MOHAMMAD ALI IRSHAD, MBA, PMP, PMI-ACP, ITIL Foundation

12612 N. Lamar Blvd Apt #5201, Austin, TX 78753 | Cell: (512) 591-8665| mohdaliirshad@hotmail.com

IT PROGRAM / PROJECT MANAGER

Experienced U.S. Citizen with more than 14 years of success leading all phases of diverse technology projects including cloud computing; versatile experience in web architecture, software development, and IT infrastructure; sound IT, business, management, project management knowledge backed with both education and experience; unique mix of academia and industry practice.

Expertise in Software projects using agile or traditional waterfall project management methodologies; mentoring and coaching cross-functional teams to bolster adoptive, self-organizing, and empowering qualities.

Led deployments of IT infrastructure projects; Microsoft Office 365, Azure Government, Commercial Cloud, and Skype for more than 30,000 licenses, across different Oklahoma State Agencies, budget in access of $10 Billion; upgrade projects for Windows, Windows Servers, Internet Explorer, and other vendor operating systems; SaaS deployments for different projects. 

Business strategist; plan and manage multiple diverse projects; align business goals with technology solutions to drive customer satisfaction, process improvements, competitive advantage and bottom-line gains.

Excellent communicator with servant leader attitude; highly skilled listener; leverage technical, business and financial acumen to communicate effectively with senior executives, mid level managers, and vendors; dynamic and collaborative communication skills for gathering and managing requirements and system specifications.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Senior IT Project Manager with emphasis in software release management  

7/2016 – Present  Texas Education Agency, State of Texas, Austin, TX

·         Initiate multi-agency or enterprise-level projects by collaborating with stakeholders and project team to define initial project request/business case to demonstrate the business need, project feasibility, to obtain authorization and commitment.

·         Coordinate and lead with cross-functional managers (requirements manager, development manager, independent validation, and verification manager) to schedule project resources for successful software releases.

·         Develop and maintain required project documents including project budgets/cost estimates, effort projections, project plan, communication plan, schedules, work plans, and resources requirements.

·         Provide management of the daily activities of the project to ensure project deadlines are met and issues are addressed timely.

·         Monitor and manage project quality to ensure project deliverables are acceptable and fulfill the terms of the project requirements or contract specifications.

·         Identify potential project risks and difficulties and design strategies to mitigate or avoid them.

·         Develop criteria for evaluating project/program proposals, and other pertinent information related to project assignments to aid in the prioritization of agency projects.

·         Review, evaluate, and recommend project/program proposals and bids to management.

·         Monitor and manage project cost to ensure project is completed within budget.

·         Analyze and provide recommendations for continuous improvement of the Project Management Office (PMO) processes, procedures, templates, or guidelines.

·         Plan and coordinate project release activities with other state agencies, governmental jurisdictions, or private sector partners and contractors.

IT Program Manager / Senior Project Manager with emphasis in cloud technologies

10/2014 – 7/2016               Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) - Information Services, Oklahoma City, OK

·         Served as IT Program Management for more than 30 Oklahoma State Agencies; worked in conjunction with different IT Strategists, Account Executives, and Technical Account Managers pertaining to these Agencies.

·         Engaged with Agencies for strategic planning, forecasting, resource allocation, change management, and budgeting.

·         Project Manager for multiple concurrent complex statewide IT projects with issues; implemented formal project management processes based on Agile, SCRUM, and traditional waterfall across different Agencies based on best practices from PMBOK and SDLC, reduced project delivery timeline and increased customer service using ITIL standards.

·         Served as mentor and leadership role for more than 25 assigned Project Managers and Business Analysts; build momentum through coaching cross-functional teams with SDLC standards; proactively resolve issues and handle conflicts as per PMO guidelines.

·         Initiated, led, and mentored Quality audit process for Project Managers to increase PMO maturity across State of Oklahoma. 

·         Completed all IT Steering Committee artefacts defined on time and in a quality manner as defined by the Steering Committee calendars.

·         Managed all internal and external communications, training materials, and presentations to accompany the rollout.

IT Project Manager with emphasis in e-commerce and web technologies

4/2010 – 9/2014  Mathis Brothers Furniture, Oklahoma City, OK

·         Revived web presence of the organization by increasing revenue from 100K annually in 2011, to 290K in 2013, and to projected 1.2 Million by end of 2014; oversee launch of upgraded website every year based on customer feedback and with enhancements of custom software development written for such additions.

·         Provide project management for projects involving complex technology and lead cross-functional teams of up to 10 programmers, developers, graphic designers, and analysts.

·         Supervised the deployment of cloud based platform for web and software enhancement tools, created business test plan and processes, and worked with sales representatives on implementation issues.

·         Established cohesive cross-functional team environment and fully implementing Agile/Scrum Methodologies.

·         Tracked issues, facilitated resolution, and provided weekly status reports to senior management.

Adjunct Faculty

12/2011 – 9/2016               ITT Technical Institute, Oklahoma City, OK

·         Some common courses for Project Management discipline are: Project Communication and Documentation, Project Management Tools and Techniques, Quantitative Analysis, Project Cost and Budget Management, Project Quality Management, and Project Risk Management. Promote and motivate interpersonal, influencing, and presentation skills.

·         Tech IT courses in security, software development, databases, Linux, Windows, and capstone courses.

·         Facilitate network systems administration, network architecture, TCP/IP, LAN/WAN, routers and switches, Windows and Linux based server and client environments.

IT Project Manager / IT Manager  

5/2003 – 4/2010  Chateau Imports Inc., Oklahoma City, OK

·         Led long projects involving re-engineering of existing corporate intranet systems; centralization of all accounts receivable; project included backup and back-out procedures, validation of database integrity, and physical movement of server data.

·         Elevated expertise and credibility of team by appointing subject matter experts based on individual strengths to become "go-to" person and trainer for any issue related to that specialty.

·         Weekly report executive presentations in a collaborative environment; Implemented and maintained security policies and procedures.

·         Manage scope, budget, risk, and resources across multiple simultaneous projects; proactive for schedule, cost, and quality goals.

CORE SKILLS

SDLC Methodologies: PMBOK, Agile, Scrum, XP, Lean, Kanban, Test Driven Development, Waterfall

Project Management Software: TeamForge,HP Project and Portfolio Management, Jira,Trello, Asana, AtTask, Basecamp, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Project Server

Programming Languages & Technologies: ASP, ASP.NET, VB.NET, VBScript, C#, C/C++, HTML, XML, XSLT, Java, J2EE, JSP, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, Ajax, JQuery, OOA, OOD, OOP

Application Servers and Frameworks: Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), Microsoft .Net Framework, Apache Web Server (httpd), and researching cloud computing like SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, etc.

Database Servers & Tools: Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL

Networking: TCP/IP, LAN/WAN, VPN, Citrix, HTTP, HTTPS

Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Servers, Apple Macintosh OS, Linux

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS

Project Management Professional (PMP) - Lenience# 1819941

Project Management Institute - Agile Certified Professional (PMI-ACP) – Lenience# 1961458

ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management – Lenience # GR750211046MI

EDUCATION

Walden University (Online), Minneapolis, MINNESOTA

   Doctor of Business Administration (Information Systems, Cloud Computing Infrastructure), Expected Completion Date: Aug 2017

University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OKLAHOMA

Masters of Business Administration, Dec 2006 - Business Administration with emphasis in Management (3.90 GPA)

University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OKLAHOMA

   Bachelor of Science, May 2003 (Magna Cum Laude) - Major: Computer Science (3.86 GPA)

PREFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

PMI OKC Chapter of the Project Management Institute - Professional Member