TOM LAPLANTE

**** *********** **** ● Dallas, TX *5230 ● 512-***-****

aczeo6@r.postjobfree.com ● www.linkedin.com/in/tomlaplante SENIOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & OPERATIONS OFFICER Chief Information Officer – Chief Operations Officer – Chief Executive Officer Exceptional record of success directing corporate business and technology operations. Consistent history of increasing revenues, guiding organizations through change, enhancing profitability, and improving operational performance. Excel at building and leading top-performing teams, transforming companies, and delivering innovative technology solutions to drive business growth. Experienced at directing startup and turnaround initiatives, serving on advisory boards, and overseeing complex project portfolios. Core Competencies:

Operational Governance – Strategic Planning – Budget & Cost Control – Contract Negotiations – P&L Business Intelligence (BI) – Predictive Analytics – ROI – Outsourcing/Offshoring – Big Data Analytics Data Center Design – Proposals – Innovation – Mobile Solutions – M&A Support – Sales & Marketing SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Earned Huffington Post’s Top 50 Social CIO Award in 2014 and 2015.

• Increased profit margins 15% for all TopGolf locations by tracking promotional giveaways.

• Played a key role in growing revenues from $30M to $300M by building scalable systems.

• Reduced inventory costs 8% by implementing an enterprise inventory management system.

• Saved more than $200,000 per year in credit card processing fees by switching service providers.

• Lowered IT spend by utilizing offshore, near-shore, and in-house application development teams.

• Delivered $3.9M in savings for Charles Schwab by recommending a BI reporting tool.

• Negotiated an $8M savings for a Time & Attendance software solution at Harrah’s Entertainment.

• Saved $12M by negotiated a long-term, $25M deal for outsourcing fixed assets and A/P functions.

• Enabled $3M in savings by directing the relocation of the corporate office from Memphis to Las Vegas.

• Lowered IT support costs $2M per year for Cingular Wireless by consolidating 23 systems into 5.

• Created a shared service center for IDG that saved $3M per year and combined 12 units into 1. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

STAR SUPPORT, Dallas, TX 2015 – Present

Managing Partner

Oversee a technology and management consulting firm servicing small to large businesses. Direct all business functions, including project management, customer relations, proposal preparation, budgets, procurement, and financials. Supervise offshore outsourced resources and contractors as needed.

• Board of Advisors member for an online gaming startup company (Arena Online). Developed data analytics strategy, digital marketing plan, and roadmap to segment customers by demographics.

• Created Arena Online’s sponsorship program to facilitate marketing to 3rd-party vendors looking to advertise products and services to the company’s customer base.

• Prepared business and technology strategies for multiple startup companies.

• Designed a crowd sourcing real estate portal to provide 1031 exchanges for commercial properties.

• Reduced development costs by utilizing offshore/outsourced resources in India.

• Streamlined the sales cycle 66% for a software platform company by reworking sales and marketing communications to eliminate repetitive meetings.

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TOPGOLF, Dallas, TX 2012 – 2015

Chief Information Officer

Directed all technology operations for this $500M entertainment company with 24 locations in the US and UK. Supervise 53 direct and indirect reports across all locations. Administer budgets. Oversee software development, mobile app development, data warehouse, POS systems, voice and data networks, site builds, technical support, eCommerce, asset management, technology training, and project management. Negotiate agreements with vendors and service providers.

• Improved efficiency and reduced costs by implementing cloud computing for the company.

• Enabled a $1.2M revenue-per-site increase by reducing site build times 3 weeks, resulting in more first- year business for new locations. Introduced standard processes and methodologies.

• Facilitated $350,000 in added revenues per new site by introducing eCommerce capabilities to drive pre-opening membership and retail item sales.

• Slashed conference call costs from $250,000 to $5000 (98%) by switching to VoIP.

• Contributed to a $1.2M marketing deal with AT&T by migrating to an AT&T MPLS network.

• Selected to participate in presentations to prospective investors regarding expansion into China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

• Negotiated a 25% reduction in pricing for an enterprise labor scheduling system that enabled a 10% decrease in labor costs.

• Created the company’s first social media and mobile-first strategies. STAR SUPPORT, Austin, TX 2009 – 2012

Senior Partner

Led technology and management consulting for large companies. Managed solution development, project management, customer relations, proposal design, budgets, and more.

• Improved customer satisfaction 13% for a client by leading a data mining and predictive analytics project that identified customer satisfaction levels for a manufacturing firm.

• Directed the construction of 3 Sports Book locations in Las Vegas simultaneously. Reduced build costs 15% by negotiating lower pricing with vendors.

HARRAHS ENTERTAINMENT, Las Vegas, NV 2006 – 2009

Director of Information Technology/PMO Engagement Manager Led the development, planning, and execution of IT projects to support business growth at the Caesar’s Palace casinos. Served in a BU-CIO role, working with CFO and executive team. Prepared ROI analyses for all IT investments. Supervised 12 direct and up to 250 indirect reports. Managed the Innovation and New Technology Group to evaluate technologies for implementation. Negotiated software and vendor contracts.

• Reengineered the IT governance model and implemented an IT Steering Committee.

• Member of Lean/Kaizen teams that reengineered business processes for Food & Beverage, Accounts Payable, and Hotel operations.

• Enhanced customer satisfaction and grew sales by developing a self-service strategy for the Hotel, Food

& Beverage, Customer Loyalty, HR, and Electronic Concierge areas.

• Delivered annual savings of $12.5M by leading a project to consolidate HR functions for 49 casinos and also Finance functions for 49 casinos.

MENTOR MANAGEMENT GROUP, Atlanta, GA 2002 – 2006

Senior Partner

Managed the design and delivery of projects for clients of this boutique business and technology consulting firm. Clients included NCR, Worldspan, Cingular, and AVNET. Led project life cycles and teams.

(continued)

Tom LaPlante • Page 3 of 3

(Senior Partner, Mentor Management Group, continued)

• Reduced order to payment times 75% for NCR Global Customer Services by simplifying maintenance service offerings and delivering new sales and marketing strategy recommendations.

• Saved Worldspan $500,000 per year in disaster recovery costs by leading a DR review that reduced recovery time from 3 to 1 days.

• Delivered $1.5M in annual savings for AVNET by recommending outsourcing of network operations. CSC CONSULTING, Atlanta, GA 1999 – 2002

Principal Consultant

Carried out sales, account management, project management, and solution development for this $2B consulting firm with an international client base. Supervised up to 15 project managers and as many as 200 indirect reports. Administered project budgets up to $55M.

• Led the consolidation of 3 data centers, saving $3.5M for Unilever. Developed the methodology and reduced 3,000 servers to 500 through virtualization.

• Raised Ameritrade’s Keynote ranking from 19th to 7th in 3 months through data center improvements.

• Saved $500,000 in development costs each for Hyatt, Cendant, Holiday Inn, Hilton, Starwood, and Marriott by developing a new business model to manage how they wrote APIs for online travel agents.

• Sold a $5M PeopleSoft solution to a manufacturing firm and completed the project 66% ahead of time. CAREER NOTES: Previously held Technology Management and Consulting roles with Holiday Inn, GE Capital, and Delta Air Lines (1991-1998). Details available on request. EDUCATION

Graduate Business Classes, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX BS in Computer Science, Cum Laude, University of Georgia, Athens, GA CERTIFICATIONS & TRAINING

Six Sigma Green Belt

CSC Catalyst Project Management training from CSC Catalyst, Harrah’s, and Andersen Consulting AWARDS & RECOGNITION

CIOSynergy Panelist and Guest Speaker on Analytics and Innovation AFFILIATIONS

Society of Information Management

Board of Directors, Alzheimer’s Association (Dallas Chapter)

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