Résumé

• Download as a Word document
   
• Overview
• Key Software Skills
• Employment History
• Education
• Memberships and Certifications
• Professional Articles
  
  
• Project Management – Résumé of Projects
  
  
• Significant Achievements – New Business Development
• Significant Achievements – Software Product Design and Development
• Significant Achievements – Software Product Marketing
• Significant Achievements – Organization Development
  
  
• What Others Say

Overview

Throughout his professional career, Dan has managed software and infrastructure development projects based on the practices of collaborative process management, process improvement, success metrics, consensus, and high-performance teamwork with the goal of superior accountability to requirements, schedule and budget.  He has been responsible for the design, development, and implementation of nationally-marketed software products and enterprise-wide Web applications.  Dan has proven performance in leading a profitable software business from startup to acquisition.  In addition to serving in management and technical positions, Dan has offered professional consulting services in project management, relational database application development, Web application development, strategic planning, and effective teamwork.

Since 1984, Dan has provided consulting and training services in the areas of application development, leadership, business management, team building, and organization development to companies dealing with the challenges of change.  Dan has demonstrated experience in building a corporate culture that can adapt to an accelerating rate of change.

Dan's business-management experience comes from working with large organizations, such as The Boeing Company, Microsoft Corp., the Federal Reserve Bank system, and 3M, and with smaller organizations such as Design Intelligence Inc., Open Systems Inc., Sound Genesis Corporation, and many other software ventures. Dan founded Open Systems Inc. in Minneapolis in 1975 with now-venture-capitalist Ann Winblad and, as president and chairman, grew it from startup through its acquisition by a larger software company in 1983 for $15.5 million. Open Systems was one of the pioneering companies in accounting software and continues to sell a widely respected product line.

Since 2000, Dan has developed a family of innovative, proprietary software products and services that support accountable communications and effective teamwork for virtual teams.  Dan’s Accountable Communications Platform™ is a Web-based system for developing secure applications built on Active Server Pages using VBScript and JavaScript.

Key Software Skills

• HTML, DHTML, JavaScript, VBScript, XML, and Active Server Pages programming using Microsoft Visual Studio, FrontPage, and/or FTP — expert level of proficiency
• relational database programming using Microsoft Access, Visual Basic, and SQL Server for reporting and analysis — expert level of proficiency
• Implementation and configuration of Microsoft's Enterprise Project Management Solution (Microsoft Project Server, Project Professional, Windows Server, SQL Server, SharePoint Team Services)
• Client-server applications programming with Visual Basic and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA for MS Office apps) — expert level of proficiency
• CGI (Perl) script implementation
• Microsoft Project, Project Server and HelmStar™ (Dan's proprietary application) for project management — advanced expert level of proficiency
• Microsoft PowerPoint for executive presentations — advanced expert level of proficiency
• Microsoft Excel for expert financial modeling — expert level of proficiency
• Microsoft Visio for diagramming and special object-oriented graphics — expert level of proficiency
• graphic design using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and a variety of special-purpose tools — expert level of proficiency
• Organization development consulting and teamwork training to facilitate teamwork and predictable team results — expert level of proficiency

Employment History

Microsoft Corporation, Sales & Mktg Solutions Group Readiness – January 2006 thru July 2006 – consultant through Aditi Technologies

• Program Manager
  • Responsible for documenting business requirements, use cases, functional specifications and a project plan for development and deployment of a family of applications to manage the preparation and presentation of training courses for Microsoft employees in preparation for the release of Windows Vista and Office 12.
  • Resolved communication gaps with customers about requirements.
  • My project team built a leading-edge, business-process workflow engine – probably the most advanced within Microsoft – to support readiness planning – i.e., all the training needed throughout Microsoft. The SQL Server 2005 data architecture is in fifth normal form (an advanced and highly adaptable data architecture). The application architecture is XML driven through a service-oriented architecture (SOA) that passes XML messages between the application tiers operating as Web Services. 

The Boeing Company, Finance Systems IT – April to November 2005 – consultant through Fujitsu Consulting

• Project Manager
  • Multi-Year Forecasting Tool – Managed development of the most complex component in all of Boeing’s finance systems, the cost-allocation waterfall for business planning. My team was charged with implementing a backend transactional process directly accessing a multi-dimensional, hierarchical data-mart structure with the Khalix technology (from LongView Solutions), despite warnings that this was ill-advised. Needless to say, there’s quite a war story and a long list of lessons learned for Boeing.
  • Earned Value Management Systems – Planned a project to bring Boeing’s EVM systems documentation into compliance with the Macroscope methodology. Planned the merger and integration of two organizational units – one from Commercial Airplane and one from Shared Services Group – into a unified support group reporting to Boeing IT, becoming part of World Headquarters.
  • Business Management Tools – Conducted a design effectiveness review for compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and made recommendations for improving processes and staff education.

Microsoft Corporation, Law & Corp. Affairs IT – October 2004 to February 2005 – consultant through Aditi Technologies

• Program Manager
  • Responsible for documenting business requirements, use cases, functional specifications and a project plan for development and deployment of Microsoft’s first anti-spam application to support investigators, attorneys and paralegals in investigating and prosecuting spammers (using Windows Server, SQL Server, .NET Framework).
  • Gathered business requirements from the customers in Law & Corp Affairs and documented the customer’s workflow as use cases. Defined a logical data model. Developed screen mockups. Developed functional specifications. Worked with the India-based development team to produce a user-interface prototype for the customer’s review. Developed Excel-based performance metrics served by an OLAP cube through SQL Server’s Analysis Services.

COMSYS IT Services Inc. – high-tech consulting – January to July 2004

• Project Manager, NYK Logistics, Japanese-owned shipping company
  • Responsible for management of all infrastructure- and process-related projects in the Seattle office (NYK Systems Research Institute), which manages the company’s production IT facilities.
  • Responsible for planning the implementation of the production IT infrastructure for a new, totally integrated, bet-the-company transportation system purchased from a competitor company for $50 million.
  • Defined and standardized the company’s release control process as well as templates for status reporting and meeting notes used by the other project managers. 

Microsoft Corporation, Small & Midsize Segments and Partners IT – October to December 2003 – consultant through Aditi Technologies

• Program Manager
  • Responsible for managing the definition of functional specifications and project plan for development and deployment of 2 new releases of the Microsoft Advisors Initiative application to enable annual re-enrollment (using Windows Server, SQL Server, .NET Framework).

Microsoft Corporation, Enterprise Info Worker Solutions Group – March thru June 2003 – consultant through Aditi Technologies

• Program Manager
  • Responsible for developing a high-visibility demonstration of Microsoft’s Enterprise Project Management solution technologies (Windows Server, Project Server, SharePoint Team Services, SQL Server, Analysis Services, Project Professional, .NET Framework) with the Solution Accelerator for Six Sigma, which enables enterprises to manage a large number of Six Sigma quality improvement projects with much greater leverage to produce results quickly.  My project was effectively integration testing for the Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution that demonstrated my capability at technical configuration to solve EPM server and application configuration problems, which are monumental in number and scope.

Washington Mutual Bank, Technology Solutions Group – January 2002 to July 2002

• Technical Project Manager
  • Responsible for a high-visibility, high-priority data mapping project related to regulation compliance data for the Research, Planning & Architecture Group.  WaMu’s Chief Financial Officer was the executive sponsor for the project.
  • Responsible for setting up project management processes, reporting relationships, business requirements and functional specifications for a project to redesign the General Ledger Ownership and Elevation Data (GLOWED) system using .NET architecture -– a SQL Server database and 2 user interfaces: a Web-based UI for account owners and executives and a C# client application for administrators.

COMSYS IT Services Inc. (formerly Cotelligent Inc.) – high-tech consulting – 1998 to 2002

• Project Manager, The Boeing Company, Shared Services Group, Computing & Network Operations IS
  • Responsible for project management of 3 product development projects:
    1. J2EE-compliant architecture providing wireless and Web-based access to content in an Oracle database
    2. Oracle-based, quality-of-service metrics database with a data mart
    3. Unix-based Web application with Perl scripts on the server side
  • Significantly improved relationships with customers for 2 existing products by building project schedules (with Microsoft Project and Primavera) and realistic commitments based on deliverables by implementing the Productivity Plus (P+) development methodology. Both customers are described as “difficult.”
  • Led the Project Planning, Tracking and Oversight project team for Computing & Network Operations Information Systems to define organization-wide processes for project management to achieve SEI CMM Level 2 certification.
  • Developed a Microsoft Access-based project management system to track requirements, deliverables, releases and defects. Coded many functions using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).
    
    
• Program Manager, Point.com, Business Systems IT
  • Responsible for systems analysis and design of improvements to Point.com's e-commerce technology, especially the provisioning functionality, its most complex subsystem.
    
    
• Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation, Human Resources IT
  • Responsible for Y2K compliance certification of most of the applications supported by HRIT.
  • Created integrated system diagrams and documentation now used by nearly every analyst and developer in HRIT.
  • Analyst on the SAP Payroll implementation team, responsible for a variety of technical analysis tasks, including development of an Access front end for the project’s SQL Server metadatabase that describes the data model for all legacy systems in HRIT’s scope with mappings into the SAP space.
    
    
• Project Manager, The Boeing Company, Commercial Airplane Group, Business Acquisition Systems Engineering
  • Took on a project in crisis with 9 developers (4 of which has requested to be transferred off the project) and an incomplete plan, expecting to release the product in 12/98. Within one month, published a project schedule to the customer with an expected release date of 8/98, then delivered the product for parallel testing on 6/1/98. Built an Access-based application to track task IDs, resource assignments, completions, etc.

Dynapolis LLC (developer of interactive virtual communities on the World Wide Web) – 1996 to 1998

• Chief Technology Officer
• Designed and built a Web site for OakRidge Consultants, a healthcare-related consulting services company
• Designed and built a Web site for Care Card Northwest, a healthcare financing company
• Designed and built a Web site for Boulder Associates, healthcare architects (http://www.ba-arch.com/)
• Designed and built a Web site for PC FIXX, a west-coast computer repair company (http://www.pcfixx.com/)
• Designed and built a Web site to promote ambulatory surgery centers and their industry-related issues (http://www.surginet.org/)

Questar Microsystems Inc. (Internet/intranet connectivity solutions) – 1996

• Software Applications Manager reporting to VP of Marketing
• Developed Web-based application strategies to promote the hardware-software platform developed by Questar
• Developed a Web-based trade-show booth presentation for NetWorld+Interop
• Redesigned and built the corporate Web site
• Catalogued and reorganized the company's Internet technologies for the private placement memorandum

Design Intelligence Inc. (developer of ipublish, object-oriented software technology startup) – 1995 to 1996

• Project Manager reporting to the CEO
• member of the founding team – employee number 6
• recruited a world-class team of senior software engineers
• developed process management for software design and engineering
• software design – built the prototype for the ipublish Web-page design
• network administration – built and maintained a 10baseT Ethernet
  network with Windows 95 PC clients and a Windows NT server
• designed and built an intranet Web site to publish project management information
• recruited first wave of beta testers – performed quality assurance and customer support

Team Technology Group (management consulting firm) – 1989 to 1993, 1994 to 1995

• consulting in business management & organization development

Global Business Solutions Inc. (IBM AS/400 and PC software consulting firm) – 1993 to 1994

• Director of Operations — business processes, teamwork, HR management, administrative support systems
• managed marketing, sales & support to users of accounting software
• managed the scheduling and methodology of 20 consultants, including programmers, systems analysts, and project managers

A Bit Better Software Corporation (PC-based accounting-software publisher) – 1993

• Vice President of Operations
• software development process management
• marketing, sales & support to resellers of accounting software

Team Technology Group (management consulting firm) – 1989 to 1993, 1994 to 1995

• consulting in business management & organization development

Sound Genesis Corporation (digital audio production software publisher) – 1986 to 1988

• Chief Executive Officer
• directed the marketing and R&D of digital audio production software

Open Systems Inc. (accounting software publisher) – 1975 to 1983

• Co-founder, Chairman, and President from startup to acquisition
• led Open Systems from zero-capital startup to acquisition for $15 million
• developed and marketed accounting-software applications
• MS-DOS, CP/M, other proprietary microcomputer operating systems
• COBOL, Business Basic

• Systems Analyst, Programmer Analyst
• IBM 370 – OS, MVS, CICS, COBOL, Assembler
• asset and expense accounting systems

• Programmer Analyst
• Burroughs 3700 – MCP, COBOL, Assembler
• data communications and accounting systems

Education

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – 1967 to 1971

• Bachelor of Arts Degree, Psychology
• Computer Science

The Webb School of Knoxville, Tennessee – 1964 to 1967

• graduated Cum Laude
• member of the Honor Committee for 2 years
• Best Defensive Player, senior-year football
• High Point Man, Mid-South Association Track Meet, senior year
• several school records in hurdles and pole vault

Context Associated (Seattle-based training organization) – 1991 to 1992

• graduate of the Excellence Series
• program assistant for several programs

Memberships and Certifications

• Member, Project Management Institute (PMI)
• Member, Association of Humanistic Psychology
• Certified Voice Dialogue Facilitator
  

Professional Articles

• Leveraging the power of project team collaboration (on the Microsoft Web site)

Significant Achievements – New Business Development

• Open Systems Inc. – In the role of President, led a software venture from a market value of $0 at startup to $15,500,000 at acquisition after its seventh year of operation.
• Open Systems Inc. – Increased annual sales from $200,000 to $8,500,000 in seven years with a pretax profit margin of 35%. At the time of acquisition, sales ran at $1 million/month.
• Global Business Solutions Inc. – Spent six weeks in Moscow, Russia, and Tengiz, Kazakhstan, researching the feasibility of opening an Eastern European office of this software consulting firm. Established strategic alliances with IBM Russia, Coopers & Lybrand, and other software-related organizations. Recruited several key employees to begin operations. Developed a business plan for the operation.
• Global Business Solutions Inc. – Developed a proposal for an international energy-company client that resulted in an increase from four consultants on the project to twelve.
• A Bit Better Software Corp. – Developed a business plan that succeeded in raising bank financing for this accounting software publisher. Developed a business operating plan with competitive marketing analysis and strategies for US and international distribution.
• MacUSA Inc. – Developed a private placement memorandum for this startup venture distributing peripheral devices for Apple Macintosh users, and developed a business operating plan which included measures for improving productivity.

Significant Achievements – Software Product Design and Development

• Open Systems Inc. – Researched new technologies and new applications for positioning in developing markets; developed functional specifications for new products; managed software development projects with a staff of 60 people, resulting in nationally marketed accounting software products being released on schedule and within budget.
• Design Intelligence Inc. – As Project Manager reporting to the CEO and Chairman, recruited a world-class team of senior software engineers including three of the first 50 Microsoft employees; developed a project management process for R&D and implemented it company-wide; coordinated the R&D and product marketing activities on an aggressive development schedule; organized all engineering specification documents and implementation estimates; designed and built an intranet Web site to publish project documents, plans and schedules; contributed HTML page designs for incorporation into DI's first product, ipublish.
• A Bit Better Software Corp. – Implemented a methodology for software development and release that reduced conflict among the participants in the process, reduced the number of bugs in the software, improved the predictability of new releases of the products, and improved the support received by resellers of the software.
• Sound Genesis Corp. – Led the design and engineering of sonic software products that set a new standard of fidelity for the digital audio production industry in the use of orchestral instruments for audio production of film scores, commercials, broadcast audio, and hit records.
• Global Business Solutions Inc. – Responsible for the project management methodology of six project managers managing 30 software engineers.
• A Bit Better Software Corp. – Using MS Project and clearly defined development processes, improved the predictability of software development schedules and release dates.
• Microsoft Corp. – Supported the most advanced design team at Microsoft in the application of Contextual Inquiry & Contextual Design, Microsoft's customer-centered design methodology, by formalizing the business-process design documents using Visio, the graphic design and flowcharting tool.
• Open Systems Inc. – Designed, developed, and implemented the first microcomputer-based general accounting software products that are still marketed nationwide to users of MS-DOS and UNIX-based computers.
• Open Systems Inc. – Designed, developed, and implemented the self-instructional courseware authoring system for CADO's C.A.T. (Computer-Assisted Tutor) microcomputer and The Coach courseware authoring system for Rexon Business Systems' Marathon microcomputer. These products made computers much less threatening to novice users.
• Open Systems Inc. – Designed, drafted, and published User's Guides and related publications that were key components in differentiating the company's products as more comprehensive and easier to use than those of its competitors.
• A Bit Better Software Corp. – Designed, drafted, and published a User's Guide and related publications that improved the professional appearance and usability of the company's accounting-software products.
• Sound Genesis Corp. – Designed, drafted, and published User's Guides targeted at the company's non-technical musician customers that presented inherently complex and unfamiliar concepts with language and graphics customers could easily understand.

Significant Achievements – Software Product Marketing

• Design Intelligence Inc. – As Project Manager reporting to the CEO and Chairman, recruited the first wave of beta sites for an innovative, new, object-oriented technology, now represented in the ipublish product; performed customer training, provided Windows 95 technical support, and brought back to the engineering team many excellent product improvements discovered during field testing.
• Model & Instrument Development (M+IND) Inc. – Conducted market research and competitive analysis for this prosthetics components manufacturer and CAD/CAM software and hardware developer.
• Management Science Institute – Conducted market research and analysis for Apple Computer to improve their process for collaborating with Macintosh software suppliers and distribution-channel partners, and to strengthen their assessment of customer satisfaction.
• Open Systems Inc. – As part of the executive team, developed marketing strategies for distributing accounting application products through various channels of distribution including direct sales to end users, retailer chains, national distributors, OEM private label, and value-added resellers such as accounting firms and consultants.
• Open Systems Inc. – Researched users' needs and defined functional specifications for accounting applications to position the company's product line above competitors' products in functionality, ease of use, and price.
• Open Systems Inc. – Developed documents and presentation materials to support marketing, sales, and user-training activities. Provided concepts, copy, and layout for sales presentations and collateral materials such as product brochures, price lists, overheads, slides, and scripts.
• A Bit Better Software Corp. – Conducted a telemarketing campaign to recruit resellers for the company's accounting-software products. Managed reseller relationships to improve the quality of support being received by resellers and end-users.

Significant Achievements – Organization Development

"Dan's ability to analyze problems, generate options, and implement solutions is unsurpassed. He also has the ability to 'language' his work so it's easily understood and accurately comprehended. ... Dan gets results in ways which empower organizations."
– D. L. Moore, Manager of Team-Building Services, 3M Company, St. Paul, MN

• Open Systems Inc. – As President, sustained an average growth rate of more than 60% per year in sales and 30% per year in headcount over 6 years with zero voluntary resignations among the 60 professional staff members.
• 3M Company, Corporate Marketing Services – Assessed human resource and organizational problems; proposed improvements in methods of motivation and communication to increase productivity and enhance morale. Resulted in substantially increased participation of all division employees in solving operational, organizational, and motivational problems.
• Berkana International Inc. – Conducted teamwork training for this high-tech recruiting organization resulting in the first clear definition of their recruiting process. Participated in the subsequent development of a recruiter training service with a supporting database software application. Developed portions of the recruiter training curriculum presented as part of a one-week training program as well as the marketing presentation aimed at high-tech executives.
• Evergreen CASE Tools Inc. – Facilitated strategic planning sessions to extend the company's range of vision. Assessed the corporate culture to assist top management in discovering ways to reduce the company's dependence on the founders, to improve motivation, and to reduce the rate of employee turnover. Conducted training for all employees in effective teamwork. Improved the effectiveness of meetings. Facilitated conflict resolution among the management staff.
• PeopleTEK Inc. – Developed a computer-generated, interpretive profile report for PeopleScope, PeopleTEK's proprietary work-process diversity assessment tool used in team building. Developed a group profile report and Teamwork Guide for use by organization-development professionals using PeopleScope to facilitate team effectiveness.

What Others Say

• "Dan is one of the brightest and most intuitive men I know. He did a great job getting us to focus. We reached clarity in our direction, in our roles and responsibilities, and in our process as a team. ... Dan didn't lose himself when emotions started flying around the room. He remained steadfast through to fruition."
  – Sonja Carson, President, Berkana International, Seattle, (206) 547-3226
  
  
• "Dan's ability to analyze problems, generate options, and implement solutions is unsurpassed. He also has the ability to 'language' his work so it's easily understood and accurately comprehended. ... Dan gets results in ways which empower both individuals and organizations."
  – Dianne L. Moore, Manager of Team-Building Services, 3M Co., St. Paul, MN, (612) 733-4414
  
  
• "Dan is by far the best manager I've ever worked for."
  – G. Gardner, software engineer, (206) 720-3564