Call Center, Customer Support, IT Network Operations, NOC

RICK RAFFERTY

ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE – IT/TELECOM

Network Engineering & Infrastructure New Product/Service Rollouts Technology Project

Consultant

Participative, customer centric technology leader with expertise instituting and overseeing engineering and

support operations for global companies in financial services and telecom sectors. Accomplished in startup

operations and major organizational transformations with a proven record of achievements in large-scale project

management. Respected for dynamic personal approach and integrity traits further distinguished by ability to

seamlessly unite people, processes, and systems for operational efficiency. Strong financial/business acumen

leading teams of 100+, and managing budgets up to $60 million. Available for travel and relocation.

Core Competencies: Leadership & Business Management

Strategic Visioning & Planning Budgeting & Forecasting Profit & Loss Management

Team Building & Leadership Vendor Relations & Management Cross-Cultural Communications

Core Competencies: Project & Program Management

Global Best Practices Feasibility Analysis Strategy Deployment Change Management

Process Reengineering Continuous Improvement Productivity & Profitability

Core Competencies: Technical

Network Architecture Infrastructure Development Business Systems Deployment

Global Network Operations Centers Call Center Management Center Of Excellence SaaS

“Rick has the desire and passion to optimize processes and is always looking for ways to

improve the customer experience”. – Peter G., Senior Director, Research in Motion

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Steered continuous improvement of IT Service Desk supporting 2000 applications, including

propriety trade management, market data analysis, portfolio management, and accounting systems for global

investment firm. Monitored Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), Product

Knowledge Management (PKM) and made the necessary changes to enhance the end user experience.

Built Field Engineering and Support Operation for global company specializing in signaling

components for telecom manufactures and service providers. Developed best practices to strengthen customer

service experience, established monthly/quarterly metrics, and upgraded product training; increased Service

Level Agreements (SLAs) to 80% for Field Service Requests from critical customers.

Piloted Center of Excellence (COE) focused on the rollout of new tools and technologies used to

support enterprise and carrier customers of $18 billion provider of wireless hardware, software, and services.

Built team of senior technical analysts that created and tested application configurations that enabled efficient

quality acceptance, and addressed business needs across six Global Network Operations Centers (GNOCs).

Led multinational network solutions provider through a series of technology upgrades and

enhancements that resulted in annual cost savings of 30%. Deployed single vendor AVAYA VoIP system

over AT&T’s Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) framework; upgraded or replaced all user desktops

and laptops; and introduced standard/virtualization technologies into global data centers.

Testimonials and Endorsements: www.linkedin.com/in/rickrafferty

103 Autumn Ridge Road 908-***-****

Bedminster, NJ 07921 *********@*****.***

RICK RAFFERTY, P2

ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE – IT/TELECOM

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LEADER

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

GT&J CONSULTING, LLC 2013 –

Present

Management Consultant

Management Consultant specializing in integrating technology systems requirements into newly built or

renovated processes. Retained for IT business transformation projects (Call Center, Help Desk, NOC

assessments) with a focus on strategic customer-centric program improvements for global companies in financial

services and telecom sectors.

Management Consultant (via PTS CONSULTING GROUP, NYC)

2012 - 2013

Contracted to formulate strategy and framework for new centralized IT Service Management (ITSM)

based Service Desk in support of 2000 users and 50+ Desktop PC and VDI Citrix applications across 5

corporate campuses for Bridgewater Associates, a global investment firm with $130 billion in assets and a

wide array of institutional clients.

RESEARCH IN MOTION LTD., Waterloo, ON

2009 - 2011

$18 billion publicly traded company (NASDAQ: RIMM) and (TSX: RIM) providing wireless hardware, software,

and services to corporations, resellers, and wireless carriers worldwide.

Director, Blackberry Customer Support Operations (2010 - 2011)

Tapped by CIO to develop IT Tools organization focused on the delivery and maintenance of all internal IT

systems and applications used by six GNOCs in NA, EMEA, and APAC. Built and led technical oversight team

comprised of ten senior technical analysts. Supported $2 million budget. Reported to Vice President.

Led Information Technology Assessment and Revitalization (ITAR) program that transformed

Blackberry’s Global Customer Support Operations into a Tiered Support organization.

Devised software/hardware platform consolidation roadmap comprised of RDM applications, Cloud

Computing, IP Telephony, Voice Data Analytics, VDIs, Intelligent IVR, and Support Automation.

Director, Blackberry Customer Technical Support Operations (2009 - 2010)

Recruited to transform GNOCs supporting over 29,000 Fortune 500 customers worldwide from reactive Contact

Centers to predictive Tier III COEs. Managed 500 employees across 6 Customer Support/Data Centers in NA,

EMEA, and APAC. Administered $50 million budget with annual revenue of $100 million. Reported to CIO.

Deployed new Blackberry service offerings, Mobile Voice System (unifies desk phone features with

BlackBerry smart phones and Wi-Fi networks) and Chalk Pushcast Software (delivers rich media content to

BlackBerry smart phones through BlackBerry Enterprise Server) as key member of product launch team.

Launched E-Maintenance SAP web-based software solution (Blackberry Enterprise Support Center) as

mechanism to track trouble tickets; heightened customer satisfaction and advanced competitive position.

ULTICOM, INC., Mt. Laurel, NJ

2007 - 2008

$45 million privately held company (UTP-NASDAQ: ULCM) specializing in signaling components for telecom

equipment manufacturers and service providers.

Senior Director, Worldwide Network Customer Support Operations

Recruited to transform the Worldwide Network Customer Support Operations comprised of Global Field

Engineering, Project Management, and Customer Relations organizations. Held P&L responsibility for three

GNOCs in North America, Europe, and Singapore. Managed global team of 65 customer support specialists.

Administered $5 million budget. Reported to VP, Engineering and Operations.

Testimonials and Endorsements: www.linkedin.com/in/rickrafferty

103 Autumn Ridge Road 908-***-****

Bedminster, NJ 07921 *********@*****.***

RICK RAFFERTY, P3

ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE – IT/TELECOM

ULTICOM, INC. (continued)

Devised strategy to establish three dedicated, co-located Data Centers that substantially increased

network resiliency and performance for GNOCs in North America, Europe, and Singapore.

Liaised with Product Management, Finance, Sales, Manufacturing, and Engineering departments to

gather business requirements for implementation of SAP ERP solution that reduced sales cycle from 60 to 45

days.

NIKSUN, INC., Monmouth Junction, NJ

2005 - 2007

$40 million privately held multinational company specializing in next-generation network monitoring solutions.

Senior Director, Global Customer Network Support Data Operations & IT

Hired to build a Professional Services organization to support post-sale activities and increase maintenance

revenue. Held P&L responsibility for 55-member technical team spanning 2 GNOCs and Data Centers in NA and

APAC. Developed and managed $5 million budget. Reported to President.

Introduced quarterly Service Request Review process with major customers, which increased revenue by

$1.2 million through add-on sales and program enhancements.

Established Tiered Support Structure to support NIKSUN (optical transport) platforms (Supermicro 1U,

2U, and 5U Blade Servers; and SAN devise running on proprietary UNIX software), and improve customer

response times.

AT&T, Inc., Piscataway, NJ 2003 - 2005

$126 billion publicly traded company (NYSE:T); leading provider of wireless communication services in the U.S.

Technical Director, Customer Care Maintenance Data Center (GNOC)

Promoted from engineering arm of AT&T to spearhead development of Tier III COE supporting AT&T products

and wireless network services. Managed 120-member team of network engineers across 4 NOCs and Data

Centers in North America. Administered $15 million budget. Reported to Vice President.

Previous Positions Held at AT&T Bell Laboratories:

Senior Manager, Systems Testing, Business Service Laboratories (1999 – 2003)

Technical Manager, Quality Assurance Network Engineering (1997 – 1999)

Senior Quality Assurance Engineer (1995 – 1997)

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Bachelor of Science in Management Science

Kean University, Union, NJ

Kepner-Tregoe Resolve DiSC Relational Management Awareness

Research in Motion Training Facility, Waterloo, ON

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Co-Chairman, IT Committee, Professional Services Group of Somerville, NJ

Council Member, Gerson Lehrman Group’s Council of Communication Advisors

IT Systems Volunteer, New Jersey Department of Labor

Testimonials and Endorsements: www.linkedin.com/in/rickrafferty

103 Autumn Ridge Road 908-***-****

Bedminster, NJ 07921 *********@*****.***

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