Kenneth @kwf@social.afront.org

The University of Southern Mississippi

VP, Technology at 4ocean PBC

Boca Raton, Florida, United States

Responsible for corporate and mission technology services and architecture, applications, vendor contracts/management, cybersecurity, infrastructure and operations. Transitioned company from Big Commerce to Shopify Plus and optimized page designs, resulting in  significant improvements in site load speeds and other eComm site metrics across all areas.  Manage the assessment and operation of multiple applications and services, including API integrations, ERP platform, external data sets, and subscription services. Analyze, initiate and manage major infrastructure transition projects (ERP, WMS, etc.). Responsible for security infrastructure, data privacy compliance, and best practices in those areas. Currently leading an ERP transition project from Brightpearl to Netsuite.

4ocean PBC

VP, Technology

Managed the development of technology applications, integrations and teams to support the largest private real estate development in US history. Hudson Yards New York is a $25 billion mixed use development that will become the new heart of NYC.  Working with major technology partners, we are creating an enterprise bus-based architecture to connect a wide variety of sensing, security, and communications systems across the emerging Hudson Yards campus.  Responsible for leading the development to connect disparate technology systems (HVAC, Security, Elevator, Mass Transit, etc.) to maximize operational efficiencies and customer experience. Deploying biometric credentialing solutions for building access control.  Architect seamless site-wide WiFi solution, as well as integrated DAS deployments. Work closely with the CDO to develop a bespoke digital signage solution to generate advertising revenue and marketing value across the development. Embedded state of the art Wi-Fi services as well as anonymized sensing infrastructure to deliver data-led value for the enterprise.  Ensured secure cloud-based application and database deployments.  Develop single-pane-of-glass solutions for leadership to leverage data for operational decision making.  Analyzed a variety of technologies to address issues surrounding drone intrusion and other safety threats across Hudson Yards and greater Manhattan.

Evaluated/negotiated and managed large scale information technology contracts, including operational applications, cybersecurity, and long-term maintenance agreements.  Worked extensively with Legal teams on matters of Privacy and Intellectual Property.

<a href="http://www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com/about/the-story/">http://www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com/about/the-story/</a>

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CTO and Managing Director of Technology, Hudson Yards

Led multiple teams responsible for the design and deployment of advanced technology solutions.  Scope of team responsibilities included all retail store infrastructure (Wireless, WAN circuits, local area  networks), data center network deployments, cloud service assessment and implementations, remote data center deployments, and extensive vendor management responsibilities. Designed and managed a $40 million project to refresh technology infrastructure at ~350 retail locations in 8 months. Implemented business partnership to outsource the management of telecom services which led to $850,000 in annual telecom savings. Led teams responsible for global collaborations services (email, video, voice), Enterprise Service Bus design and deployment (TIBCO), and infrastructure rollout in support of a universal Point of Sale system. Responsible for all data center and retail network operations, retail architecture and engineering.  Managed upgrade of core data center network fabric (Cisco Nexus).

Whole Foods Market

Director, Technology Infrastructure

Led a team of Network Engineers supporting Data Center, store enterprise, and logistic facilities networks in the US, UK, and Canada.  Managed data center and WAN network architecture and operations activities at two data center and ~360 store locations across the US, Canada, and UK.  Established network architecture standards and designs for retail locations, including WAN/VSAT/Cellular/Wireless connectivity.  The Global Network Team is responsible for the 24x7x365 monitoring of all network connections and devices at the data centers, store locations, logistic facilities, and vendor partner locations.  Worked with business partners to manage downtime necessary for normal maintenance and upgrade activities within the environment.  Managed complete data center upgrade from Cisco 6500 network fabric to Nexus 7k/5k/2k architecture with zero unplanned downtime.  Managed vendor relationships with Cisco, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, Time Warner, and other vendors across the enterprise.

Senior Manager, Global Networking

Managed a team of network engineers responsible for the operation of the campus network resources and three University data centers.  Managed the network build out of a new $35mil data center, including physical infrastructure, transition marketing, change control process development, and monitoring systems. Oversaw the operation and maintenance of ~3,600 Cisco wireless access points and ~3,000 network switches and routers.  Monitored resources, coordinated outage response, and prioritized issues.  Managed IT service delivery and response levels.  Established SLAs and collected metrics to objectively judge team performance.  Led emerging technology evaluation studies.  Managed large scale projects, such as the upgrade of ~2,000 access points to 802.11n capable units.  Collected 	metrics and presented weekly reports to the Executive team.  Monitored vulnerability notifications and conducted code reviews to ensure network stability and security.  Facilitated inter-group communications between Infrastructure, Information Security, and campus Schools and Departments.  Conduct vendor negotiations for product pricing and service delivery. 2008-2011

University of Texas at Austin

Senior Manager, ITS

Managed a team of 27 network support associates in Austin, TX and Atlanta, GA for the world’s largest home improvement retailer.  Support ~2,700 locations and over 250,000 individual network devices.  Responsible for all aspects of Network Operations management, budgeting, scheduling, escalated problem resolution, team training, metrics analysis, and vendor relations. Collected and analyzed metrics for individual and team performance.  Oversaw network device/physical infrastructure upgrades and managed follow-on support.
Managed individual and team performance to defined SLAs.  Responsible for vendor relations, Operations/Engineering communications,  and monitoring of vendor adherence to contract specifications.  Using a variety of tools (Netcool, Peoplesoft/Vantive, Avaya CMS), ensured the continued operation of local and wide area TCP/IP network resources across an extensive enterprise,
including LAN and WAN functionality.

Home Depot, Inc.

Team Lead, Network Operations Center

Implemented secure local area (wifi) wireless solutions as well as point to point WAN links via license exempt spectrum.  Responsible for design of Operational Procedures for the Technical Services Team.  Also performed LAN/WAN network consulting, specifically TCP/IP architectures, security analysis, VoIP deployments,  service provider liaison/problem identification, terrestrial line
problem resolution, Cisco router/switch configurations, and operating system configurations and troubleshooting  (UNIX / Linux/ MacOS /Windows).  Managed team of consultants, scheduling and prioritizing tasks.  Implemented firewall/security solutions for a variety of private businesses. 2002-2005

VelociWave, LLC

Operations Manager

Served as the Director of Operations for a progressive wireless internet
service provider.  Created new process flow which increased successful circuit implementations by 80% per month.  Supervised multiple teams responsible for site selection, desktop and network security, antenna/hardware installation, desktop and wide area network integration services, and general customer support.  Worked with the Sales team and headquarters personnel to develop market strategies, pricing, and promotional programs for the Metro New Orleans
market.  Managed the design, installation, and operation of all wireless links (2.4Gig and 5.8Gig license exempt), as well as traditional land-line circuits (ISDN, T1, DSL, LRE, etc.).  Responsible for all aspects of operation, including cell-site selection, system security implementations, division budgeting, and employee staffing issues. 2001-2002

Air2Lan

Director of Operations

Founded  network infrastructure firm specializing in inside building/premise wiring and outside plant fiber optic cable installation.  Grew from a single employee with no revenue to 35 employees and $2.5 million in average annual revenue in 36 months.  Responsible for all aspects of corporate operations, including marketing strategies and advertising, definition of core business focus areas, selection and training of all employees (both management and technical), manufacturer liaisons, estimating and pricing negotiation, physical network design, project management, and financial management. Typical projects include data/voice network installations for hospitals, hotels, entire school systems, university residence facilities, and office
buildings.  Completed significant outside plant fiber optic cable installations for MCI/WorldCom and Union Carbide Corporation.

Neptune Communications, LLC

Served as President of the first Internet Service Provider on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Bid on and won major US Naval Research Laboratory support contract at Stennis Space Center, MS.  Served as the US Department of the Navy (NRL) representative for a national DoD ATM testbed network.  Responsible for all aspects of business operation, including accounting, marketing strategies, budgeting, personnel, and technical design and implementation.  Grew from the initial two founders into an eleven employee workforce in the span of 18 months.  Managed a wide variety of commercial and private contracts, including Department of Defense and Environmental Protection Agency work orders. Performed public liaison duties, including television interviews, press releases, and magazine articles. 1994-1997

Southwind Technologies, Inc.

President

Served as the Communications Engineer for the US Navy’s largest supercomputer center (Cray YMP/XMP platforms) at NASA's Stennis Space Center.  Installed and managed the high speed fiber optic network as well as various ethernets which provided end user access to the site networks.  Responsible for the design, procurement, installation, and configurations of all communications devices used at the facility.  Monitored network performance, error rates, utilization trends and other factors which could potentially affect network performance.  Responsible for ensuring the constant operation
of the WAN links, including the link to the US Navy Fleet Numeric Operations Center in Monterey, CA.  Communicated directly with Cray and Ultranet personnel for the installation and maintenance of Cray support networks, and the installation of Classified networking facilities, including NSA approved encryption devices. Managed the effort to transition the entire Navy network from a bridged network to a routed, distributed topology to interconnect with NASA infrastructure.

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Supercomputer/Enterprise Network Manager (Contractor)

Designed and implemented LAN configurations for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.  Supported protocols included TCP/IP, IPX, and Appletalk.  Physical network types included ethernet (twisted pair and coax), token ring, and PhoneNet.  Responsible for the integration of Novell file servers, Macintosh machines, network printers, and a wide variety of NASA network devices. Produced detailed designs for the documentation of network configurations. Authored user-level documentation for the network users.

Boeing

LAN Engineer

Primary network administrator for Martin Marietta Novell networks supporting US Federal Aviation Administration efforts to upgrade the US air traffic control system in Washington, DC.  Conducted extensive man/machine interface analysis on Air Traffic Controllers at Leesburg EnRoute center.  Wrote custom applications (Radius/ADA) to ease user access to LANs, conducted end-user training classes, produced and distributed user documentation, established system policies and procedures, and provided user software assistance.

Kenneth Finnegan