Detailed (www.RonaldJEllis.Com)
 


DETAILED RESUME
(Click here for a summary resume)

EXPERIENCE

  2SS.Com (1998 to Present)

Managing Director for 2ss.Com a comprehensive computer services firm focused on helping client firms identify and implement strategic systems.  2SS.Com Provides comprehensive computer support services to a small and carefully selected group of clients in conjunction with ‘Partner Firms’ specializing in training, computer repair, Internet World Wide and Web page authoring & site hosting.

Consulting capabilities include:

Ÿ    Managing projects from initial design through implementation.

Ÿ    Sample completed projects include, WWW Pages like original sites for ‘www.cahsah.org’, ‘www.clca.org’, and ‘www.water-ed.org’, Widows NT and Novell network installations, custom systems for membership management, graffiti abatement, fund-manager performance tracking, among many others.

Ÿ    Developing and implementing user training and support programs.

Ÿ    Preparing systems and telecommunications project proposals.

Ÿ    Conducting Request For Proposal (RFP) and vendor selection processes.

Ÿ    Assisting in MIS organization design including goals, job descriptions, career plans, hiring and termination assistance.

Ÿ    Developing systems policies, standards and procedures.

 

  Gateway CHRISTIAN LIFE CHURCH / Skyline Christian Center (2002 to 2006)

CONSULTANT/ADMINISTRATOR

Working part time while continuing to offer services through 2SS.Com.

 

      The MIS Department, a division of TSP, Inc. (1991 to 1998)

Managing Director & President for The MIS Department a consulting firm that sells productivity, well-integrated solutions, and a single point of contact focused by a thorough understanding of each client's business.  The firm’s comprehensive computer support services include Network design, installation & support - Systems development - Internet connectivity & WWW page authoring - Service & support - Acquisition - Repair & maintenance - and Training.  Targeted client organizations are in industries including associations and nonprofits, professional services, and franchisors.

Founded in 1991 by Ron Ellis the firm was sold (majority interest in Oct. 1997 and remaining interest Mar. 1998) to Inland Business Systems.  The firm’s staff members and carefully selected ‘partner firms’ & independent contractors hold certifications including Microsoft Solution Provider, Microsoft Certified Professional, Certified NetWare Engineer, and TimeSlips Certified Consultant

Adjunct faculty member at several local colleges and universities.

 

      Syncor International Corp. (1989 to 1991)

DIRECTOR, MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SERVICES Managed a group of 21 professionals in providing a full range of computing services to this Los Angeles-based company with 85 operating locations nationally in the Nuclear Medicine (Radioactive Pharmaceuticals) and Home Care businesses.  Directly responsible for annual expense budget of $2.5MM with over $3.5MM in capital expenditures planned for FY 1990-91.

Responsibilities:  Set direction for and managed MIS functions including systems and programming, client support, data processing and telecommunications.  Services were provided through the following:

Ÿ    Business-oriented programmer/analyst project groups for nuclear medicine, home care and the home
      office, which were established and staffed for the first time.

Ÿ    A growing Help desk, which handled up to 750 calls a month from employees and customers.  (Almost 50% of calls originated outside the home office, over 20% were from customers who rated their support 4.6 on the average using a 5=Excellent scale.)

Ÿ    A formal training program with 10+ courses reached over 250 participants annually.  (On the average, participants rated their training 4.5 on a 5=Excellent scale.)

Ÿ A computer operations group responsible for an HP/3000-955 Data Center, LANs and stand-alone PC support.

Ÿ A telecommunications function established for the first time to address company-wide voice and data networking requirements and opportunities.

Accomplishments:  As part of my acceptance of the position with Syncor, it was agreed that I would develop a systems long-range plan while transitioning into the position of MIS Director.  Within three months, the plan was developed and substantial progress made in creating an organization capable of implementing it.  This led me to establish, for the first time, a second level of MIS management resulting in the above structure.

A sample of projects completed or begun during my tenure includes:

Ÿ    HARDWARE PURCHASE FOR COMPANY-WIDE TECHNOLOGY UPGRADE - A successful Request For Proposal (RFP) process involving over 20 vendors in the purchase of over 300 operating location and customer computers.  The 10 month process involved selection of a VAR (Value Added Reseller) for pilot site/conversion, a national roll-out VAR to convert old technology proprietary Texas Instruments systems requiring $200k+ in annual maintenance costs to an industry standard, Intel and UNIX computing solution with 50% less annual maintenance cost.  (Project cost $3.1MM with an estimated 3.5 year payback, and at least 15% Internal Rate of Return.)

Ÿ    LOCAL AREA NETWORK  - Proposal and approval of a LAN to connect home office microcomputer users in order to exploit a number of related benefits.  (Project cost $75,000 with an estimated 2.5-year payback.)

Ÿ    NATION-WIDE NETWORK - Proposal of a microcomputer-based wide-area network management system to permit polling for location data, automated software distribution, electronic mail, and numerous other benefits.  (Project cost $80,000 with an estimated 1.5-year payback.)

Ÿ    Other RFPs leading to the purchasing of Macintosh computers for use in the resale of a customer-oriented product and the selection of a company-wide fourth generation language and relational database.

Other accomplishments included staff development resulting in six separations/ terminations and 11 new hires; development and implementation of programs to tie together analyst work planning, performance reviews, and job descriptions; and development of policies, standards and procedures to establish systems to monitor, measure and insure the quality of MIS-oriented functions.

The above position involved responsibility for:

Ÿ     An HP/3000 Model 955 Data Center

Ÿ     Growing LANs (At the time with 72 nodes and moving toward Novell),

Ÿ     Unix Multi-user systems in 85 operating locations,

Ÿ     Over 375 PCs in the home office, at customer sites and assigned to field-based management, and

Ÿ     An IBM-Rolm CBXII used for voice, voice messaging and data switching.

  

      ARCO International Oil & Gas Co. (1986 to 1989)

MANAGER, INFORMATION SERVICES Managed a group of 16 direct and 45+ dotted line professionals who provided a full range of computing services to the Los Angeles headquarters staff and its subsidiaries world-wide.  Direct responsibility for annual budget of $2.3MM in capital and expense.  Held approval authority for another $5.4MM for subsidiaries and headquarters departments.

   Responsibilities:  Set direction and managed delivery of services to the headquarters staff including an IBM 4381 Data Center, systems development, maintenance, data telecommunications and a client support activity.  Service was also provided directly to smaller subsidiaries without local systems personnel.  In major subsidiaries, responsibilities included selecting, developing and consulting with systems and telecommunications personnel as well as working with key users and subsidiary management.  Application areas included financial, operations and technical-scientific.

   Accomplishments:  Within six months of joining ARCO International, I prepared a systems long-range plan which was developed with, reviewed and endorsed by division management. It established strategies focused on improving profitability and positioning the division for growth.  Other planning efforts led to annual management-supported project slates and budget packages calling for expanded international involvement, added staff and major productivity software.  Detailed support plans were also prepared for major subsidiaries, which were subsequently endorsed by subsidiary and division management.

A sample of projects completed during my tenure includes:

Ÿ    MAINFRAME DATA CENTER - Development of a proposal for establishing a data center in our London subsidiary with a project team of Los Angeles and London-based personnel.  Local and division management later approved the proposal. (Project cost $7.1MM with an estimated 2.7-year pay back.)

Ÿ    ACCOUNTING STANDARDIZED WORLDWIDE - Selection, customization and installation of a microcomputer-based oil and gas-oriented accounting package that was installed in 7 countries.  Its use leveraged an increasingly knowledgeable and mobile staff, allowed for an effective centralized support capability, facilitated standard accounting policies and procedures, and made possible numerous other residual benefits.  (Project Cost $250,000 with an estimated 2-year pay back.)

Ÿ    INTERNATIONAL NETWORK - Implementation of an international value-added network for data and messaging.  The system lowered the comparative cost of messaging by 20 to 40 percent and provided a file transfer capability that was a strategic link in the development of other automated applications.  Upon its completion, the company had, for the first time in its history, a facility for exchanging data almost instantly between any of its 12 international locations.  (Project cost $172,000 with an estimated 1.4-year pay back.)

   Other accomplishments included staff development resulting in one termination and several new hires; development and implementation of policies, standards and procedures; implementation of a formal user-training program and similar, user-oriented mainframe and microcomputer interfaces. Prompted by the planned re-location of the division in January 1989, detailed planning, specification of facility build-out requirements, and staff replacements and out placements were conducted.

   The above position involved responsibility for an IBM 4381 Data Center running MVS‑SP connected to ARCO's domestic SNA network.  Major development software included FORTRAN, Cobol, SAS, IFPS, ISPF, and Stratagem (financial modeling).  Computing resources included a similar data center in Jakarta Indonesia, over 400 IBM-compatible and Apple Macintosh PCs, IBM Token‑Ring local area network, use of General Electric's international value-added (packet-switched) network and planning and implementation of an IBM-Rolm VLCBX used for voice, voice messaging and data switching.

 

      ARCO Transportation Company (1982 TO 1986)

MANAGER, SYSTEMS AND PROGRAMMING within the Information Services and Technology Department. Responsible for a staff of up to 18 professionals in servicing two subsidiary companies and the headquarters staff.

Responsibilities:  Managed four groups who provided a number of systems-related services including planning, end‑user and staff training, development of an information center, maintenance of production systems, new hardware/software acquisition endorsement, personnel administration in typical business application areas as well as for pipeline and vessel management systems.

   Accomplishments:  One major contribution involved conception and management of our largest project ever to integrate a suite of financial management systems, a $2MM 12 man‑year project.  It involved both purchased and internally developed software and was completed in a highly political environment generated by numerous changes in project sponsorship and user project management.  Its success was demonstrated by its continued use for the next 5+ years.  Major component systems included: general ledger, accounts payable, inventory, project cost, fixed assets, payroll distribution, purchasing and ad-hoc reporting.

   Other accomplishments included staff development involving new hires, terminations and demotions totaling 13 separate actions in less than 12 months time and a 375% growth in staff; support for moving over two-thirds of our 600 person client base to a new facility; development of a virtual staffing approach that significantly involved end-users in systems development; training and operations management and initiation of client-supported priorities that facilitated both the assignment of user-project management, and support for project funding.

  

      ARCO Marine, Inc. (1981 TO 1982)

SYSTEMS/EVALUATION CONSULTANT in a staff position coordinating the information resources for ARCO's fleet of oil-carrying tank ships.

Accomplishments:  Coordinated and assisted in the management of major development projects. Evaluated progress in providing I/S services and maintaining the effectiveness of systems. Insured development of documentation for applications and established system development.

   Initiated one of ARCO's first end user-oriented training programs focusing on user-oriented HP/3000 and CPM-based microcomputer capabilities.  Responsibility for administering this program moved with me on my promotion to the above position.

For both of the above positions, experience involved an HP/3000-48 and an HP/3000-68 with applications in Cobol, Image and View, as well as several fourth generation language capabilities, i.e., Powerhouse, Insight, Rapid/3000. PC experience included Apple, Hewlett Packard and IBM equipment and peripherals.  Production systems and support also involved the use of three large scale IBM Data Centers and a Rolm VLCBX for voice, voice messaging and data switching.

 

      Comshare, Inc. (1979‑1981)

   CLIENT SERVICES MANAGER  (1980 to 1981) with the Los Angeles branch office managing four account representatives in servicing over 60 accounts throughout the Los Angeles - San Diego area.

Accomplishments: Managed over 25 new systems development projects and resulting installations. Provided service and support to a client base growing over 20% annually. Supported new name and account development marketing efforts and expanded client-training classes from 16 to over 40 classes per quarter.

   Contributed to the Los Angeles branch becoming one of only four "Over Goal" offices among 25 throughout the country in FY 1981.

   SENIOR ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE  (1979 to 1980) reporting to the Client Services Manager.

   Accomplishments:  Designed and installed budgeting and personnel systems; performed client training; composed documentation and provided general support for 12 to 15 clients generating up to $25,000 per month in revenue.

   Programmer/Analyst level experience with a Xerox Sigma 9 time sharing system and a number of specialized applications programs and languages.  The primary products involved were two dictionary-based relational database management capabilities, two financial modeling languages and a statistical analysis package.

 

      Ralph M. Parsons (1976 TO 1979)

   DATA ENGINEER in a staff position within the corporate Engineering Department.

   Accomplishments:  Worked with corporate level department and section mangers to develop and monitor reports for corporate-wide manpower allocation and analysis. Developed computer programs to support administrative reporting needs and general administrative responsibilities that included developing procedures, conducting training seminars and record retention.

   A unique contribution was conception and bottom-up selling of a simple system to define, capture and store relevant engineering project data for use in evaluating and estimating future projects. 

   Experience with a CDC Cyber 70 time sharing system and its versions of Basic and Fortran as well as an in‑house Fortran- based report generator.

 

      Bechtel Power Corporation (1974 to 1976)

   ADMINISTRATOR to groups of up to 80 professional engineers.

   Accomplishments:  Designed and implemented systems for correspondence drawing and action-item control. Reorganized administrative group by reducing staffing from 8 to 5 personnel. Executed general administrative responsibilities including procedure development, chairmanship of weekly staff meetings and management of a .5MM man-hour (approx. $30MM) budget.

 

EDUCATION

M.B.A.,         University of Southern California, 1978.
Major: Management Information Systems and Decision Analysis

B.A.,              California State University, Fullerton, 1974.
Major: Business Administration and Economics

PERSONAL

Born March 13, 1952. -  Married with two daughters - 6'1", 210 lbs.


PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT

Alumni Associations (Life member at the above universities)
Beta Gamma Sigma (National Business Honor Society)
Community College Instructor's Credential (Lifetime)
Data Processing Management Association
Occasional speaker at regional and national business, computer and client-sponsored conferences
Part-Time Adjunct & Practitioner Faculty member with several Sacramento-area Colleges and Universities (American River College, Chapman
   University, Golden Gate University &, University of Phoenix Online 1991 to 2006)
Sacramento Metro Chamber (Board Member 1998 to 2003, Comm. Chair, Vice-Chair Programs 2000, Chair Business 2001 event)
The Association for Strategic Planning (Former member LA Chapter President)
Toastmasters International (Member with ATM designation, former Club President)
World Future Society (Life member)
 

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

American River College Foundation (Board member 2004 to 2006)
Golden Empire Council -
Boy Scouts of America  (Board member 2014 to present)
   National Eagle Scout Association (Life member), Order of the Arrow (Vigil Life member), Scout Troop 885 (Scoutmaster 1973 to 1987),
    Various adult positions with the Golden Empire and Orange County Councils.

Gateway Christian Life Church / Skyline Christian Center (Member and Staff member 1999 to 2006)
Junior Achievement (Former Company Advisor)
Love INC - Sacramento (Board member and board  chair 2005 to 2013, an affiliate of Love INC)
Nature Conservancy (Life member)
The Salvation Army of Sacramento (Member Adult Rehabilitation Center Advisory Council 1992 to present,  Chair Long Range
   Planning Committee 1995, Chair Production Committee 2001-2002, Council Chairperson 2002 to 2004 and 2012 to 2015
)
United Way ARCO California Campaign Volunteer
Volunteer Center of Sacramento county (1997 to 2002 Volunteer, board member and board chair)
 

 

(Click here for a summary resume)

 


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