Murali

Name Email address Contact Numbers Citizenship Murali Krishnan (aka Sydney Murali)--; - Australian citizen Profile Summary Murali has 25+ years of experience in Program/Project Management, Sales & pre-Sales in IT industry, working in APAC (Singapore, Australia & India) and USA. He has both hardware & software product & services experience. Solutions worked on included AI tools & developing AI solutions. His Program / Project Management roles include technical products, services (both hardware & software)and COTS/ Apps solutions. His areas of expertise in Delivering Program/Project management include IT Infrastructure, IT Security, Cloud, AI, Salesforce, FSOC (Telecom), RPA (Blue Prism), GRC, Testing (QA), Core Banking (Legislation), ERP, CRM, Travel & Immigration HR & is a Gallup Strength Finder Coach. He is a Coach, mentor with excellent communication, presentation and people/customer management skills. He is Sales certified with TAS (Target Account Selling), ITIL certified, ROGEN (presentation skills) certified & a Toastmaster ! He has worked for Google, Cognizant, MetricStream, Computer Associates, Symantec (Altiris), HP (DEC), Mphasis, Persistent, Singapore Technologies, eGain & Polaris. Murali is a regular speaker & speaks at Industry forums like Cloud Security Alliance, CIO/CISO Round Tables etc. He is also Level 2 cricket coach from NSW, Australia. Interests in languages, cultures, travel, dancing & playing sports. Handling of Covid & remedies for it in Apartment complex Murali is a regular speaker & speaks at Industry forums like Cloud Security Alliance, CIO/CISO Round Tables etc. Also, a Rotarian & was a Rotaractor & Interactor. Program/ Project Management activities (few mentioned): • APAC Program Management of FSOC products across the region; Region-wise plans & solution included some AI components of Automatic fail-over & switchback using AI algorithms • Project management of GRC solutions with creativity on Cloud @MetricStream across APAC/Africa; Oracle based solutions on the cloud with Murali’s intervention on cloud solution (no-co-mingle data) and in Global Datacentre’s, • Product management for ERP & Insurance solution @ 3i-Infotech, India; Launched products. • Project Management of eCRM solutions @eGain Communications, Australia for customers in APAC; • Deployment of solutions from Computer Associates based in Singapore & Australia; AI models were developed and deployed as agents in racing cars & other use-cases for Event Management. • Project Taara in India/APAC @Google; Complex HW/SW deployment. o Salesforce Lightening design & deploy across APAC & Africa of Free Space Optics Communication (FSOC) solution (internet connectivity); • Program Management of AI - RPA (BluePrism) design, plan & deploy @Major US Bank, SFO, USA.; Benefits: Reduce $M in 1 year with this automation in 9+ months. (RPA = Robotic Process Automation using Trends & Models) • Program KYC design @Major US Bank, SFO, USA; Benefits: Complete re-do of KYC across all Banking channels (regulatory & legislative changes); Centralized approach & saved $M in redo work for all channels & compliance. (KYC = Know Your Customer) • Program Cloud: Cloud design, sell & support of GRC solution for global customers & internal teams @MetricStream, India in 4+ years; (GRC = Governance, Risk & Compliance) • Ran Compliances program to achieve ISO 27001, SSAE16, SOC2, Type 2, HIPAA_HITECH, Safe Harbor, Fed Ramp & other industry compliances at MetricStream. • Develop Core Banking Solutions @Polaris, India to benefit organization & end customers. Consolidation of solution in a platform-approach • Data Center move of DEC Hong King (Central to Wanchai) in 5 months @Digital; Operation activities (few mentioned): • Handled Fire situation @MetrisStream and saved lives & assets. • Handled it alone & appreciated by all; 36 hours of mayhem solved with no lives lost & things recovered. • Such “crisis” situations land in his lap & is also called the “Man-Friday.” Resume of Murali Krishnan Page 1 of 5 • • • • Ran Testing Practice’s Operations for about 8000 employees @Cognizant, Chennai Benefitted with Best Workforce Management award; End to end management including hires, revenue generation planning, employee issues, rewards & recognitions, partners & vendor management. Ran India Operations for Rising Solutions @Chennai; End to end responsibilities (a la COO) including HR, Finance, Deployment & Sales Work Summary Vice President, Encora - Placed at Google; June 2019 - Dec 2023 Technical Program Manager – Google (X Company); June 2019 - Dec-) Program Management & Presales for APAC within Google’s Project Taara, moon-shot project; which focuses on Internet connectivity solution based on FSOC. Hardware & Software solution for ISPs & Telcos. He project managed setup & ran the Global NOC and then Program managed all prospects/partners and customers. Deployed Salesforce Lightening tool for Ticketing System & for Sales team using Agile, MVP designs & deployment. Asst Vice President, Mphasis; Oct 2018 – May 2019 (Started in California, USA, and then moved to India for personal reasons). 1) Focused on Global Sales for Servers & solutions and worked on HP Global / South Korea as a customer globally. 2) Initiative to bring in entire South Korea Customer Support & repair business to the organization. GTM & identification of local partners & execution. Chief Architect @ Persistent Systems, Bay Area, San Francisco, USA Period: Aug 2017 to Sept 2018 1) Deploy of RPA solutions at SFO, USA based Banks. This involves using AI based BOT solution. With Agile, MVP based design, pre-sales, development and support. There is a lot of navigation thru a Bank’s internal processes and multiple SoR (systems). Automate many back end and resource intensive processes using RPA tools (BluePrism). It involves doing requirements gathering, run workshops, design & architect solution, work on access, get stricter Infosec approvals, relevant documentations etc. 2) KYC design for BSA/AML solutions group: Working with Banks in their BSA/AML KYC solutions. Vice President @ MetricStream, Bangalore, India. (April 2012 to June 2017) GRC (Governance Risk & Compliance) a. Consult, Sell, Implement GRC Solutions, which include Risk Mgmt. (ERM, ORM), IT GRC, NESA, EHS, QMS, Internal Audits, PDMS, Compliance, Vendor Compliance etc. b. Customers in Africa, UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, India & Philippines across various verticals. c. Implementation of our GRC solutions to customers (all US customers) d. Sales business across MEA/APAC (customer & partners) and did over $3M+ in a year! e. GRC Journey expertise – Thought Leadership Global Cloud Sales Business which includes creating services, selling, managing, running Cloud operations & maintaining them. f. All around GRC products & on Cloud – Private & Public Cloud. (All Datacentres in US & UK, Customers across US, Europe & APAC). Regular interaction with prospects & customers. g. 120+ cloud customers. (Across US, Europe & APAC). Many of them Fortune 500 organizations. h. Right from conceptualizing, strategy, managed services, Value Added Services, Selling, pre-Sales, Support & Compliant with various compliances for Data Centre & the organization. i. Regular speaker at CSA events and presenting papers on Cloud & Compliances j. We are the only company with GRC on Cloud! Head - Global IT (CIO) & IT Security (2000 users) & Compliance k. This includes Servers, EUC, Storage, VM’s, Security, Messaging & Applications, Vendor management etc. l. BCM policies, Security patching, Cyber threats and Moving Datacentre (offices). Implement Organization compliance across regulatory compliance's - SSAE16 SOC2 Type2, HIPAA, and ISO27001:2013,Safe-Harbor,CCM, Fed Ramp, FISMA etc. Part of Leadership team. Run Leadership Development and coaching program for employees. Director @ Cognizant- Chennai, India - Dec 2007 to March 2012 Resume of Murali Krishnan Page 2 of 5 • Anchored & created new Testing offerings including Infrastructure testing, Embedded devices testing, Environment Management, Win7 Migration testing, Data Centre Migration, Stack Certification testing, Operational Readiness Testing and many more. Also includes consulting work for customers to move their Test labs! Managed the entire offshore operations for the Testing (QA) practice within Cognizant. Work included mentoring the team, unleashing talent and managing budget, metrics & expenses of the practice along with SEZ & STPI compliances. Took Cognizant into the Board of TMMi Foundation, which is an industry body for the global Testing community. Received Best Workforce Management team within Cognizant. Part of the CIO's Leadership team, managing some global applications & systems for this 140000employee strong organization. Do Program/Portfolio/Product/Development Management of systems & solutions. Setup successful DR. Usage Lean/MVP, Agile, and Cloud: From concept to delivery. Run the Service Excellence initiative for the Service Desk/Helpdesk teams as part of Managed Services • Testing Practice (earlier) Also ran the Immigration team for Cognizant. This included liaising with consulates, following their process & procedures & also creating best practices for visa and immigration. • • • • • • • Previous Assignments: General Manager–India @ Rising Solutions, Chennai, India - June 2006 to Dec 2007 Regional Manager– India & SAARC @ Altiris Singapore (Symantec) - April 2005 to May 2006 Vice President – PMG, @ Polaris, Chennai - May 2004 to March 2005 AGM @ 3i Infotech, Chennai India - Feb 2003 to April 2004 Consulting – Altiris Asia Pacific, Sydney, Australia - Nov 2002 to Jan 2003, then moved to India Technical Manager, APAC @ eGain Communications, Sydney, Australia - Nov 2000 till Sept 2002 Sn. Consultant (Team Lead) at Computer Associates, Sydney, Australia - May 1997 to Nov 2000 Product Manager, WNT @ CSN, Singapore Technologies Singapore - Sept 1994 to April 1997 Systems Engineer at International Video Products Pty LTD, Singapore Systems Administrator at PSB, Singapore Software Engineer at HP GlobalSoft (Digital Equipment Corporation) BANGALORE, INDIA. Programmer at Intel Data Systems, Bangalore, India. Education: Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science, Bangalore University, INDIA LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/murali-krishnan-aka-sydney-murali-5923a2 X (Twitter): @murali_sports Program/Project Management (with some examples) Overview • • • • • • • Murali has more than 25+ years of delivery, managing & supporting Projects & Programs in Government & Private industry. He brings in best-practices and global view for programs. This is across Australia, USA, Singapore, Africa & India. Murali is ITIL certified and runs programs and projects based on relevant industry skillsets for deployment of Digital/COTS & specific Apps; They pan across Government (Singapore, Africa & India), Banking & Financial Institutions (USA, Australia, Singapore & India), Telcos, Retail, Travel & HR systems in both hardware & software (development using Agile, MVPs solutions). Program managed Optical based Internet connectivity solutions; Program management of AI based BOT solutions in Banks in USA; Program Manage Global KYC systems for Global bank; Program Manage GRC (Audit, Risks, Compliances & Governance COTS ) solutions across Africa & APAC markets; Cloud design & deployment for software solutions in Datacenters in USA & UK; He is certified on Unicenter TNG (to deploy systems & network management solutions), eCRM certified (to deploy eCRM solutions to Big Contact Centers), Core Banking products including Core, Origination, Lending, Collection & cards; ERP solutions including Siebel & Salesforce deployments; Data center migration projects; Resume of Murali Krishnan Page 3 of 5 Communication and stakeholder engagement skills. • • • Murali is a Toastmaster (in Sydney, Australia); Rogen trained (Best Presentation skills) and is a Gallup Strength Finder Coach & 8th Habit Trainer. He is also a Cricket Level 2 coach and brings in sporting ideas to manage programs. Murali engages at all organisation level and ensures that there is buy-in, clarity and focus from the relevant stakeholders. He is adept with dealing with CxO levels at the same time with mid-level/junior relevant team members. Murali worked as a-la CIO and understands running an IT organization in the world of Cloud, VMs, COTS & Digital Apps (AI etc) & hardware-based solutions Project management methodologies, governance and delivery approach • • • • • • Scaling up & scaling down depends on the timelines and available resources. Murali will setup daily 15 minutes stand-up calls to tailor execution and progress (as and when needed). Governance & progress reports will happen with his weekly/fortnightly/monthly & quarterly Status calls with relevant stakeholders. All calls/meetings are used for decision-making and information is always shared in advance – these are for making effective progress. Murali uses an engagement model/approach, which consists of a crawl-walk-run approach (CWR). In Programs/Projects, he works with multiple streams and includes sprints, MVP runs & workshop-based approach. Coaching skills of Gallup & 8th Habit are used as and when needed. E.g. In one Salesforce (COTS) project, deployment was done in smaller chunks with maximum effectiveness. Initially in a Crawl mode, entire Ticketing system was designed with internal stakeholder’s needs. Later we “walked/ran” with partner & customer needs. This was a creative and Kanban approach to the project. E.g. In a AI/RPA project, for quick deployment, parallel streams were in place for recruiting developers; QA team involved right from requirements gathering; this helped faster delivery in Agile mode. E.g. In a Telco deployment project, check-lists were created for every stage of hardware deployment & cross-checked to ensure the outcome of the project is arrived with efficient mechanism. This innovation, really ensured proper delivery governance and regular cadence for progress reports. Problem Solving Skills & Influencing solutions • • • • • • • • Problem solving is part of solution thinking and approach. One approach used by Murali is – from As-is to Steady state problem solving (define, analyse, develop(MVP), test, evaluate, implement & measure); Murali uses the crawl-walk-run (cwr) approach for critical thinking and achieving objectives. These include what-if analysis, 5-why’s, empathy workshops, make baby-steps, every progress is reviewed, accept inputs from all, daily stand-up calls & make progress. This will be the same for CWR statuses. Influencing change – Murali’s strengths are listen more, strategies, good people skills and empathy to understand people’s issues; He uses all these along with insights to technology & best processes to influence change. His leadership approach is being firm, yet friendly; achieve goals with full visibility of the program at any time; prepare for the worst always using Plan B, Plan C approaches at every stage; be on top of vendors and partners to execute the plans. Working in many industries gives power to influence the right changes to the program/organisation. In a Bank’s KYC project, customer was grappling with various regulatory & compliance needs of KYC; at the same time, they were limited with a system of inefficiencies which was not ready to intake latest rules. Here, Murali decided to do an As-Is analysis, did a Mind-map (define, analyse) of it and added the latest rules & compliances into the map and then devised a solution. The solution then was broken into current and future stages. The current was updated & future was planned with various permutation & combinations of foreseeable regulatory compliances. It was then taken across all business entities within the bank. E.g. In an HR enhancement project for an organisation of 100,000 employees, Murali decided to include many empathy workshops to understand actual employee pains. He used various techniques including 5 Why’s, What-if analysis along with reading their “post-it” notes in their desks to understand their pains. This helped to arrive at 1Org model and he helped design and deploy it. E.g. In a eCRM project in Thailand, the role was to Project Management COTS deployment; but once Murali landed at the customer site, he quickly realised that there needs to be internal stakeholder alignment and that needs to be done by someone neutral; so he took the mantle of running customer’s internal workshop, which ensured all of them aligned to the goals and Murali could also get greater insight of the customer’s culture and processes. Customer had diverse folks from various parts of the world and his global cultural understand also enabled him to build bridges and achieve the project goals. His listening skills were put to test and that helped him navigate withing the customer’s goals and achieve successful project execution. This leadership approach ensured the respect for him and his delivery plans. He also did empathy workshops to understand their pain points. E.g. In a GRC project, which was rejected by the customer, Murali was assigned to revive the project and account. It was not his account. But then, he had hear mouthful from the customer’s CXO about the Resume of Murali Krishnan Page 4 of 5 • • bad deployment. He listened, respected the customer, promised to turn the project around, did daily Whatsapp update to the CxO of status, setup weekly sync with his team and transformed the project in promised revised timeline. Internally, he had to do daily stand-up calls, ensure he gets support from internal stakeholders and teams to achieve success. That customer became referenceable. In this way, he was able to take a flanking approach, be true to the deliverables, at the same time influence the stakeholders (internal and external). Murali has the relevant experience in designing, testing, delivering SDLC based solutions in various methods (eg: Waterfall, Agile etc). E.g. He designed, developed, managed products in ERP, Insurance, GRC, Internet & Digital space. He ran Testing operations for a Global SI and also developed many Innovative Testing solutions like Infrastructure testing & encouraged Automation testing. • Murali has extensive experience of procuring, deploying and managing IT devices & software for more than 25+ years. This includes cloud based solutions, COTS, App based solutions (AI etc) and for on-premise and hybrid situations. He is well-versed with Procurement procedures and aways tries and keep it simple, but effective. • Murali has done many regulatory, safety and compliance programs, including various Standards like SOC2, Type 2, ISO 27001:2013 etc. • Murali has from his initial days helped & supported with Datacenter relocations in Hong Kong, USA; Office relocations and occupying new premises in Singapore, Australia & India. o These includes planning ahead with Admin, Facilities, IT Production, Networking Teams, CISO teams, respective vendor teams, time wise short-window-execution; Resume of Murali Krishnan Page 5 of 5