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Recruited to this $2 billion Fortune 500 homebuilder to orchestrate technical strategies to facilitate Kaufman and Broad becoming the nation’s largest homebuilder. Shortly after joining the company I was appointed Chief Information Officer for Kaufman and Broad Mortgage Company and Director of the firm’s international Y2K initiative. I was also appointed to the corporate IT Steering Committee to insure IS investment decisions are aligned with business needs / strategies . As CIO, I chaired the mortgage company IT Steering Committee. In 2000, an executive level reorganization resulted in replacement of the IS management team in preparation for outsourcing Information Services.

Scope of Responsibility:

Establish and implement mid-range, LAN / WAN, telecommunications, server, and microcomputer technology standards for the enterprise.  Direct data warehouse, call center and mortgage company applications development. Direct IS operations in 3 corporate data centers and 35 regional IS centers supporting more than 180 offices.  Design, implement and direct network and telecommunications operations.  Direct Customer Service Center/Help Desk operations, and  corporate and field technical support. Manage technology vendor relations including contract negotiation and administration. Concurrently developed and implemented a multinational Y2K Compliance Program encompassing technological platforms, facilities, supplier / business partners and business contingency planning. Staff of 210 encompassing 65 operations personnel, 20 application developers, and 125+ Y2K personnel. $12 million annual budget plus $4.1 million Y2K budget.

Accomplishments:

• Implemented data warehouse, directing creation of 8 data marts, delivering cost / revenue analysis capability, improving per unit margin ½-to-1% enabling annual revenue of $9 million. I inherited this year-and-a-half old $1.5 million project that had not delivered a single solution. I quickly identified root causes and within 90 days we delivered first data mart plus established process to deliver future data marts within 45 days of approval. More Detail
  
  

• Implemented strategic infrastructure, designing LAN / WAN network and negotiating Cisco / carrier contracts, improving stability from 60% to better than 99.9% while reducing annual operating costs $1.5 million. We integrated 18 disparate regional networks increasing capacity 10 fold igniting 100% growth in enterprise wide use of technology. Provided intra-office connectivity while extending e-mail and internet access to every desktop.  More Detail
  
  

• Integrate mission critical systems by developing and directing implementation of an application integration plan that significantly improved residential sales, construction scheduling, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and  mortgage systems interoperability.
  
  

• Increased customer call center productivity, implementing IS quality control procedures and directing development of application enhancements, improving system availability / reliability from 68% to 99.9%. Rectified bugs plaguing stability of proprietary call center system since inception and added functionality eliminating need for manual call records reducing call cycle time 80%. Call center staff reduced 21%.
   

• Directed international Y2K initiative, leading 125+ domestic and international staff across 13 projects, bringing enterprise into Y2K compliance while beating $4.1 million budget by 11% or $451,000. Planned, organized, and staffed 14 month program to remediate Y2K technical issues and prepare contingency plans for more than 180 offices in the United States and France. We ensured every business unit plus 300+ suppliers, and over 620 business partners were compliant.
  
  

• Designed and directed implementation of fault-tolerant e-mail system, using Microsoft Exchange / Outlook and clustered server technology, providing domestic and international message delivery in less than 3 seconds. I inherited a batch e-mail system that took more than 5 days to deliver a simple e-mail message and frequently lost messages / attachments. Exchange / Outlook e-mail system was 100% reliable with 99.9% uptime. Enterprise wide productivity gains were so significant (e.g. cut model home development cycle time 17%) that CFO declared system mission critical within 90 days of implementation. More Detail
  
  

• Enhanced KB2000 business initiative, creating B2C / B2B e-commerce strategy using leading edge technology to establish a competitive advantage, improve sales and enable new partnerships / sources of revenue. Gained CEO approval to pursue strategic alliance with a top / leading technology company to prototype use of virtual technology to dynamically apply buyer selected structural options to model home plans, then generate 3D model of customized home and allow buyer to virtually tour the model. Interior builder options and e-partner supplied furnishings can be dynamically selected / applied during tour. Digitally signed / secured purchase schedules are prepared and integrated with sales, construction scheduling, ERP, and e-partner systems.  More Detail
  
  

• Developed and executed Strategic IT Plan for Kaufman and Broad Mortgage Company, enhancing inter-company application systems functionality, enabling growth / expansion of mortgage operations.
  
  

• Stabilized operating environment by defining and directing implementation of desktop / laptop and server configuration standards. Reduced system failures by more than 90%.
  
  

• Improved quality of customer service by instituting 7x16x365 Technical Support Center / Help Desk. Recruited/developed personnel. Implemented leading-edge problem management and remote problem resolution technology. Reduced problem resolution time from more than 10 days to an average of 30 minutes.
  
  

• Reduced hardware / software acquisition cost by centralizing IT purchasing saving annually more than $500,000.
  
  

• Developed data center and network disaster recovery plans. Provided complete IT operations recovery within 24 hours by designing and implementing near real time disaster recovery network connectivity to remote "hot site". 
  
  

• Facilitated enterprise training program by implementing Intranet server based Kaufman and Broad University. Reduced annual cost of employee training by more than $750,000.
  
  

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