Organization
- Staffing
- Project Management
- Making contact with our US clients involves spending a considerable part of the year in US.
- Heading a team of consultants, and keeping a close eye on the progress of each project, its deliverables and solution design and delivery
- Achieved a notable and respected Corporate Image as a leading solution provider in the Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi especially in Oracle™ technologies
- Consulting jobs included designing and implementing communication systems and networks for integration of heterogeneous computer systems over wide and local area networks
- Supervising Design and Development of more complex systems
- Evaluating Systems designs made by other designers
- Various other consulting assignments include consulting for PRAL (Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited), Expert Advisory Cell, Printing Corporation of Pakistan, Pakistan Army (various departments)
Middle Eastern Projects
- Consulted for Dubai Naturalization and Residency Department (DNRD) on a 7 month assignment. DNRD is the immigration and passport department of the government of Dubai. The responsibilities included upgrading various Oracle™ based applications to perform in a more demanding environment in a later version of Oracle™ using fail-over systems and automated passport and visa control. The system included a complete back and front office automation of the Dubai immigration department.
- Designed and implemented the first of its kind automated Yellow Pages production system and various other back-office systems for Transworld Publicity International, a Saudi multi-national company. The system enabled them to bolster efficiency to the maximum while cutting down drastically on time-to-market
- Heading a department of 17 people
- Spearheaded a technological revolution by developing an MRP System in the company leading to enormous cost cut downs
- Guide the organization's computerization strategy and making technology assimilation decisions, thus striving to achieve a harmonious growth of computerization though out the organization.
- Designed and Implemented various systems
- Designing and Implementing Systems
- Systems designed using Oracle™ 5 and SCO UNIX
- Inventory Management
- Production Planning and Scheduling
- Job Order Management
- Material Order Tracking
- Payroll
- Costing and Cost Management
- Accounting
- Job Costing
- Heat Accounting
- Interfaces with CAD systems for generating BOQ’s
- Machine Loading
- Machine Maintenance
- Various Others
This was an evening executive MBA program. I completed this program while working at SoftCraft Pakistan. I came in first of my class.
FAST is Pakistan's most prestigious institution for the Computer Science discipline. I graduated in the first ever batch of the institution and have the honor of being taught by some of the world leading Computer Scientists including some from NASA. Admission to FAST (now National University of Computing and Emerging Sciences) is through a competitive exam. In my batch more than 3500 people applied for a total of 35 seats.