Vito VitaleIBM Year by Year Work Summary |
2008 Work SummaryAT&T Cheetah Architectural Reviews - Commercial Project >Duration 4 Months > Description: Comercial Project targeted to review application arcitacture for mission critical applications that IBM added to its portfolio of apps to to support for AT&T. >Results: My reviews were delivered on time and considered of excellent quality (based on customer feedback). One critical application included recommendations to allow continued support of a 1B$ contract. These recommendations outlined a streamlined architecture that would allow the team to reduce maintenance costs while enhancing the ability to deliver updates in a more timely manner. The enhanced architecture propsed eliminated the need to pay 3rd party licences by leveraging and enhancing the existing code base developed for web support and eliminating non-coroporate-standard third party software from the system. This allows for test automation that would also reduce development life-cycles. I spent several days at the customer location working with the teams on gathering information and Customer feedback from this engagement was very positive. - Published serveral applicaiton architecture review documents as part of project deliverables, and also presented results to top level managment teams. AT&T RMIDB - Commercial Project >Duration - On Going as of 6/09 > Description: To architect and develop a series of supporting functions that can assist the release management team in managing the 1000+ projects that IBM is contracted to support for AT&T every year. > Results: The success of the prototype application quickly assured funding for the rest of the year to support this important effort. With relatively little input developed the first prototype which was embraced with enthusiasm. The tool quickly gathered support for usage in other areas including Change Control Board support, dependency management and earned value calculations. The tool was enhanced continuosly to accomodate new requriements as the business evolved as AT&T moved from different corparate project portfolio manamement tools. One key success was the enhancement of the Dependendency management tool used for tower C, in very short order I implemented changes that reduced support for this function from a full FTP (40 hours per week) to 2-4 hours per week. Enhancements to the data model were performed as well as to core functionality including integration with other core support groups including SE&A. I developed an architetural proposal to provide an integrated DB2 data repository for all AT&T master data as well as IBM key data elements. The architectural proposal was reviewed by management teams and estimates were provided to the customer for its adoption. Customer feedback on this project was extremely positive indicating strong sense of vision, dedication and understanding of the business as well as demonstrating strong communications skills. InfoPrint Application Tracker - Commercial Project > Duration 12 Months - This was only part time - 2-3 initial effort to develop deploy Rel. 1 of solution with subsequent point releases provided. >Description: to continue to support the InfoPrint Application Tracker application that has been determined to be a key tool in supporting this team in executing project plan. > Results: - Continued to support the infoprint team to enhance the tool and provided on going support. Also participated in efforts that are currently underway to achieve a patent for this tool. Customer feedback on this enagement has been excellent and the same code base was recommended for adoption for several other divestiture projects by InfoPrint Managment team, including, Lenovo, NSD and PANDA. NSD Application and Project Tracker - Commercial Project > Duration 2 Months - This was only part time engagement >Description: To customize the InfoPrint App tracker for addoption on the NSD Project and to provide an issue/action item tracking appliction to work in conjunction with this. > Results: - In very short order I was able to develop these solutions for NSD. Both these efforts were deemed extremely successful and I recieved Thank You awards from the NSD management team. PANDA Application and Project Tracker - Commercial Project > Duration 4 Months - This was only part time engagement - this is still in progress and will extend to Feb 2009 >Description: To customize the InfoPrint App tracker for addoption on the Panda Project and to provide an issue/action item tracking appliction to work in conjunction with this. > Results: - First version customized and deployed including data population and setting up access control. SEA&T Giveback Efforts: - PTS -Continued to support and expand the functionalities of the PTS system introduction advanced reporting capability, data quality monitoring, enhanced resource management functions, skills enhancements. Participated in Metrics requirments gathering efforts and supported BMR reporting for managers. > Results: PTS continues to be the key portfolio management tool for SEA&T and maintaing Project, Opportunity and Personnel record details up to date has become a PBC mandate for every SEA&T team member. > PROVIDED - Training session through SEA&T Forume with over 100 participants. - Systems Engineering Adherence Level (SEAL) Reviews - Lead team to final definition of process and initial supporting tools. The team completed three proof of concept reviews using this process. The process was announced at an SEA&T leadership session and also as part of an SEA&T Forum session which I presented at. This process is also being considered to integrated as part of othe quality reviews that SEA&T has include CAT test reviews and overall quality reviews. |
2007 Work SummaryVito Vitale 2007 Performance Review: - Manager Andre Lowe - This year Vito has performed in several roles for the organization. Early in the year Vito continued to support Project Certify, in the role of Lead Architect and Developer, driving the "7 keys to success monitoring system". He developed a solution for world wide deployment. In April of 2007, Vito received a First Patent Achievement Award for Project Status Calculation Algorithm, which was the algorithm utilized on Project Certify. Although his assignment for Project Certify ended in April 2007 he satisfied the customer so much that they requested him to join the project again at the end of the year. - Leader of the SEA&T QA initiative - and took lead responsibility for the Systems Engineering Quality Assurance initiative. In this role, Vito led this initiative to define the process and set standards for SE initiatives. - Drove and enhanced the SEA&T Project Tracking System (PTS). This project tracking application has become the core tracking mechanism for SEA&T to manage resources and track project portfolios. Project Status system has saved time and money for the organization. -He continues to be a part of the SE Board. He participated in the work effort to evaluate integration of SE with Agile/Lean and worked on a start up effort to automate SEMP generation via the PTS tool . -During the year Vito published a white paper for the 2007 IEEE Global Software Engineering Conference titled System Engineering Quality Assurance Across Geographically Dispersed Teams . -Vito continued to demonstrate his leadership and dedication to process improvement by developing and performing as a Team lead for SE Process Compliance Initiative, which is currently being piloted and integrated as part of SEA&T standard offering/process. He continued to grow the business for SEA&T by participating in the development of materials for the SE&AT Bootcamp. He was also key in winning the opportunity for the SE Bootcamp for GES which took place in three locations Endicott, Rochester and RTP. - Vito has continued to demonstrate passion for the business and continues to contribute to our organization by providing give back efforts and continues to exceed customer commitment and customer satisfaction. |
2005 Work SummaryTopOverviewI found 2005 to be a very good year for me at IBM. Although I spent most of the year (Jan-Sept) as a Lead Systems Engineer on an internal IBM project that I felt was not truly leveraging systems engineering processes rigorously enough, I was able to provide some good contributions in the areas assigned to. At the same time, I feel I have been a strong contributor helping my organization (Systems Engineering Architecture & Test) move forward with its overall mission to continue to promote and expand Systems Engineering in IBM. As mentioned above from January till around September I was assigned to the Xccelerator project as Lead Systems Engineer for IBM Global Financing and Promotions. In these areas I was able to provide some strong leadership in terms of aligning tactical and strategical directions in both areas to synchronize with the efforts of moving all post Lenovo sale IBM Xseries offerings into the mainstream of configured hardware. This was a world wide effort which encompassed all aspects of product realization from conception to manufacture, shipping, sales, financing and maintenance. In September I was called to assist on a troubled project in Brazil and was moved off of the XCC project to fully focus on these efforts. But these very intense project efforts were in actuality just a part of the work that I did all under the auspage of promoting systems engineering and collaboarive work in IBM, as in parallel to these efforts I contnued to strive towards assisting in the overal mission of the SEA&T organization in expanding the impact and overall quality of systems engineering inside IBM. Highlights/Achievements
As Lead Systems Engineer for Xccelerator I help architect a strategic solution in the area of promotions that would provide a means of automating promotions from an end to end prospective for IBM Configured products world wide. This would allow promotional offerings to be applied to configured equipment automatically through all order and pricing channels such that the lowest possible price can be assured to the customer with minimal manual intervention. The solution was deemed critical in regions such as Asia Pacific where over 50% of orders have associated promotions. For these efforts I received several customer commendations In the area of Global Financing I also felt to have been a strong contributor, bridging the gaps between the different regional strategic directions between IBM configured hardware and the Global Financing offerings. This included areas such as providing leasing capabilities to web users through IBM Common Commerce Engine (Strategic Direct) and business partner financing (Floor Financing). On this project I also acted as mentor to another junior systems engineers. I also developed and deployed several collaborative tools for the XCC initiative including a custom built Systems Engineering Team Room and Order Entry Method Tracking. The Cxxxx Sxxxx Project In September I was called to assist on a troubled project in Brazil. There was a series of meetings held in the San Paulo area (Red Team Review) which were oriented around evaluated the reasons why this project was so behind schedule and over budget. The matter was very serious and the project consisting of an HR/Payroll system for a Latin American Countries for a major corporation (25M$ plus contract) was at risk to be terminated. After the Red Team analysis I was asked to join the project full time. My customers on Xccelerator wrote several notes asking that I be kept on the XCC initiative but it was determined that this commercial project was very critical to IBM. For this project I took on several lead roles as best suited to address project gaps. Initially I took the role of development lead defining several new processes geared toward improving efficiency in the development process. Once a development manager was hired to fill this position I then took on the role of Lead Architect and put in place an archtecture team to support the initiative. This area of the project was also determined to be a very weak and several initiatives were established. These incldued, re-sizing and re-architecting of currently provided infrastructure, determining and putting in place tools for DB management, code build and source code control, performance monitoring and tuning as well as establishing efforts for productization of the payroll system. Overall the effort was also geared towards assuring that the the end to end solution would align itself correctly across all regions. A key aspect of this was to alignment of 2 separate development efforts, one in Mexico and another in Brazil. These two teams were in effect developing code from the same code base, so build, source code control and development standards as well as methodology across both teams became very essential. During this effort I also introduced systems engineering methodology to the team. I held a three day hands on training session on how the team can adopt these methods to the project and am currently providing leadership in carrying this process forward for the development of the payroll systems for the "Andina" countries. For these efforts I also received several commendations including a letter to my management being cited as "MVP" for the project as well as a "Bravo" award in Dec.. The results of these efforts proved to be very fruitful, not only eliminating the risk of the client terminating the contract with IBM for failure to deliver but also positioning IBM as becoming the sole vendor for consideration for this customers world wide HR/Payroll system. This equates to a contract in the 500M$ range. Currently negotiations on this are being finalized. Contributions to SEA&T I also provided some major contributions to my organization; Systems Engineering Architecture and Test (SEA&T) in terms of promoting the systems engineering and collaborative work. These efforts range from mentoring, providing Training and participating in meetings to promote systems engineering, publications and intellectual capital contributions as well as development and deployment of key collaborative tools that have been adopted by my organization. The following list can summarize some of these contributions:
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2004 Work SummaryTopI started the year working on IBM Complex Configurable Hardware 4.2 project. This is not a single system but is a conglomeration of applications that IBM uses to receive and process orders, configure, manufacture, Bill and ship Configured Hardware to customers. The complexity of this endeavor was enormous as the number of applications implicated for this project was in the order of 90 plus. The scope of this project was to move the processes for iSeries, pSeries and zSeries systems including storage and printers for commercial and Federal ordering to SAP. On this assignment I was part of a team of five systems engineers with my focus area begin that of federal and financial aspects of the system.In March federal was descoped from the CHW 4.2 and I was moved over to a different challenging project. This was the CHW 4.7 ACO project which was targeted to allow IBM customers to easily order entitled software upgrades in support of their i and pSeries hardware systems. On this project I was Lead Systems engineer and (once again) I achieved great success in applying systems engineering to come up with a system design that could effectively meet stakeholders needs. In July I was called on to help with another business partner initiative for QuickShip and Authorized assembler program. I meet in Chicago with key IBM Distributors to initiate the project. I worked this project to Business Requirements Review completion and was then moved on to tackle the world wide effort for configured hardware which was coined Xcclerator. I am currently ramping up on this and will be focusing on the finance area. This initiative is even larger than the CHW 4.2 initiative... Throughout 2004 I also continued to support the WW Change Control Board for IBM SDCs for CCB Tracking application. (Feb 2005 update) .... as an update to above I am including a copy of my performance review for the year ( some project names have been changed to protect the innocent) During this period, Vito has lead and provided support to CHW 4.7, AAP/QS and Xccelerator The Xccelerator project is which is one of the largest efforts for IBM in the Configured Hardware business and critical to IBM's success. During a major portion of this evaluation period, Vito was Lead SE an several project and most recently is providing a significant SE support role on Xccelerator which is a very complex and aggressive project. During his engagements, Vito met all deliverable and milestone dates on time and in a quality manner. Vito has developed SE/Requirements/Project tracking tools which he has proven effective on his projects. Vito has demonstrated adaptability in the approach and techniques required to meet his commitments to the customer with few errors. Vito demonstrated solid and effective communication skills with his team, customer and management during this evaluation period. Vito communicates effectively and with a style that is received by the customer. Vito has always provided the customer and management with a concise view of the project status via teamrooms, presentations and other tools, to include the implementation of Vito's project/req tools on his projects, has provide input to the tool improvement. In addition, Vito contributed to the ISM casestudy that was accepted for publishing in the SE Journal in 2005. During the first part of the year Vito supported CHW 4.7. Vito joined the project post BRR and was given the SE Lead Role. Systems Engineering previous to Vito's joining the team was loose and ineffective. Vito's solid approach to the SE discipline soon brought the project into the appropriate focus. Vito also assisted and supported the Change Control Board application and provided input to enhancements which improved the overall design and effectiveness. Vito also designed and deployed a requirements management tool and project management tools. These have effectively been utilize on several of Vito's projects. Vito's approach to System Engineering issues and risks during his engagements, effectively demonstrates solid creative insight and how the SE approach can solve customer problems. Vito makes consistent and sound decisions based on understanding the client's business needs and goals. Vito has an very good rapport with the customer. There is solid trust and Vito's customer have expressed their appreciation for the solid contribution. Vito is motivated to achieve with solid results. Vito uses his knowledge and skills to drive for high quality on all projects he is engaged. Vito has demonstrated passion for the business. Vito has been dedicated to the customer and his projects. Vito's drive is solid and he is consistent in his approach to provide value to the customer. Vito is good at identifying and taking ownership for tasks within the scope of his projects. Vito consistently communicates in a timely manner, demonstrating his commitment to the customer, management and team.On CHW 4.7 Vito delivered a quality requirements and workproducts. At the PDR review there were only to 2 change request submitted. <>Vito is good at effective team work and put's the teams success above personal interests. On all projects, Vito has been effective in collaborating and working with his team members. Vito has demonstrated IBM's values by respecting and valuing individuals he has worked with, driving to win-win solutions for the customer and the team.Vito has demonstrated integrity and professionalism on all his assignments this evaluation period. During these engagements it was evident the customer had confidence and trusted Vito's judgement. During this rating period, Vito has continued to grow his SE skills, experience and contributions. His solid effort on CHW, AAP and Xccelerator have provided a positive impact on IBM. Vito has contributed to the Change Control process and also contributed to a publication. Vito should continue to develop, enhance and promote his SE Project and Requirement tools. There is considerable value in the possible use in SEA&T, that so far his been untapped. Vito needs to "market" what he has created, tweaked and implemented on his projects across the SEA&T organization. Vito should grow his leadership skills and seek the lead role on large complex engagements to expand his overall contribution to SEA&T and IBM. In summary, Vito is a solid contributor who is reliable, dependable, creative, effective and demonstrates an appropriate level of knowledge in performing his work. |
2003 Work SummaryTop |
2003 was a work year that in effect expected to be somewhat of a disappointment, starting off the year with some good initiatives following up on the successful launch of ISM 2.0. But in retrospect turned out to be a very rewarding year. Most of the year I worked from my remote office but not at home in NJ but rather from Santa Cruz Brazil. An amazing achievement and testimonial to the true potential of the virtual office-place. Most of the work focus for this year was around Systems Engineering, requirements management but also some assignments with architectural focus and a few with some Notes Development. As Systems Engineer: I was involved in the following initiatives: ISM 3.0, ISM 2.1, Web Delivery 2.0, Global Campaign Reporting 2.2, Common Commerce Engine 2 , Inventory Services and Configurable Complex Hardware 4.2. As Architect: I led the pre-concept initiative for Large Enterprise Datawarehouse. As
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Achieved 100% utilization Avg 46 plus hours per week of client billable work. Project Details: ISM 2.1 and ISM 3.0 Jan-March 2003 was a work year that in effect expected to be somewhat of a disappointment, starting off the year with some good initiatives following up on the successful launch of ISM 2.0. But the follow-on release of the project took on some radical divergent directions and kept shifting in scope until these efforts started out in Nov. of 2002 fizzled out early Mar. 2003. The ISM project had 2 attempts at follow on efforts one with an emphasis on content management – thus allowing me to become somewhat familiar with the capabilities of the Interwoven product and subsequently on FAST search engine when the focus moved to search engine replacement for ISM.We had already made the move to Brazil and I spent most of Jan. and the first part of Feb. at my friend Tons house in Red Bank, NJ working from his home office and transitioning other items over as well. When I returned to Brazil, after some good requirements definition efforts and architectural workproducts including Solid business requirements review and system requirement review sessions much in line with ISM 2.0... attempts to get a solid and sensible plan outlined for the project dissipated behind the Business teams unrealistic expectations to deliver major changes with a limited budget. The ISM platform was eventually moved to the CCE Websphere portal platform. Not sure how feature rich this was and how costly this turned out. The Websphere Portal Server and the integration of a corporate standard search engine and content management system was all a great idea. The fact that CPE already integrated these components may have made the ISM migration to that platform a more natural move than trying to migrate the existing Knowledge Storm Code base piecemeal. As we went through the ISM 3.0 and then ISM 2.1 exercises. As a follow-up I discussed the status of the project with Jan Van Hoomison. ISM had been moved off the KS code base and migrated to NextGen – which is an internal IBM development. This was an interim move in which the FAST search engine was utilized. The migration from this to CPE would take place 1st quarter 2004. The migration to nextgen however, provided limited functionality with respect to the ISM 2.0 offering, although aligning itself more closely to IBM code base offerings and providing much more flexibility in UI adjustments. Accomplishments: ICM Workproducts: Lessons Learned:
March – April From ISM the next SE oriented project presented was the Web Delivery initiative. My role on the project was that of lead SE. The project was well beyond planning and in the initial develoopment stages and represented a challenge for full SE adherence. The struggle became, that of trying to add value to the project while not disrupting the current stream of activities, but at the same time introduce SE. Much good work was done I feel in outlining the shortcomings of the project for adherence with SE and some good work products were generated. Added value was provided through test case definition and development. Not withstanding these strong contributions SE positioning remained problematic and budget constraints put an early end to the debate of fully adopting SE for the project, however some good workproducts were produced and an overall strategy to handle mid-stream SE introduction was established. Accomplishments:
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