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Michael H. Richardson


Michael Richardson

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Software Development and Quality Assurance Professional
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Experienced technology executive with a focus on SDLC and QA improvement. Skilled in taking organizations to the next level of efficiency and proficiency to improve software development performance and product quality.

  • Business and Technology Alignment
  • Development and QA Best Practices
  • Program and Budget Management
  • Risk, Issue and Change Management
  • Requirements Management
  • Agile Methodologies
  • Off-shore Development / Testing
  • RFPs / Proposals / SOWs
  • Process Improvement / Automation
  • Automated Test Implementation

  • Proven leadership to ensure that teams focus on important tasks for critical projects
  • Demonstrated ability to analyze complex technology and establish effective quality assurance plans
  • Common sense combined with experience for technology development
  • Certified Solution Designer RUP 7.0 (CSD)
  • Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)                 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

IconATG, Chesterfield (St. Louis), Missouri 3/2009-Present
Improving Software Development Capabilities

  • Provide expert SDLC and QA services - coach, mentor, instructor, worker
  • Improved requirement elicitation and management with Rational Requirements Composer (RRC)
  • Rational tool suite integration including Rational Team Concert (RTC)
  • Test Automation with Rational Functional Tester (RFT), Rational Performance Tester (RPC), Rational Service Tester (RST) 
  • Leverage Rational Quality Manager (RQM) as a gateway to overall quality assurance activities
  • Deliver demonstrations of Rational tools
Merck (SPCorp) (Remote to NC)
  • Installation assistance for RequisitePro, Rational Rose Modeler, and SoDA.
Lockheed Martin (LMCO) (Chantilly, VA)
  • Instructor for Borland DefineIT, CaliberRM and UML Essentials.
Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) (St. Louis MO)
  • Customized instruction for RGA OpenUp Process based on Rational Unified Process.
John Deere (Moline IL)
  • Instructor for Requirements Ellicitation and Facilitation.
  • Instructor for Defining and Managing Requirements with Use Cases.
North Dakota Job Service IT Division (Remote presentation to ND)
  • Instructor for Introduction to Rational Unified Process.
  • Instructor for Iterative Project Management with Rational Unified Process.
Centene (St. Louis MO)
  • Provided workshop and support for Rational Functional Tester (RFT) and Rational Quality Manager (RQM). The workshop defined a test automation framework to enable early test case engineering and support a test driven agile development methodology.
Conseco (Carmel IN)
  • Conducted an ALM Assessment. The assessment report provided a summary of observations, an impact map, and a roadmap for ALM improvement initiatives as well as suggested best practices to accelerate application development.
Federal Reserve Bank (St. Louis MO)
  • Provided training and support for Rational Team Concert (RTC)
  • Assisted with definition and implementation of extensive RTC customizations
  • Supported migration of ClearQuest change requests and ClearCase code
USfidelis (Wentzville MO)
  • Defined test strategy and supported test planning for new system development, mentored test team in best practices for design of test cases and use of automated testing, provided guidance on requirement management as well as requirement quality to establish practices supporting downstream development and testing efforts
IBM Regional Mentor Program for Quality Management
  • Participation in this enablement program provides early access to upcoming product releases and solutions to allow for development of deep technical skills in advance of product release. In turn, regional mentors can help IBM Rational product users accelerate their implementation and use of IBM Rational products, thereby, improving ROI.

Atlanta Group Systems Inc. (AGSI), Atlanta, Georgia 11/2005-3/2009
Business Management and Technology Consulting

Cash America International (contract assignment, Fort Worth TX) - Improve SDLC processes and capabilities to deploy a Point-Of-Sale/Service enterprise application (Converted to employee 12/2008 – 03/2009- Director of Quality Improvement)

  • Provided balanced recommendations and support for all phases of the product / software / application development lifecycle, provided strategic and tactical execution of selected process, procedure and tool implementation recommendations
  • Performed objective assessment of the SDLC processes and capabilities to effectively mitigate risk and test a Point-Of-Sale/Service enterprise application
  • Provided recommendations and support for all phases of the application development lifecycle, provide strategic and tactical execution of selected recommendations
  • Worked closely with the CAI leadership to identify opportunities for improvements, assess value and impact of suggested changes
  • Assisted with and track project and production release plans
  • Aligned project efforts with business requirements and expectations
  • Provided mentoring and services to mitigate project risks as interim Director of QA team
  • Led and managed the effort for implementing a modified Rational Unified Process (RUP) and provided an integrated system which included, Requisite Pro, Clear Quest, Clear Case, Functional Tester, Manual Tester, and Performance Tester

Federated Systems Group (contract assignment, Duluth GA)

  • Assessed needs and delivered workshop for PPQA personnel so they confidently move beyond process compliance issues and probe deeper into stakeholders needs, ensure work product authors have done the necessary due diligence to be successful, and positively impact process and product quality

VeriSign (contract assignment, Savannah GA)

  • Advocated, mentored and drove policy and process improvements throughout the product development life cycle / SDLC to support organizational objectives for CMMI-2 & 3 process compliance and to achieve business, operational, and engineering goals
  • Provided leadership and direction for requirements / use case engineering and process implementation across RUP based inception and elaboration phases
  • Conducted training sessions for RUP-based processes with Use Cases and UML for class and component diagrams
  • Tailored SDLC process artifacts to support incorporation of requirements management and design tools: CaliberRM and Together Architect

Access Insurance Holdings, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia 2/2005-10/2005
Insurance industry - Property/casualty insurance programs

Director (contract, 8 months) - Evaluated and improved all aspects of quality in delivering and maintaining business systems and on-line presence.

  • Advocated and affected changes for IT and business to achieve overall quality and productivity improvements throughout the software development life cycle
  • Controledproduction system release processes, for urgent and routine updates, improving customer experience and quality through change management
  • Mentored and trained staff in quality assurance skills
  • Business requirements gathering, software testing, and project management

Auctionworks, Inc. d/b/a Marketworks, Atlanta, Georgia 1/2002-8/2004
Services for global online eCommerce business - Commerce without limits...

Director - Managed software quality assurance and infrastructure teams, supported operational growth leading to increased customer satisfaction and decreased customer service load.

  • Managed, mentored and trained QA (with off-shore augmentation) and infrastructure teams for a high-volume transaction system facilitating nearly 3 million transactions and with customer sales reaching $30 million each month
  • Defined objectives, policies, procedures, guidelines, and standards for rapid application development to achieve quality and minimize risk for mission-critical applications
  • Provided leadership and direction for development and testing personnel; coordinated and directed QA activities; reduced rework and cycle time
  • Quality leadership based on Six Sigma, CMMI, and ISO-9000 and experience

Scientific Games International, Alpharetta, Georgia 3/2000-8/2001
Products and services for the lottery industry (Domestic and International)

Vice President - Represented SGI in technical matters and managed issues, transitions in system delivery, testing, and release. Provided technical oversight and acted as technical point person in support of six online lottery operations.

  • Directed development, evolution, and execution of policy, process, and procedures for software development and quality assurance based on ISO9000 and SEI CMM Software Engineering guidelines / requirements
  • Ensured customer satisfaction by creating project plans and schedules with defined software development, quality testing, and release processes
  • Managed expectations of internal and external business relationships by advocating and building open lines of communication and accurately presenting system development status and QA / test findings
  • Defined business priorities for enhanced delivery and installation of system updates by coordinating inter-departmental activities " Fostered a cooperative team-oriented environment for development and quality assurance by implementing well-defined policies, processes, and procedures
  • Conduct performance appraisals; provide mentoring for developing skills, methods and work habits; determine training needs for professional development

Pitney Bowes, Shelton, Connecticut 6/1999-4/2000
Postage and packaging products and services

Product Integrity Leader (contract, 11 months) - Managed team of 9+ FT test engineers augmented by 20+ additional testers responsible for verifying and validating products through alpha and beta release phases before national commercial release, tested secure transaction products for the Small Office / Home Office requiring broad knowledge of client / server applications and network communication technologies.

  • Worked closely and collaborated with executive management and development team leads to define project priorities and make appropriate tradeoffs in order to optimize time-to-market
  • Implemented automation for improved regression test coverage and shorter test cycles, designed custom reports to communicate product quality
  • Directed comprehensive functional, usability, performance, and security testing, planning and execution to ensure product integrity
  • Coordinated with other leaders to improve and standardize processes across several similar product lines to facilitate centralized management

InfoWorks UnLtd., East Lyme, Connecticut 6/1998-6/1999
Quality scientific and engineering applications

Managing Director / Consultant - Representative clients and projects include:

  • Electric Boat division of General Dynamics - Established requirements and developed a relational drawing database that accommodated an extensive library for a nuclear submarine subsystem providing a comprehensive drawing management capability
  • Northeast Utilities - Millstone Nuclear Power Plant - Provided support for Northeast Utilities Training Information Management System (NUTIMS), a 3-tier client/server enterprise application - Facilitated communication between training department managers and backend development team and created custom reports derived from a data warehouse - Created and refined over 50 dynamic reports to provide status of training for employees as required by Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Developed and updated applications for instrumentation and calibration departments at Millstone nuclear power plant to reduce time spent performing tech spec surveillance

A&T Engineering Technology Center, Mystic, Connecticut 10/1990-6/1998
Contractor to the Department of Defense

Corporate Program Manager

  • Developed, deployed, and provided training for quality system components as the basis for ISO-9000 registration; member of the Corporate Quality Council, Quality Manager for division of 400 employees and Management Representative for unit of 120 employees that obtained ISO-9001 registration February, 1998
  • Managed business and project budgets, ensured customer satisfaction through successful project execution, identified new business opportunities, responded to RFPs, built internal resources for new opportunities and to meet desired growth plans
  • Designed and developed simulation software, data acquisition hardware, embedded firmware components, and custom communication software and hardware for commercial and military applications
  • Designed and developed hardware, software, and interfaces for sonar and combat systems used for research and development of sonar system concepts

PURVIS Systems Incorportated, New London, Connecticut 1982-1990
Contractor to the Department of Defense

Senior Systems Engineer

  • Worked as a senior member of the Land Based Integrated Test Site (LBITS) AN/SQQ-89 sonar suite simulation/stimulation development group to develop SQQSIM. This effort required in-depth knowledge of the sensor interfaces and those of the ASW Combat System (ASWCS). Operation of the hull mounted AN/SQS 53 sonar, towed array AN/SQR-19, and sonobuoy based AN/SQQ-28 was required to develop and use the SQQSIM system.

Naval Underwater Systems Center, New London, Connecticut 1978-1982
Department of Defense - Navy

Systems Engineer

  • Designed and developed hardware, software, and interfaces for sonar and combat systems used for research and development of sonar system concepts.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

  • Methodologies / Frameworks - Rational Unified Process (RUP), Unified Modeling Language (UML), Borland Application Lifecycle Model (ALM), SEI CMM / CMMi, Agile, eXtreme Programming (XP), ISO-9000, IEEE, ITIL, MIL-STD / DoD, PMI PMBOK
  • Operating Systems / Hardware - Windows NT/2000/XP/Server, MAC OS X, UNIX - AIX / Linux, Dell, IBM, HP
  • Languages / Databases - VB, VBA, C, C++, JAVA, HTML/CSS, VB.NET, .NET, PHP, SQL, Oracle, Access, MySQL
  • Tools - Rational RequisitePro, ClearQuest, ClearCase, Functional Tester, Borland DefineIT, CaliberRM, StarTeam, Together / Eclipse, TestTrackPro, QA Wizard, eTest Suite, QuickTestPro, WinRunner, Test Director, DevTrack, VSS, Crystal Reports, RDD-100, MS Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint, VBA, MS Access, MS Project, MS Visio
  • Expert-level skills with various tools to provide real solutions to real problems, leveraging an extensive hands-on software development background to design and implement customized solutions

EDUCATION

  • Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in Hartford Connecticut
    Master of Science, Technology Management
  • University of Vermont in Burlington Vermont
    Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering

CERTIFICATES

  • IBM Certified Solution Developer for Rational Unified Process 7.0 (CSD-RUP7)
  • Agile Project Management - Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)