Mark Ragel
P.O. Box *** Ph: 405-***-****
Norman, OK 73070 Email: *******@*****.***
Summary
I possess unusual breadth and depth of knowledge in Information and Technology Services, including strategic planning, relationship management and change management. I have substantial experience in C-Level roles. I am a Certified Change Management specialist with demonstrated capability in Organizational Transformation, effectively addressing issues of organizational culture and technology driven organizational change with a track record of building multi-national teams that exceed expectations. Additionally, I have substantial experience in security planning and operations, including organizational design and implementation of Information Security function for a major Middle East refinery. My experience includes North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific.
Sector experience: Airline, Consulting, Distribution, Higher Education, International Development (NGO), IT Services, Manufacturing, Non-Profit, Oil & Gas and Telecom.
Key Skills:
• Communication & Presentation
• Organizational Development expertise
• Change Management
• Motivation, Team Management & Training
• Business Process Management
• Strategic Planning
• Business & Data Modeling
• ERP implementation
• Business Analysis – Systems Analysis
• Significant International Experience
• Cloud Computing deployment
• Project Management
• Inventory Control / Supply Chain
• Information Security planning and operations.
• Middleware, BI Tools, Data Warehouses
• Data Administration
• Data Base Administration
• Purchasing and Procurement
• Contracts Management
• Logistics Management
• IT infrastructure planning & deployment
• Complex Information Systems
• Service Management
• Problem Management
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/mark-ragel/0/904/a10/
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS/CERTIFICATIONS
Association for Talent Development (ATD)
FBI/Infragard - Member
Information Systems Security Association (ISSA)
ISACA – COBIT5 certification in process
ITIL Foundation - Certified
Prince2 Project Management Methodology Foundation – Certified
Project Management Institute - Member
PROSCI - Change Management Specialist - Certified
WORK EXPERIENCE
Business Advisor / Cybersecurity Advisor
Oklahoma Small Business Development Center (OKSBDC) part of the Small Business Administration (SBA)
Moore/Norman, OK
9/2015 – 6/2017
OKSBDC is the preeminent provider of small/medium business consulting, education and information. As the OKSBDC Cybersecurity Advisor I support clients with assessment, vulnerability and operational considerations. As Business Advisor I provide high quality advisory services to small businesses. The goal is to enable startup success as well as management of organizational change issues for in-business organizations which result in positive long-term economic impact for the client and the State of Oklahoma. I also established and expanded relationships with stakeholders, represented SBDC at conferences and meetings, created and delivered ppt presentations at stakeholder sponsored outreach events.
Manager – Business Systems
Museum of the Bible, Inc
Oklahoma City, OK
May 2014 – February 2015
Start-up of significant multifaceted, international, non-profit organization with primary focus to open The Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC the Fall 2017; projected staff growth from headcount of 60 to over 300 in 2017. Initial role, functional analysis, selection, deployment and management of Cloud based services (AWS), cloud based ERP – Implementation of NetSuite, Event Management, Donor Management, POS and Ticketing solutions. Organizational engagement: facilitating adoption of ITIL ecosystem, proposed Service Oriented Architecture and formalization of Change Management Initiative.
Owner/entrepreneur
KoffeeKingdomDirect, Inc
Norman, OK
January 2013 to March 2014
A small business startup venture. Conducted business function requirement analysis, established corporate entity, supply agreement with Saudi provider, completed registration of US and Saudi facilities to achieve recognition as an authorized coffee importer in compliance with US Customs, US Food and Drug Administration and US Dept of Agriculture. Analyzed requirements and created an e-business web site which included product, shopping cart, PCI compliant, SSL payment gateways utilizing Authorize.Net /PayPal, fulfillment and backend administration to ship & track (including contracts with FedEx, UPS, USPS) including seamless transaction posting to an automated back-end accounting system.
Sr. Consultant Short term contract
Value Chain Group
September 2012 to September 2012
Gandour, multi-national manufacturer of confection/food
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Provided consulting/facilitation to support group wide change initiative for client adoption and integration of the Value Chain Group (VCG) Business Process Transformation Framework (BPTF) plus Integrated Business Planning (IBP) across manufacturing sites in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, India, Malaysia and China.
IT Specialist Short term contract
Coffey International Development
March 2012 to April 2012
World Bank Funded Organizational Strengthening Project
Ministry of Finance and Accounting Training Center (MOFATC)
IT Specialist - Baghdad, Iraq
Organizational change initiative included business analysis of current IT equipment and business processes within the MOFATC; created 36 month plan for deployment and migration to a modern and flexible IT infrastructure plus core services to support the MOFATC operations including:
• Servers
• Network
• Operation standards
• Business Process Model
• Core software
• Integrated planning
• Comprehensive training plan
Site Manager - Taji, Iraq Short term contract
NearEast Resources
May 2011 to August 2011
Previous site manager left without notice. I was called in on short notice to manage project through normal end of contract. Managed 300 skilled manpower resources under a turn-key contract to support all aspects of operation and maintenance for the US Air Force Combat Air Base at Taji, Iraq. Also, provided local procurement and inbound logistics to USAF for short-form operational requirements.
IT Advisor Long term contract
Ministry of Oil, Iraq
Management Systems International
Washington, DC
January 2008 to October 2010
USAID - Tatweer-Iraq Project (www.tatweer-iraq.com), Institutional Capacity Development
IT Advisor - Ministry of Oil, Iraq
Challenge: Analyze current situation and mentored organizational change to develop a modern IT infrastructure in the Iraqi Ministry of Oil.
Issues: The Ministry:
• Over 100,000 employees in Baghdad Headquarters and 16 operating companies throughout Iraq
• Excluded from the international community for 20 yrs
• Minimal concept of modern IT service environment
• Organizational culture of great secrecy
• Long history of non-cooperation on technical issues among the various entities.
Actions: Designed and delivered a consulting/training program to build concepts in the following areas:
• State-of-the-art – IT (conceptual)
• Organizational change / continuous improvement program
• Technical Planning framework
• IT Architecture framework
• Business Process Analysis
• IT Service Delivery
• Trust building to facilitate inter-organizational cooperation.
Results:
Facilitated creation of:
• IT Executive Committee (approval and funding of initiatives)
• IT Steering Committee (inter-organizational body to define and propose initiatives).
• New organization to support ongoing Organizational Change / continuous improvement process (annual assessment / evaluation / action plan).
• Approved:
o RFP/ selection/ award for Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
o Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
o Information Technology Infrastructure Library(ITIL) - Operations Best Practices
o RFP for Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP) system released. Drafted preliminary plans for coordinated
ERP deployment across all Ministry entities.
Achievements represent significant change, including viable inter-organizational cooperation on IT issues. The changes are sustainable as the Ministry 'owns' all activities and Ministry personnel carry primary responsibilities for all aspects.
Managing Director
Business Process Management Middle East
Riffa, Bahrain
January 2005 to October 2007
Challenge: Establish a new company to build a Middle East network of Value Added Resellers
(VAR) for IDS Scheer's 'ARIS' Business Process toolset, 'Corticon' Rules
Management & Agilepoint BPMS.
Actions: Conducted business and market needs analysis, created the legal entity, qualified and recruited
Leading organizations that deployed over 1,100 sales and support personnel across the region. Mentored the VAR group on practices to enable delivery of consulting and tool use to facilitate organizational change in Public and Private sector.
Results: Exceeded objectives with engagements including, (Saudi Arabia) Ministry of Interior, Saudi
Arabian Oil Co, Amiantit, Riyad Bank, Al-Rajhi Bank; (Sudan) - Sayga Flour Mills; (Dubai) Dubai
International Financial Centre, Gulf News.
Founder and CEO
Algosaibi Information Systems
Dammam, Saudi Arabia
July 1994 to December 2004
Challenge: Create a viable new IT company in the fiercely competitive commercial landscape of the Arabian Gulf.
Actions: Provided thought leadership, strategic vision, change management initiatives, business and market analysis to support growth from initial market entry as a specialty tool provider and 'boutique' consulting organization, into a full service solution provider (systems integrator) with best of breed products including security and DR/BC solutions. Expanded the business model to include SAP consulting by establishing a joint venture with Q-Data, South Africa thereby creating Q-Data Middle East; profitable from first year including successful SAP deployments in QGas, Ras Laffan Gas (Qatar) and Al-Futtaim Group (Dubai).
Results: Delivered revenue growth over 100% year on year in first 5 years.
Merged AGIS with K.A. Algosaibi Group, centralized the Group's IT support; built and commissioned a new IT operations center for the Group which resulted in 28% reduction in cost with significantly expanded service (24/7 vs. prime time only). Business Delivery Model included Servers, Middleware, Network / Security, ERP, CRM, Warehouse Mgt, NAS Storage, security solutions and Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) facilities as components of total solutions. I grew AGIS from concept start up to 80 staff with 5 offices in 3 Countries.
Data Administrator
Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO)
Awali, Bahrain
7/1989 – 6/1994
BAPCO is the Bahrain Petroleum Refinery: capacity of 250,000 bbls per day with approximately 3000 employees. Senior management at Bapco requested that I participate with refinery modernization planning. I was engaged as part of a senior study team with responsibility of building a computerized model of the refinery. The study included a series of facilitated workshops that focused on the definition of business functionality and the data required to carry out those functions. The model formed the basis for strategic organizational change including implementation of integrated Refinery Information Systems. I remained at my post in Bapco as part of the reduced staff contingent during the Gulf War I conflict.
Manager Data Base Administration
Saudia Airline,
Jeddah Saudi Arabia
July 1988 – June 1989
Saudia is a worldwide air carrier and one of the IATA top 20. I was recruited to define and create a modern Data Base Administration (DBA) organization. During my first sixty days, I conducted an organizational needs analysis then mentored development the modern and flexible organization required to support Saudia’s rapidly evolving systems deployment environment which upported DB2, IMS, TOTAL operational data base management systems plus TELON application generation.
Departmental headcount 15.
Data and Organization Management Specialist
Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO)
Awali, Bahrain
May 1986 – June 1988
I was recruited to define and implement a Data Administration (DA) function for BAPCO. A major objective of the DA function was to provide strategic planning support for migration of corporate data into an integrated, data oriented “corporate utility”. This included design and deployment of Change Management, Problem Management, and Data Security Administration functions; these functions became standing operational entities and Data Security Administration was repositioned as a function of Refinery Security Operations. In May of 1988 all planning efforts were shelved due to budget considerations while Bapco, Caltex and the Bahraini Government debated the viability of the investment needed to upgrade the refinery.
Data Management Specialist
Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO)
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Nov 1981 – April 1986
I was recruited as founding staff to participate in the creation of the Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center (EXPEC). EXPEC is Saudi Aramco’s world class Oil & Gas research facility. Initially I led a Business System Planning (BSP) effort encompassing the Exploration and Producing (E&P) Business Line. I then chaired the Data Base Management System (DBMS) selection task force. This effort required significant application of team building plus inter and intra-group communications techniques in order to coordinate the activities of participants from Exxon, Texaco, Mobil, Chevron and Aramco (Saudi) management. These efforts resulted in a technical solution that supported EXPEC’s needs until the year 2000.
Manager – Development Architecture
GTE Data Services – Telephone Systems Group
Tampa, FL, USA
January 1980 – Oct 1981
I was responsible for the organizational definition, development and management of Development Architecture, the Central Data Base Administration and Technical Planning function within GTE Data Services. My charge was to provide data base administration services to the 14 GTE telephone companies in North America and also support technical planning with both content and methodology development for GTE Service Corporation. Major functions of my department were:
Planning – Support of strategic corporate planning and long range technical forecasting.
Administration – System management activities to support central development and nationwide a new generation of information services.
Support – Data base performance tuning and custom software
Professional head count in 1981 was 28, budget of US$ 1.1 million (excluding hardware utilization). I also chaired an intercompany strategic planning group, which was charged with providing technical direction to the GTE Information Systems Executive Committee concerning the next generation of telephone operations support systems. This effort included:
Business Modeling
Data Modeling
Hardware Simulation
Software Simulation
Network Simulation
The resulting recommendations, Customer Service Operation Plan (CSOP) was accepted by the GTE Executive Management Committee and implemented nationwide across GTE Telephone Operations. In this role I was also provided recommendations for refining corporate planning methodologies at both strategic and tactical levels.
Personal Details
Nationality: USA – Native, born - Decatur, IL Languages: English, German, Arabic
Driving License: USA (Oklahoma) Security Clearance – Top Secret (inactive)
Education
MS Ed Adult Education – Organizational Studies
Florida International University
Miami, FL
BBA Management - Information Systems
Florida International University
Miami, FL
Middle East Partner for Standards Organizations
Object Management Group (OMG) (www.omg.org) & Health Level 7 (HL7) (www.hl7.org)
Value Chain Group (VCG) (www.value-chain.org)
SELECTED SPECIALIZED TRAINING
American Society for Training and Development
“Designing Effective Training and Selecting Appropriate Methods’
San Francisco, CA, USA
Axelos
“ITIL Foundation Certificate Training”
“Prince 2 Foundation Certificate Training”
“COBIT5”
“Cloud Computing Concepts”
ITpreneurs Nederland B.V
Boeing Computer Services
“Southeast Regional Training Symposium”
Nashville, TN, USA
Harvard University
“Strategic Planning”
Cambridge, MA, USA
Learmonth-Burchett Systems
“Strategic Systems Planning”
“Systems Development Life Cycle”
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
NetSuite
Administration Training
NetSuite, Blended-Virtual
PROSCI - Change Management Certification
Certification training and credentials
Abu Dhabi, UAE
University Associates
“Clinic on Organizational Development”
“Clinic on Team Building”
“Clinic on Inter-Group Communications”
Menlo Park, CA, USA