Introduction

Warren is an experienced and respected Enterprise, Portfolio and Solution Architect, with years of experience in large, complex portfolios and projects in the resource, government, financial, utilities, transportation and other sectors. In addition to a deep understanding of Architecture and its role in modern organizations, he has expertise with best practices regarding Strategic Planning, IT Transformation, Service Management, Continuous Improvement, and other quality and governance processes. These high-level competencies are complemented by strong technical skills, including Cloud & Cloud Migration, SOA/API/Microservices Design, N-Tier & distributed solutions, and High Availability solution architectures.

Warren has built or rebuilt integrated Architecture Practices at three large organizations, and improved the Practices of several others. He has a proven ability to communicate effectively and earn the respect of colleagues across the organizational hierarchy, from C-level executives to technical staff.

References

To protect the privacy and time of my References, I provide this list when appropriate. Public references are available on LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/wweinmeyer

Education

BSc, Computer Science (U of C)

Certifications

TOGAF 9

ITIL

CompTIA Cloud+, CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Network+

Cloud Security Alliance CCSK

Wrote and passed the CISSP-ISSAP advanced security architecture exam

PROSCI Change Management

Azure Certified Solution Architect (in progress)

Work Experience Summary

In this resume, more detail is provided for recent roles, with subsequent ones increasingly summarized.

For those who desire additional detail, double-click the icon:

I.Consulting Sr. Solution Architect – Suncor, Calgary, AB – Nov 2019 - current

In my second Suncor stint, I worked across a number of projects, including the Asset Performance Management capability area, which includes Operational Technology systems (primarily, Aveva - formerly OSIsoft – PI but also other historians and OT streaming data servers from Emerson, AMS and others) as time-series data sources from wired and wireless sensors feeding analytics platforms (primarily ROMeo, PRiSM and Synapse) and GE APM (Meridium) as the central core platform, integrated to SAP via a certified BAPI extension. As there are multiple in-flight and planned projects (with multiple attendant architects) in the Meridium ecosystem, I closely collaborated with other SAs and provided architecture specification and planning to align and unify the individual solution architectures. Eventually assuming responsibility over the portfolio, I then led the migration of the on-premise deployment of both GE APM and Aveva PI to the cloud (Azure), sizing the VM SKUs and specifying the Azure HADR and performance architectures. I later evolved it to replace certain VM-based functions with cloud-native (PaaS) services. As an important aspect of the target state, I provided and socialized an operational and governance model, based on best practices from ITIL and Product Management, for executing APM as an enterprise-class Service.

I also provided the architecture leadership for two of Suncor’s first five completely cloud-native “big data” projects, HIM (Hydrocarbon Inventory Mgmt) and DR2 (Mid-Office and Trading). The Architecture design I specified leveraged ADF, Databricks, Delta Lake, Synapse and Power BI to implement the overall bronze/silver/gold data zone transformation pattern defined by the Enterprise Data team which, as an early leader, I helped shape the evolution and maturity of. Power Platform (Power App, Power Flow) was used to provide critical end-user admin and business functions for the DR2 project, javascript-based SPAs for HIM.

I was assigned to provide leadership to the establishment of an enterprise Application/IT Portfolio Management practice (initially focusing on applications and rationalization), leveraging my experience building these activities at other companies. I provided the thought leadership for this Practice, including the conceptual framework consisting of the governance model, the process model, and the portfolio optimization methodology. I also developed most of the foundational tools such as a balanced scorecard metrics framework, taxonomy and concept mapping of ServiceNow CSDM metamodel to Archimate 3.1, all based on a holistic blend of best practices in the space.

Additionally, I was assigned to the initiative to complete the merger of the Suncor and Syncrude technology infrastructure and was assigned to provide architectural oversight to a portfolio of Asset Lifecycle Management and Asset Performance Management applications and the projects to rationalize, migrate the users and data, and decommission the apps.

As an interesting last note, at the dawn of the pandemic, I was assigned as Solution Architect to a high-priority collaboration between Suncor, Microsoft Canada, Air Canada, MLSE and several other large organizations to deliver the technology to support COVID-19 testing clinics and worked closely with business and technical stakeholders to operationalize a solution in just under 30 days.

II.Consulting Sr. Enterprise Architect – Government of Alberta (GoA), Edmonton, AB – April 2018 - Nov 2019

I was primarily engaged in building the Architecture Practice through mentoring and competency-building for staff working as Enterprise Architects, Portfolio Architects and Solution Architects in the Economy & Growth sector of GoA. This included mentoring the sector lead architect in modern architecture best practices to position the Architecture Practice as an active participant in the on-going organizational transformation within the Sector. As a core deliverable of Practice-building, I created an Architecture Terms of Reference (governance, roles, and operational model) to guide the Sector on an on-going basis.

I also socialized modern organizational best practices such as Portfolio Management, Roadmap Frameworks, and App Rationalization (Portfolio Optimization) to improve the efficiency, responsiveness, and efficacy of the IT organization in general.

As well, I provided leadership and influence across the government by working with a small team of senior architects to revise GAEA (the Government of Alberta Enterprise Architecture framework) with leading-edge architecture practices, and contributed important tools to this effort.

Finally, I worked hands-on as an architect, leading RFP activities, reviewing solution architecture submissions from SAs, performing routine architecture analysis and synthesis, and workshopping with stakeholders across business units to identify functional and non-functional requirements, opportunities and constraints to drive out strategic planning and road-mapping activities.

III.Sr. Solution Architect Suncor, Calgary AB - June 2017 – Apr 2018

At Suncor, I provided architectural oversight and guidance to a number of planned and in-flight projects within the Operational Technology and Asset Performance Management capability stream, which provide multi-million dollar savings to operational expenses through predictive analytics against sensor data, and addressed serious issues which prevent the expansion of this critical capability to all Suncor operations. My performance in this space restored confidence in IT from the Business, Engineering and Operational Technology (OT) stakeholders, and I was specifically chosen for this assignment for my ability to gain the confidence of non-IT partners.

In addition, I was involved, as Solution Architect, with establishing organizational readiness for cloud (especially, cloud-based analytics), an initiative to bring in an enterprise API Management capability, and also an initiative to establish a cloud-based enterprise Digital Hub.

Since there were a number of Architects on the team whom I had mentored in previous engagements, I was regarded as a consultative source for team members and regularly socialized practice-building and skills-building knowledge with the team Manager and rest of the team, and with the active support and approval of the team Manager.

IV.Consulting Sr. Business Technology Architect City of Calgary, Calgary, AB - Apr 2015 – Nov 2016

In this contract, I worked at both the portfolio and project level within the UEP division of the City of Calgary. To address serious problems the City faces regarding information management within heavy construction projects, I led a series of facilitated workshops with a variety of internal and external stakeholders consisting of Management, engineering staff, construction staff, consultants and IT staff. As an outcome of these workshops, I was able to obtain consensus around a transformation Vision, strategy and transformation plan, which I enacted through a strategic roadmap which implemented organizational, procedural and technological changes through a series of transitional architectural states achieving incremental CMMI-style maturity enhancements.

In addition to the above core duties, I was assigned to a project to deliver a sophisticated mobile business application to manage field service engagements and data records. For this project, I designed the functional architecture, the API model (including integration to Rackspace IaaS), the security model and the data model.

In these projects, I worked intimately with Program Managers, Project Managers and BAs to provide technical leadership and guidance, to help produce various project deliverables (Charter, Risk Assessment, RFP/RFI documents, etc.), and to lead the system selection, software development and other technical processes.

V.Consulting Enterprise Architect Talisman Energy, Calgary, AB - Jan 2014 – Dec 2014

At Talisman, I worked with senior IT Management to improve the maturity of their capabilities in strategy development and strategic planning, leveraging best practices such as Balanced Scorecard, CMMI and BMM/EBMM, and produced capability-based roadmaps for Enterprise Mobility and a 3-year roadmap for the IT organization.

I also mentored the Network Services team lead in adopting ITIL, including how to identify an ITIL service and creating a KPI Framework, leveraging concepts from Balanced Scorecard and Enterprise Risk Management to create meaningful KPIs for OLAs and Continuous Improvement.

As well, I provided architectural oversight of various IT data center and infrastructure-related projects through guidance on potential conflicts or dependencies with other projects, IT resources, technical standards or other factors that require assessment from a security or risk impact management perspective to the project.

VI.Architecture Practice Mentor Cenovus - Calgary, AB - May 2012 – Nov 2013

Based on my reputation and previous success in practice-building, Cenovus specifically recruited me to come in to address a situation where they had six individual architecture teams with virtually no coordination, no shared culture and no shared vision. I worked with IT leadership to create a formal transformation strategy and applied Change Management practices to lead Cenovus through the organizational change and competency improvement process of re-structuring these isolated teams into a modern integrated Architecture practice.

As a critical part of this engagement, I created a complete suite of governance processes, engagement models and templates for all architectural deliverables, that fully defined where and how Architecture supported the greater corporate processes across the "ideation-to-realization" governance life-cycle, and I provided extensive mentoring, training and culture-building for the Director of EA, Manager of EA, and the complete team of Enterprise, Portfolio and Solution Architects.

VII.Architect Mentor Ensign Drilling, Calgary, AB - Aug 2011 – May 2012

Through a learn-by-doing approach, I mentored selected IT staff in architecture best practices by working with them to create world-class solution architecture descriptions. I also demonstrated how to lead and facilitate the process of strategy creation by including appointed staff in facilitated workshops I led to envision the transformation to an enterprise SCM capability, and determine its requirements and desired characteristics. As part of this facilitation process I demonstrated to them how to resolve inter-department disagreements and misunderstandings, and also how to translate the ideas generated in the workshop into strategy and roadmaps.

VIII.Lead, EA & SA Husky Energy, Calgary, AB - Dec 2007 – Aug 2011

Leading a team of up to 15 Architects, I was a principal contributor to the establishment of an integrated Architecture Practice, developing the majority of the architecture deliverable templates and processes, and worked with IT and Business Management to develop strategic plans and multi-year investment stream roadmaps, accounting for industry trends and emerging technologies. As well, I acted as a Portfolio Architect, assisting with the development of the strategies, roadmaps, and business cases for major IT portfolios (representing approximately 25% of all IT projects at Husky) and provided vendor management for all projects that I oversaw.

I also led the Solution Architecture community of practice, and also provided Solution Architecture services, creating architecture descriptions, eliciting requirements, leading system selection, RFP construction, risk/impact & privacy assessments, etc., for various projects subject to security/regulatory scrutiny, such as MoC, Operational Integrity, and Bid Management. Also, I was the primary architect for a data center for Husky’s Hong Kong operations, created the Conceptual and Logical architectures for Vendors to propose physical solutions against, then oversaw Vendors and on-site staff to ensure delivery.

IX. Solution Architect ATB Financial, Calgary, AB - Feb 2005 – Dec 2007

I provided solution architecture guidance to several projects within Central Services, in particular to the Central Services Case Management (ECM+BPM) project. This project was challenging as the selected vendor was a new player in the Case Management (CM) space, and the product proved to have a number of short-comings, particularly in its integration capabilities: I designed an SOA-based integration layer around the CM platform to mitigate its deficiencies, sharing the design with the vendor, who later integrated it directly into their product. As well, I oversaw the deployment of all my solutions, including deployment coordination, validation test plans, roll-back processes and monitoring solution performance.

X.Various Architect and Other Roles Various Companies – prior to Feb 2005

I had years of successful leadership and architecture (and, further back, development) roles - mostly in large, complex projects. During this time I worked in IT in various industries, including retail, broadcasting, commercial software companies, government, utilities, and manufacturing for companies ranging in size from high-tech startups to multinational corporations.

I had a crucial role on a number of notable and trail-blazing projects, including CPR’s first foray into complex web-based applications, one of the world’s first behaviour-based anti-malware products, one of the first distributed applications to leverage the internet, one of the world’s first AM/FM (i.e., intelligent GIS) systems, and various commercial products dominant or ground-breaking in their markets.

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