Heinrich Du Plessis

Heinrich du Plessis -- Gauteng, South Africa PROFILE A Dynamic Information Technology leader with a proven track record in managing the full lifecycles of large projects within Cloud and On-Premise deployments. A proven track record of generating and building relationships, designing business strategies, and coaching individuals to success. Strong all round technical skills and business acumen allowing to successfully navigate the complex corporate governance structures, and allowing me to embark on and furthering my skills related to Business and IT management, and making critical decisions during challenging times. Adaptable and transformational leader with an ability to work independently. A go getter and self-starter by nature with an empathetic mindset towards colleagues. Honed skills and experiences across various economic sectors such as Banking, Manufacturing, Telecoms, Logistics and Pharmaceutical and have gained international experience in countries such as the USA, Europe, Brittain, Middle East and Africa. EDUCATION BACHELOR OF LAWS (LLB) REGENESYS BUSINESS SCHOOL ENROLLED 2023 - UNDERWAY Introduction to OpenAI API & ChatGPT Api for Developers UDEMY 2023 CompTIA Cloud Advanced ALISON 2021 CompTIA Security (Exam SY0-501) ALISON 2021 Diploma in Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 (ICND1) v3 CCNA ALISON 2021 Computer and Information Systems Security/Information Assurance ALISON 2021 Information Technology Management ALISON 2021 ITIL Foundation Training VODACOM SA 2015 PMBOK (PROJECT MANAGEMENT) ABBOTT LABORATORIES 2006 Process, Method and IS Infrastructure Validation Alec Cameron & Associates 2005 GLOBAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (GQMS) ABBOTT LABORATORIES 2005 HP OPEN VIEW Storage Data Protector (HPO 720) HP EDUCATION SERVICES 2003 MCSE - NT 4 CS COMPUTER SERVICES 1999 CNA - CERTIFIED NOVELL ADMIN WINDOWS ACADEMY 1996 Roodepoort High School Matric / Grade 12 1993 1 PROFFESIONAL EXPERIENCE 03/2022 – 12/2023 Head of Projects ZAILAB Pty Ltd (Retrenched) • Overall responsibility for the development and implementation of Zailab’s development roadmap for all customers. These roadmaps include critical and or new feature items for new and existing customers. Roadmaps managed using technology such as JIRA, Confluence. • Customer engagement on a technical as well as a business level as it relates to specific programs undertaken by Zailab. • Weekly / Monthly Management reports to all internal stakeholders as well as global customers. • Team/People Management; o Indirectly managing software developers, DevOps engineers and Analysts based on project and programme requirements. o Determine and organize project resources across works streams • Process & Deliverable Management o Manage KPI’s o Develop and implement overall programme plans and strategies o Assist in alignment of the goals as it relates to portfolio goals. o Establish statement of work managed through the project life-cycle o Project level management functions (risk management, change management, issue management) o Deployment Schedules • PMO Policies and Procedures updates, implementation or refinement • DevOps o Cyber Security management. ▪ ▪ o Monthly report on AWS stack Pen Testing Environment Patch Management • Agile Methodology (where applicable) is used throughout the SDLC process. • ITIL principles are followed from a support, change and implementation perspective. 02/2020 – 03/2022 Vodacom South Africa Programme Manager – Contract • Chair and manage status meetings with all stakeholders (internal and external) outlining and updating on key projects as it relates to the TECH 2025 roadmap for Vodacom. • Monthly reporting to executive management on strategic and project/program performance • • Team/People Management between divisions. (Core Networks, Call Centre Operations, Project Teams) Manage the full life cycle and delivery of major online projects and manage the project streams for commercial and technical functional divisions. Key outputs: o Manage KPI’s o Develop and implement overall project plans and strategies o Facilitate project management alignment with project/portfolio goals o Establish project scope and statement of work managed through the project lifecycle o Facilitate online program delivery o Determine and organize project resources across works streams o Facilitate project communications o Facilitate understanding of work requirements and responsible project team o Project level management functions (risk management, change management, issue management) o Assisting in Network and Architecture Planning and Rollouts. 2 Projects / Programs Managed: • VODACOM CUSTOMER CARE & COLLECTIONS CENTRE MIGRATION TO CLOUD; • PROJECT THANOS – Onboard CellC prepaid customer to new Vodacom Entity (1.5 million customers) 03/2017 – 03/2020 Director TRAQ PETROLEUM Overall responsibility managing and oversight of all facets of the business on a day-to-day basis which included but not limited to; • Financial Management of the business o Forecasts / Budgeting o Customer Acquisitions o Product Imports / Exports to various SADEC countries o Supplier Management and engagement (UK, Glencore Energy) • Product Management o Source, Transport and Supply fuel products from various Trading Terminals throughout, MENA, EUROPE and the US to South Africa, West Coast of Africa (DRC, Ghana, Burkino Faso) as well as East Coast of Africa (Mozambique, Tanzania) o Import Fuel products into South Africa from TOTAL SA, PUMA, GLENCORE ENERGY from Mozambique Terminals for distribution in South Africa. • Logistics management o 3PL (3rd Party Logistics Provider) management o Border Crossing Engagement with Clearing Agents o Liaising with major Refineries to plan for loading of product at various depots country wide • Environmental, Health, Safety o Vehicle registration and HAZMAT compliance o Spill Management – Chemical Spills • IT Systems o Linux Based ERP/MRP system (front Accounting / XTuple) o Customer Management tool (XTuple) o Web / Mail server implementation and management – Linux Dovecot/ESMTP/PostFix/SQL/PHP 05/2016 – 01/2017 BARCLAYS AFRICA Project / Programme Manager - Contract • Managing the delivery of IT services such as network connectivity and server infrastructure to new offices in UGANDA. Projects streams for commercial and technical functionals included WINDOWS / LINUX / AIX / ORACLE / SQL / SECURITY / NETWORKS / CAPACITY MANAGEMENT. • In Country Processing (ICP) was an ERP system used locally in SA which had to be duplicated in UGANDA. This required the setup and deployment of SQL servers, WAN links to South Africa, as well as the configuration of routes (VRF’s, BGP’s) to and from UGANDA’s newly built DataCentre. • TANZANIA and KENYA similar requirements. 03/2014 – 06/2016 Vodacom South Africa Project / Programme Manager - Contract Project level management functions (risk management, change management, issue management) in collaboration with the CSOC/Service Management Team for the deployment of services which was supplied by Vodacom Business. Responsibilities also included the management and support of a large stakeholder base (Vendors / Customer / In-house Engineers / Account Managers / Solutions Architects) 3 Notable projects were VODACOM DATACENTRE MIGRATIONS between regions for hosted customers which included; • G4S Deposita, IMPERIAL Holdings (EUROPCAR / AMH / IMPERIAL IT), TELESURE, WMS GAMING, DHL, Britehouse VBLOCKs Technologies used included; • Layer2, Layer3 Link migrations (FIBRE, Microwave, ADSL, etc.), VMWare, Hardware (Servers/ cabinets/Tellabs units/Switches), Fibre/VSAT/Microwave Access, Device (CE / PE Router / firewall) config management Vodacom Internal Software development projects (which were customer facing) were; • • • Keyword SMS, Vlive, USSD/MyPhone, Vodamail, ONLINE SPACE (Data Angel) – Bundle Management, Congo Vodacom Re-Branding Interfacing o Unified Content Management & BME (Bespoke Messaging Engine) Corporate Accounts o Self Service Tallyman Collections Services 10/2013 – 01/2014 ICT Manager APTUS INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS Prior to the company being downsized and liquidated, the responsibilities for this position entailed the following; • • • • • • • • • • Full DRP Plan remediation. This included the revision, testing and combination of the Business Continuity Plan. IT Policy and procedures review and implementations. The included the management and maintainance of the IT information architecture (hardware, software and infrastructure) Backup System implemented with 7 days for HyperV (8 servers.) Infrastructure Risk Analysis (Security, Growth, Stability) – Completed. AD Security review – Completed. Call Centre (90 Seats) Implementation: Technologies used included: Linux RaspBerry device / Ubuntu 11.10 desktops. HR Management Portal Support. Regional Support Management in CPT, PTA, DBN, Mozambique, PE and others. Management of staff development and training and succession planning IS Compliance/Audits as requested by the Banking Clients (ABSA, NEDBANK) 06/2011 – 01/2013 OPS DIRECTOR PLASTICORP Plasticorp was a Plastic Blown Film Manufacturing Plant, specializing in the manufacturing of Blown Film product used to create plastic bags, shrink wrap, cling film and dampcourse sheets 7 rolls. My responsibilities for the plant included and was to; • OPS: o • Monitor and report on the performance of the manufacturing lines. This was done by implementing SCADA and PLX tools/sensor and Visual Basic code. Faults/Stoppages reduced by nearly 30% in the first year after implementation. FINANCE / HR: o Daily Management of accounts receivables, creditors o Forecasting and departmental budgets o P&L’s o Financial Reporting o Personnel / Staff Management as it relates to; o Department Tasks o Leave management o Union Representation / Negotiations o Time Management o Retention and Career Growth management 4 • IT: o o o o New Web B2b Implementation Collaboration Tool upgrade and implementation. Support on production/manufacturing equipment. Increase technology usage in production environment – automation. 07/2008 – 06/2010 HEAD OF IT Wyeth SA / Pfizer Pharmaceuticals As head of IT for Wyeth SA, my overall responsibilities were to manage and support the Commercial Infrastructure used by the sales force. Over and above, I had the responsibility of ensuring GAAP, ISO and Sarbanes Oxley principals and procedures were implemented and maintained. Further responsibilities include project management and delivery, overseeing support and engineer staff. Pfizer acquired Wyeth during my tenure and I was subsequently requested to lead the migration between Wyeth and Pfizer. • • • • • • • • • Maintain the JDE ERP system keeping both compliance and productivity in mind Management of staff development and training and succession planning Weekly and monthly reporting to division executive management on financial, strategic and infrastructure performance Define, manage and maintain an IT strategic plan according to Global and Local IT standards, policies and procedures Participate with and assist with the planning of a long, mid and short-term strategic roadmap for the site in line with global strategies Manage and maintain the IT information architecture (hardware, software and infrastructure) Successfully passed Internal IT Audits as per SOX standards and other international standards. Quality Assurance representative for SA, Egypt, KSA and Canada sites. Successfully Implementing validated systems as per global standards. Global Operational Procedures, SOP’s - Compliance Projects completed within Wyeth: • Mail Archiving initiative (Centralized business-related mail archiving) • Infrastructure (Hardware and Software Qualifications) • Wyeth SA Server farm replacement and upgrade - project management • Wyeth SA WAN connection upgrades from 256Kb to 1,984Mb • MPLS implementations • Employee Information/Self Service Centre Application – Web development. • Migration of messaging platforms (GroupWise to MS Outlook) • SAP HR, APO, GDW Implementation (Jointly done with Oracle SA, SAP SAP • Project Country Lead for SA JDE environment migration to Pfizer Sun Systems. Country communications lead Worldwide mail infrastructure conversion from Novell GroupWise to Microsoft Exchange. New SFA (Sales Force Automation) tool feasibility study conducted between 3 vendors for the combined company. These studies were carried out by my team in the US, Egypt and KSA. Move Legacy Wyeth Employee hardware and Data to new Pfizer offices. 08/2004 – 06/2008 HEAD OF IT MUREX BIOTECH (Abbott Diagnostics Division) During my tenure at I held various positions namely; • Head of IT • Network Manager • Senior IS Manager • Senior IT and Facilities Manager incorporating Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Responsibilities at Murex included but were not limited to; • • • Chairperson Environmental Health and Safety Committee, 16.2 appointee Validation Review Board Member (New Equipment implementations, Implementation of Developed software, Infrastructure) Member of Senior Site Management 5 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Hazardous Materials Spill Coordinator Assist with the transition to GE (General Electric Company) Healthcare in the IT (Complete infrastructure) and EHS environments. ADD and APOC, divisions of Abbott Laboratories have been purchased by GE Healthcare for 18.1 billion dollars. The transaction was eventually cancelled 2 days before take-over would commence Manage projects to have the Kyalami manufacturing site registered as an OSHAS 18001 site Due diligence site audits prior to transitioning to GE Healthcare Prepare for a high level OHS regulatory audit by international consultant and based in Chicago Payroll integration in GEs infrastructure as well as data management on the MFG-Pro database (MRP system) Development of a Leave Application System for internal users Manage and maintain all Abbott Kyalami S.A. IT resources. Ensure effectiveness, efficiency, confidentiality, integrity, availability, compliance and reliability of all Abbott Kyalami S.A. information and systems Manage Staff development and training and succession planning Weekly and monthly reporting to division executive management on financial, strategic and infrastructure performance Define, manage and maintain an IT strategic plan according to Global and Local IT standards, policies and procedures Participate with and assist with the planning of a long, mid and short-term strategic roadmap for the facility in line with global strategies Manage and maintain the IT information architecture (hardware, software and infrastructure) according to Global and Local standards to ensure compliance Define, manage and maintain the IT organization and relationships including corporate and external Service Level Agreements Maintain effective communication relationships with Murex Users, Global Abbott sites and third-party companies Manage and maintain the Abbott Kyalami S.A. IT assets and investments Communicate Global IT direction and goals to management as part of strategic business planning. Define, manage and maintain the Facility Disaster Recovery Plan. This encompasses all facets of the facility Manage all IT related projects as per requirements and within budget Identify, implement and manage automated solutions Acquire and or developed, validate and maintain application software as per Global, local and ISO standards and procedures Acquire, install and maintain all Network hardware as per Global, local and ISO policies and procedures. Develop and maintain local SOPs as required for new implementations and changes in the Network environment Manage all implementations/changes as per local Change Management requirements as specified by the quality system Age analysis on current infrastructure and assessment in order to plan for future upgrades Maintenance of all IT related documentation as per QA requirements and global Quality document requirements (Sarbanes-Oxley and FDA (Food and Drug Administration -USA requirements) Maintenance, management and support of Manufacturing / Production systems Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of IT trends, techniques and technology Manage IT budget effectively and within budget constraints Annual budget planning for IT and EHS departments Prepare for and manage all internal, external and corporate IT audits ERP Systems support for the financial department. These technologies are located at their sister site in Dartford, UK and is based on a Unix platform Responsible for familiarizing and complying with all Health, Safety and Environmental rules, policies, procedures and any other instructions relevant to working within the company Implementation of standards and procedures as set by government regulations pertaining to Occupational Health and Safety Regular visits to international sites located in Germany, UK and the US Liaise and interact with Non-Information Technology Executive Management on a daily basis in providing solutions to problems encountered by the information management systems and within other business units IT/IS - Complete renovation of server room, replacing outdated server hardware, cabling. Installed locally based Employment self-service tool for leave requests and approvals thereof. (Visual Basic.NET, ASPX development, SQL servers.) IT/IS - Production Management System Tool - Developed a VBA tool which was used to manufacture HCV test kits Manufacturing - Responsible for the autoclaving, dispensing and aspirations production machinery. Visit the US 6 • • • • • • • • • • (Rhode Island to implement a more robust and more efficient machine) Engineering – 16.2 EHS appointee in terms of the labour legislation as well as the OSH act. Engineering – Implemented PPM schedules for the timely servicing of critical factory machinery. Successfully completed EH&S audits by local government, FDA as well as HO Strategically position employees in different roles to maximize efficiency Investigate Medical Manufacturing Devices for suitable replacement devices capable of linking into existing applications and infrastructure SAN (Storage Area Network) implementations Product Control & Stability (Quality Assurance), EU, TUV, FDA System Validation procedures. Initially responsible for IT only. Thereafter received additional responsibility overseeing the engineering functions as well as EH&S and Facilities Programme Management – Manufacturing facility upgrade which consisted of class 100000 clean rooms, manufacturing machines, IT systems. ($1,2 Million allocation for project) 08/2004 – 06/2008 PPC CEMENT (Outsourced by Speer Management Services) Senior Systems Engineer / Assistant Site IT Manager Responsible for the implementation of strategy according to stated guidelines, the development and implementation of these strategies into system designs, goals and objectives for PPC Cements Information Technology department, which inter alia included: • The setting and determination of operational standards for all information systems devices connecting to the corporate network. • Manage hardware and software infrastructure • Mail Services Microsoft Exchange 5.5 - 2000 • Develop and maintain front-end application to access SQL Database (SQL 2000) • Age analysis on current infrastructure and assessment in order to plan for future upgrades • Develop and implement Vitality Manager front-end application to do server health checks locally and at sites and store information on a SQL database. (In-house developed software utility) • Daily, weekly and monthly Vitality (Health) Checks on servers. Server Farm consists of a variety of Compaq/HP and DELL Servers • Responsible for Microsoft Exchange 5.5 functionality countrywide. In total there are 8 Sites with approximately 100 -300 Users • Netware 4.1 maintenance and support • DNS / WINS / DHCP configuration, setup and maintenance countrywide • Setup and configure PIPELINE devices to enable remote access to the PPC Network • Navis Radius and Lucent Max administration Remote network access / Dial-in access • Liaise and interact with Non-Information Technology Executive Management on a daily basis in providing solutions to problems encountered by the information management systems • Overall management of DRP plans and procedures • Handle entire MS Exchange Environment implementation for all sites/regions across Southern Africa 04/2003 – 06/2004 AZISA Pty Ltd Systems Engineer ICT - Contract Responsible for the implementation of strategy according to stated guidelines, the development and implementation of these strategies into system designs, goals and objectives for PPC Cements Information Technology department, which inter alia included: • • • • Test software designed and developed for specific projects Implement testing labs for corporate clients such as financial institutions Responsibilities included problem solving and solution implementation Part of the Team that was responsible for the development of the Nedbank internet banking site 7 08/1999 – 03/2003 Q DATA CONSULTING VARIOUS CONTRACT POSITIONS Company – Mondi Kraft: Network Admin Support Engineer • Set up and maintain new network backbone infrastructure at new buildings on plant. Attend to User problems related to network administration, including daily data backups and the support of users on manufacturing packages and systems used by Mondi Kraft • Develop a local helpdesk application used by the IT Engineers onsite. The system was developed using VB6 and interfaced with SQL Database Company – Telkom SA: Project Manager – SDN TTS • Responsibilities included the rollout of new Infrared devices for field technicians to download daily job tasks using a Clarinet Infrared network switch and Husky HHD (Handheld device) • Communicate with regions country wide to facilitate with the rollout and arrange delivery and collection of stock to be shipped to various regions • Daily progress reports to Senior Management • Manage 5 Technicians that provided User and network support within the Service Delivery department nationwide Company – Kelloggs SA: Network Admin / Support Engineer • Server support and maintenance: • Lotus Notes Messaging and Document Management • Active Directory • MS Exchange • Netware + Microsoft File and Print Servers • Network administration and support both for infrastructure and software related issues • Factory application support at Cereal Plant in Springs, South Africa 10/1997 – 07/1999 SCMB (Standard Corporate & Merchant Bank) Treasury IT Support Specialist • • • • • • • Daily support of Users on the trading floor (Treasury Department) Support Equity Users connecting to Unix mainframes using SNA server 3270 emulation software Manage SNA Servers connecting to Stock Exchange network infrastructure Work in the development arena. Write a small VB5 application that intercepted mail messages delivered to an Exchange Server Contractor management (Cabling, Reuters Satellite Hardware and Links) Report Writing Technician Management NOTABLE PROJECTS VODACOM CORPORATE IT • • • Contact & Collections Centers (4000 Agents) Contact Centre Services Cloud Migration Program (move from onprem to Cloud - AWS) Customer Systems and Billing VODACOM BUSINESS • • • • • • SAP HANA Program Management (hosted/Virtual Environments) DATA Centre Migrations / Relocations Access Medium Installations (Solutions Management) Vodacom/IBM Hosting Iniative:I was instrumental in the development, deployment and commissioning of the Datacentre project between IBM and Vodacom for the larger African population Network Design (SA – EU – GB – SA), Local Ties, Conformance to IBM DC Standards DataCentre Readiness ▪ 8 Barclays Africa / International • UGANDA, TANZANIA (3 PROGRAMS) o In Country Processing required by Banking Regulator for various African Countries. Banking Regulator requirement – These are HIGH level projects, visible to all countries as well as to Barclays Head office in the UK. Telkom SA – Husky and Clarinet Device implementation country wide • Resources = 15 (Support technicians, network engineers, server engineers) Murex Biotech – New Production Machine for HCV Kits • Ship New Dispensing Machine from the Long Island, New York to SA. SDLC PROJECT AND TECHNOLOGIES USED SDLC projects completed: • • • • • • Online Leave application (web development) for Murex Biotech Staff – VB.NET Server Monitor Tool with built in Reporting functions using Crystal Reports for PPC Cement. – VB 6 Online Learning Tool – EQMS CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Application development for Nedbank – Part of the project team that did the initial implementation of the now well-known Internet banking site of Nedcor Vodacom Customer Systems & Billing PMO (Vlive, USSD, Keyword SMS, Data Angel, SME/FMc Helpdesk Migration, UMC/BME) Systems/Technology used over the last 5 years • • • • Linux OS, Windows Servers, AD, SSO, AWS RDS, AWS VPC’s, Apache Webserver, MySQL, SQL, Php, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Confluence, JIRA (limited) Firewalls, Network Configs Compliance: Cyber Security, POPIA, Data Governance (Retentions, Anonymity) Methodologies: KANBAN, WATERFALL, AGILE Technologies being studied (own time) • • MONGODB REACT, NODEJS, EXPRESS INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE • • • • • USA (Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey) Germany (Frankfurt, Wiesbaden) United Kingdom Middle East (Dubai, Jeddah, KSA) Africa (Congo, Egypt, Mauritius, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya) 9