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CURRICULUM VITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________ Alex van der Plas Page 1 of 17 Alexander van der Plas With the results achieved throughout many years and the recommendations received from clients, Alex has proven to be one of the very best among Project Managers. Often Alex is selected for complex and high profile projects. From the feedback from clients its evident that Alex works well with other people, respecting them for the way they are, recognizing their strengths and creating the environment that allows them to perform. Taking on difficult challenges does not scare Alex. In his work he focuses on results, empowerment and continuous improvement. In 1996 Alex graduated from the ‘Technische Hogeschool’ in Rijswijk, The Netherlands. This is a polytechnic college at university level. He majored in Technical Computer Science. In the first few years on the job market, his special interest was computer networking. Thereafter his interest moved to software testing and quality engineering, at first in the role of department manager and later as test manager. Since 2006 Alex has focused on project management. In November 2002 Alex was selected as one of the key contributors at Ericsson. A key contributor is an employee who has proven to be of high value to the company and of strategic / future importance. In August 2008 Alex founded his own company, Freelance PM ApS, providing project management and test management consultancy services. See also: www.freelancepm.dk. Alex is certified Prince2 Practitioner. JOB / EDUCATION HISTORY * Freelance PM ApS Aug. 2008 - Founder of Freelance PM ApS and project management consultant. TietoEnator Denmark Feb. 2007 - Aug. 2008 Senior Project Manager Ericsson Telebit A/S, Denmark July 1999 - Jan. 2007 Held positions as System Supporter, Department Manager Test Manager, Team Leader and Project Manager. Logica, The Netherlands June 1997 - June 1999 Network Specialist SHAPE Tech. Centre, The Netherlands Jan. 1995 - Mar. 1996 Software Designer Technische Hogeschool, The Netherlands Sep. 1992 - Jan. 1996 Student * see page 3 and onwards for details

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Page 1: Alexander van der Plasfreelancepm.dk/docs/CV_Eng_Alex_van_der_Plas.pdf · • EuroStar conferene, Copenhagen 2005. • StarEast conference, Orlando 2004StarEast conference, Orlando

CURRICULUMVITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________

Alex van der Plas Page 1 of 17

Alexander van der Plas With the results achieved throughout many years and the recommendations received from clients, Alex has proven to be one of the very best among Project Managers. Often Alex is selected for complex and high profile projects. From the feedback from clients its evident that Alex works well with other people, respecting them for the way they are, recognizing their strengths and creating the environment that allows them to perform. Taking on difficult challenges does not scare Alex. In his work he focuses on results, empowerment and continuous improvement. In 1996 Alex graduated from the ‘Technische Hogeschool’ in Rijswijk, The Netherlands. This is a polytechnic college at university level. He majored in Technical Computer Science. In the first few years on the job market, his special interest was computer networking. Thereafter his interest moved to software testing and quality engineering, at first in the role of department manager and later as test manager. Since 2006 Alex has focused on project management. In November 2002 Alex was selected as one of the key contributors at Ericsson. A key contributor is an employee who has proven to be of high value to the company and of strategic / future importance. In August 2008 Alex founded his own company, Freelance PM ApS, providing project management and test management consultancy services. See also: www.freelancepm.dk. Alex is certified Prince2 Practitioner. JOB / EDUCATION HISTORY * Freelance PM ApS Aug. 2008 - … Founder of Freelance PM ApS

and project management consultant.

TietoEnator Denmark Feb. 2007 - Aug. 2008 Senior Project Manager Ericsson Telebit A/S, Denmark

July 1999 - Jan. 2007 Held positions as System Supporter, Department Manager Test Manager, Team Leader and Project Manager.

Logica, The Netherlands

June 1997 - June 1999 Network Specialist

SHAPE Tech. Centre, The Netherlands

Jan. 1995 - Mar. 1996 Software Designer

Technische Hogeschool, The Netherlands

Sep. 1992 - Jan. 1996 Student

* see page 3 and onwards for details

Page 2: Alexander van der Plasfreelancepm.dk/docs/CV_Eng_Alex_van_der_Plas.pdf · • EuroStar conferene, Copenhagen 2005. • StarEast conference, Orlando 2004StarEast conference, Orlando

CURRICULUMVITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________

Alex van der Plas Page 2 of 17

KNOWLEDGE AND TRAINING

Education • Prince2 Foundation

and Practitioner, 2012. • Technische

Hogeschool Rijswijk, Technical Computer Engineer, 1996.

• Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft Certified Professional, 1998.

• Implementing and Supporting Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0, 1999.

• Internetworking with Microsoft TCP/IP on Microsoft NT 4.0, 1999.

• Networking Essentials, 1999.

• EuroStar conferene, Copenhagen 2005.

• StarEast conference, Orlando 2004StarEast conference, Orlando 2001.

Languages • Dutch (native tongue) • English • Danish • German

Personal Information A.M. van der Plas Born 28-06-1972 Married 4 children Nationality: Dutch Address: Toftkjærvej 15, Stjær 8464 Galten Denmark Telephone: +45 28 55 05 64 E-mail: [email protected]

Presentations • Speaker on the subject

of test automation, TSP User Conference, Oct 2004, Älfsjö - Sweden.

HOBBIES When off from work, Alex spends most of his time with his family. A few other things Alex likes to do in my spare time are; Biking (MTB), spinning and reading English novels. Alex also likes travelling. In 1996-1997 Alex worked and travelled through Australia and also visited New Zealand and Indonesia during his one-year trip.

Page 3: Alexander van der Plasfreelancepm.dk/docs/CV_Eng_Alex_van_der_Plas.pdf · • EuroStar conferene, Copenhagen 2005. • StarEast conference, Orlando 2004StarEast conference, Orlando

CURRICULUMVITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________

Alex van der Plas Page 3 of 17

RESPONSIBILITIES AND RESULTS BACKGROUND INFO

Program Manager @ Ericsson Hyperscale Data-center System With focus on flow and removal of waste, Alex defines and establishes the HDS program in order to secure smooth operations throughout the organization. He is overall responsible for the HDS program which includes sub-programs for System Studies, HW Development, SW Development, Release & Support and Engineering Environment. Activities and priorities are aligned in the HDS program and thereby throughout all operations. The result is improved cooperation and more efficient planning which contributes to a higher productivity. Information and Communication is key, even more so in a large program such as this one. Information sharing is established through brief info meetings using short but effective reporting improving the visibility of activities going on in the different parts in the organization. A well-structured program website is created to enable easy access to all available information.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson Kista/SE, Nov 2017 – present With a project organization for Hyperscale Datacenter System (HDS) feature development established, the next natural step is to connect all other operational activities under one program. This will secure alignment of operations throughout the HDS organization and thereby improve the overall performance.

Project Manager @ Ericsson Hyperscale Datacenter System Alex is overall responsible for the HDS development project. To start with he created the project structure and steering with clear roles and responsibility. Interfaces are defined, securing effective communication channels between project team and stakeholders. Clear reporting results in good orientation where people always know the latest status and what is next. Each product release starts with a planning stage. It is a this stage where Alex puts most focus and effort. With a sound plan at the beginning, including commitment by the entire project team, the success outcome of the project is already within reach. Throughout the project, progress is carefully monitored. This allows Alex to proactively adjust when and where needed, keeping the project on track and avoiding stress and overtime at the end of the project. Each project is concluded with a lessons learned session. This way the experience and knowledge gained during the project is used to make the next project even better.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson Kista/SE, Feb 2017 – Nov 2017 Hyperscale Datacenter System (HDS) development is done by 11 SW development teams, around 20 HW engineers, a small number of external suppliers. The project team is spread over 5 countries in Europe. With this project size combined with the complexity of developing leading edge technology, a carefully structured project organization and sound planning is vital.

Feedback from colleagues, received in writing: 03/04/´18 Operational Product Owner: "It's not often you work with someone who is always organized, always calm and always having detailed overview about all project corners. I work with Alex for three years on HDS project and I appreciate that he as project manager was ensuring effective communication across projects as well as clear and realistic planning of product releases. It results in continuous deliveries and minimizing unnecessary stress. Alex is a professional you can trust."

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CURRICULUMVITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________

Alex van der Plas Page 4 of 17

Release Manager @ Ericsson Hyperscale Datacenter System To be able to release at any time with clear content and no degradation of legacy functionality, this is Alex’ responsibility. In order to achieve this in an efficient way, he has defined a lean delivery process together with clear ownership for each product within HDS. The delivery process tracks all changes and allows frequent internal baseline for verification with minimal manual administration. Together with a well organized network of product owners, the complexity of each release is managed by Alex in a controlled manner. In addition, Alex established cooperation with the customer representatives. Creating a customer map provided a good overview of the configuration and movements at customer sites all over the globe. He used this information to plan the right content at the best possible release date with focus on meeting the customer expectations and needs.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson Kista/SE, Jan 2016 – Feb 2017 With the growing number of products the Hyperscale Data-center System (HDS) consists of and the aggressive release cycle of 6 weeks, Release Management is a challenging task. Main focus of release management is the Continuous Integration (CI) as an enabler for Continuous Delivery (CD).

Feedback from colleagues, received in writing: 24/03/’17 Program Manager: “Alex has organized the design delivers in structured way and kept control of the release candidates in complex distributed large program as HDS. He has Also been driving the test strategies and implementation of such, as well as interface for application customer NFVI project. All of this in a well-structured way and kept calm and to the facts even during hectic turbulent situations.”

Test Architect @ Ericsson Hyperscale Datacenter System Within the Continuous Integration and Verification (CI&V) program, the main responsibility on Alex is to set the overall Test Strategy for the HDS program and to secure the end-to-end implementation. In addition, he is also responsible for Defect Handling, supports the CI&V program in the daily operations and coaches program members in delivery of high quality products.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson Kista/SE, May 2015 – Dec 2015 With the Hyperscale Datacenter System (HDS) program, Ericsson has turned its focus to the IT market. The HDS program will deliver an in-house developed datacenter that will challenge today’s world leading server manufactures like HP and Dell. The program is rewarded by the industry for its proven innovation. This recognition shows that the planned feature set and strategy is right on target. Now the challenge for the program is to deliver and meet the customer expectations.

Feedback from colleagues, received in writing: 30/12/'15 Sponsor: "Very skilled leader with good knowledge about SW development and I&V. He is a "doer" and drives activities until they are solved. Sometimes this can be very challenging for a new organisation to handle. I believe that Alex has contributed a lot and help us in the Core Team to understand were we are and were we are heading with quality"

Page 5: Alexander van der Plasfreelancepm.dk/docs/CV_Eng_Alex_van_der_Plas.pdf · • EuroStar conferene, Copenhagen 2005. • StarEast conference, Orlando 2004StarEast conference, Orlando

CURRICULUMVITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________

Alex van der Plas Page 5 of 17

Continuous Integration & Verification Program Manager @ Ericsson Cloud System. The CEE15B program had only just started when Alex joined as overall responsible for Continuous Integration & Verification (CI&V). Making use of the framework developed by the previous program, a complete Continuous Integration Cycle was established, including automated Build, Deployment and Test during the 2nd half of 2014. In parallel, the System Verification Plan was created and Verification Studies initiated. At the end of 2015, the test execution commenced. Alex established an efficient organization with strong focus on improving product quality. Alex’s strong points are his ability to analyze the situation and take pro-active measures in the areas that need attention. The CI&V program is perceived as highly predictable in their deliveries, supportive to the development teams and constructive in their feedback on product quality. Alex as program manager for CI&V is also seen as the overall program manager’s right hand due to his excellent visualization of verification status and release planning.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson Kista/SE, Sept 2014 – May 2015 Cloud Execution Environment 15B (CEE15B) is the second release in infrastructure environment for cloud-compute, networking and storage meeting the telco grade requirements for wider implementations of Network Functions Virtualization. The key value of CEE15B release are High performance High availability, end-2-end Security (for infrastructure, service provider and end user) and Rapid deployment of applications, which are not available from Open source platforms.

Feedback from colleagues, received in writing: 27/04/'15 System Integration Lead: ‘After Alex has come, I&V has become a high performance unit. Certainly Alex has been one of the key contributors to the 15B and well supported/supporting the technical masters. Thus clearly demonstrating very professional and trustable environment to work. Great work Alex, you have set high standards for project management.’ Customer System Integration PM @ Ericsson RECA Operations. In this complex System Integration project, Alex has the overall responsibility for the project execution. The solution includes IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem), ECE (Ericsson Composition Engine), OSS (Operations Support System) and TSS (Telephony Softswitch Solution). As Customer Project Manager, Alex reports to internal and external stakeholders. At the time of writing, most parts are completed and delivered. The main delivery, which included live migration, has also been delivered. After acceptance testing and thorough planning of the migration procedures together with the customer, the live migration went very smoothly without any reported incidents by end users. This success reached by excellent teamwork and cooperation has exceeded the customer's expectation.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson Kista/SE, Oct 2012 - Jun 2014 One of the most successful Telecommunication company in Sweden is modernizing her network. This is a challenging high tech System Integration project. It is rated as one of the more complex projects, not least due to the high amount of HW installation involved at 10 different sites and the live migration of user data.

Page 6: Alexander van der Plasfreelancepm.dk/docs/CV_Eng_Alex_van_der_Plas.pdf · • EuroStar conferene, Copenhagen 2005. • StarEast conference, Orlando 2004StarEast conference, Orlando

CURRICULUMVITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________

Alex van der Plas Page 6 of 17

Feedback from colleagues, received in writing: 07/12/'13 Key Account Manager: ‘Really great work guys, I am really proud and happy with the quality and precision you and the team are delivering, you are truly helping us turn around customer's view of our service delivery capabilities.’ 21/02/'14 Line Manager: ‘I think that it has been an excellent experience getting to know you and seeing you securing a professional delivery of services from Ericsson. You do a really great job planning, following up and executing the planned tasks within your projects with tough goals. You are achieving great results through and with the people in your project team. Your ability to meet the customer needs is impressive.’

Customer Transition PM @ Ericsson RECA Operations. In a very turbulent project with many unforeseen challenges, Alex was overall project manager responsible for the transition. Together with a talented crew, he has transferred the HLD group over from one of Sweden’s leading Telecom operators to Ericsson. Alex also performed baselining of performance, identified opportunities for cost reductions and made preparations of the next phase, i.e. the Transformation Project.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson Kista/SE, Aug 2012 - Oct 2012 For one of its customers in the Nordics, Ericsson will be managing the Planning and Design activities for fixed and mobile networks. As CPM Alex was responsible for managing the Transition Project. Main objective of the project is a smooth transition of resources and High Level Design responsibilities.

Feedback from colleagues, received in writing: Feedback: 21/12/'12 Team Leader: ‘I believe you have done a great job since you came in. Especially your way of approaching the project when it was established was good. The kick-off we had was very good and spot on. You have showed professionalism and perseverance. I also think the reporting has been clear and on a good level.’ 26/12/'12 Team Leader: ‘Presentation skills – structure, ways of presenting – example: joint start-up meeting: clear, knowledgeable, entertaining, convincing. Project management skills – excellent – you know where you want to go and what to do. Communication skills – excellent as well, which shows both in your oral and written presentations. “Style” – not to emotional but very task-oriented.’

Page 7: Alexander van der Plasfreelancepm.dk/docs/CV_Eng_Alex_van_der_Plas.pdf · • EuroStar conferene, Copenhagen 2005. • StarEast conference, Orlando 2004StarEast conference, Orlando

CURRICULUMVITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________

Alex van der Plas Page 7 of 17

Coach and Agile in the Large @ MSS Program. Soon after getting familiar with the MSS Program, Alex identified a number of improvement areas. In close coordination with the client, additional critical tasks were added to his assignment, i.e. team building, re-writing the project specification, strengthening the project management team and implementing release criteria. To secure these tasks were preconditions for the implementation of Agile in the large. Team building was essential to improve the cooperation within the management team and thereby making it more effective. Rewriting the project specification secured a clear mission and goals for the program to focus on. Strengthening the project management team with technical competence allows the Program Manager to put more attention on the total program rather than on details. With the implementation of the release criteria, a new ambition level was set for the program where all the members can be proud of what they deliver to the customer. In co-operation with one of the product owners, Alex created an implementation plan for Agile in the large. Together with the main program manager, Alex also created the implementation plan for capability management. Both have been approved by the Program management and the Line organization.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson Kista/SE, Sept 2011 - Dec 2011 Within the RBS organization, the MSS program is to develop multi-standard software for the RANs. The MSS project management team has a need for assistance from a senior project manager in order to define new ways-of-working. As more Scrum teams are added to the program, there is an increasing need for the program management team to adapt to the agile WoW, i.e. Agile in the large. In addition, improvement of the capability management is required. The assignment is for 3 months. Even though this is his first assignment for Development Unit Radio, Alex did not need more than the first week to get to know the people, organization, products and ways-of-working.

Feedback from colleagues, received in writing: 13/01/’12 Assignment owner: ‘Alex proved to have excellent Project Managers skill. He has a structured way of working, very good communication skills and an ability to sort out and drive a complicated task to the end. He worked very effectively with his assigned task and completed it well over my expectations. ’ 16/12/’11 Total Program Manager: ‘I think that you really bought your wide experience and software development knowledge into play in your time here. It was quiet clear to see your influence on the MSS project in bringing in new ways of working and a level of control and alignment within MSS. The MSS project is I think, with your contribution, a leader among the sectors when it comes to control and follow up.’ 15/12/’11 Product Owner: ‘I think the great work you performed in a short timeframe will set a footprint that will last for years.’ 13/12/’11 Program Manager: ‘Alex has contributed to the MSS program in a very good way during his 3 months assignment. He is very driven end experienced and has taken on his tasks in an excellent way. Alex also looked outside his main tasks and proposed way forward. I have also been inspired of his way of driving the appointed tasks. I would like to work with him again.’

Page 8: Alexander van der Plasfreelancepm.dk/docs/CV_Eng_Alex_van_der_Plas.pdf · • EuroStar conferene, Copenhagen 2005. • StarEast conference, Orlando 2004StarEast conference, Orlando

CURRICULUMVITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________

Alex van der Plas Page 8 of 17

RESPONSIBILITIES AND RESULTS BACKGROUND INFO

International R&D Task Force leader, Japan disaster TF. As leader of an international task force, Alex defined the objectives and established the TF organization within the week following the earthquake. The TF included 9 teams covering 7 product domains in 4 different countries. Already in the beginning of the 2nd week, initial impact analysis, from component to board to system, was completed and mitigation actions initiated. The challenge during this phase was clearly to manage the information flow. A lot of information was coming from the disaster area. In many cases this was followed by frequent updates. Much effort was spend to get the right information to the right people so that they could take appropriate actions and decisions. Again, communication is the key to success. The management attention was intense during the first weeks as an impact on production could result in significant economical consequences for Ericsson. Under this high pressure, the TF remained focused and produced clear status and decision material. After the 2nd week, the TF got into a more pro-active and planning mode. Re-design of hardware and re-packaging was initiated. Initially running multiple mitigation tracks, but slowly converging to the most feasible solutions. With management gaining confidence that the situation was under control, the TF could operate under less stressed conditions. 10 weeks after the earthquake, the supply situation had recovered and mitigation actions were coming to a conclusion. The most important objective was secured; no impact on the production of Ericsson products within the Core, IMS and BSC products.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson TN/SE, Mar 2011 - May 2011 On March 12th, an earthquake followed by a tsunami struck Japan. A number of electrical component suppliers were directly hit by this disaster or indirectly due to evacuations or lack of power. A task force was established at Ericsson to avoid the interruption in the supply chain to cause impact on product production. Due to the high importance and need for quick response, Alex was selected for the task and appointed to lead one of the larger task forces at Ericsson. Responsibility covering Core products, IMS and BSC.

Feedback from colleagues, received in writing: 18/05/’11 Team Leader: ‘My impression is that you handle your task with things well under control and in a positive and pragmatic way. You also help out and mediate where necessary. I also feel that you put the right pressure whenever needed.’ 17/05/’11 Team Leader: ‘Hi Alex, from my point of view you have done a really good job driving this complicated task.:

• A fast start with stakeholders from all parts of the organization. • Short, regular and efficient meetings, you cut conversions when necessary and take these

discussions offline. • You managed to formulate the questions form the task force in an understandable way and got

quick answer from upper management. • Good and clear progress reports. • You have a way to push things forward quickly without being rude, a rare talent.’

Page 9: Alexander van der Plasfreelancepm.dk/docs/CV_Eng_Alex_van_der_Plas.pdf · • EuroStar conferene, Copenhagen 2005. • StarEast conference, Orlando 2004StarEast conference, Orlando

CURRICULUMVITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________

Alex van der Plas Page 9 of 17

RESPONSIBILITIES AND RESULTS BACKGROUND INFO

Project Auditor, eVIP 1.0 Common Component Working closely and transparently with the eVIP Project Manager, Alex conducted the project audit. With a good understanding of the roles and responsibilities of team members and stakeholders, the initial focus of the audit is to establish a good view on the project and product current status. The second step is to create a solid and complete time plan for the remaining part of the development phase in order to reach the project objectives with high confidence. After two weeks Alex presented more than 20 significant improvement items and already initiated the implementation of some of them. Shortly after presenting the results of the audit, Alex was transferred to a higher prioritized project for the same client. For this reason Alex unfortunately could not conclude the second step of creating a solid time plan.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson TN/SE, Mar 2011 - Mar 2011 The first version of the eVIP Common Component is designed to be the future IP load balancer for Ericsson products. The eVIP project is partly outsourced and is executed according to Agile methodology. A project audit was ordered since the project got behind schedule even though the scope was reduced, lead time extended and resources were added.

Feedback from colleagues, received in writing: 24/03/’11 Line Mng: ‘My impression is that you made a thorough and objective investigation of the project. You did serious interview with various people to get a good view of the status. The project manager was treated with respect and the feedback was relevant and professionally presented.’ 25/01/’11 PM: ‘- Good approach in the initial phase (no smart guy) - Describing purpose and approach - Professional, checks expectations and sorts out the ground rules - Frank and honest - Thorough analysis, interviewing a lot of people around and in the project - Interesting discussions, you really made me think about why I do what I do - No surprises. You send me the precopies of your presentation, which gave me a chance to comment’

Page 10: Alexander van der Plasfreelancepm.dk/docs/CV_Eng_Alex_van_der_Plas.pdf · • EuroStar conferene, Copenhagen 2005. • StarEast conference, Orlando 2004StarEast conference, Orlando

CURRICULUMVITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________

Alex van der Plas Page 10 of 17

RESPONSIBILITIES AND RESULTS BACKGROUND INFO

Senior Project Manager, AUP/RP Transfer and Outsourcing At the receiving side, the transfer/outsourcing project contained three teams, each responsible for their own product area. Some of the teams were located at different geographical locations. At the sender side, the program to be transferred counted well over one hundred people. Alex’s responsibility was the overall management and co-ordination of the total project. The objective being a complete competence transfer for all product areas and to secure the right dimensioning of the receiving organization. In addition, the project was to be executed according to Ericsson values; Professionalism, Respect and Perseverance. All objectives were met in 3 months time. During the transfer, ongoing operations including maintenance and customer support were unaffected. Both the sender and receiving organisation were pleased with the respect and compassion the transfer was executed. Due to the good results, which exceeded expectations, the project was completed and closed down 1 month prior to schedule. The challenges managed in this project were the uncertain resource availability and individual emotions at the sender side and at the same time the geographical distance and cultural differences between the receiving sites.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson TN/SE, Sept 2010 - Feb 2011 As a result of a cost/site reduction program, the Boulder office was closed. The AUP/RP program was the main operation at this site. AUP and RP are sub-systems of the AXE platform. A number of people in the AXE organization have recommended Alex as the best candidate for this critical task. With an aggressive time plan to transfer as much knowledge as possible in a short time, the goal set was to transfer all activities within 3 months. The receiving sites are in Sweden, China, Hungary, India and Australia. The latter two are non-Ericsson sites.

Spontaneous feedback from colleagues received in writting: 25/01/’11 Line Mng: ‘Great job!! A very well performed transfer - I have not in my days seen such a clean TG4 for a transfer project.’ 25/02/’11 Product Mng: ‘The transfer has been a success and can serve as best practice and has been above expectations. So from AXE PdM a big thanks to you and your Team for all the effort and time you have put into this task.’ 25/02/’11 Line Mng: ’Congratulations on your TG5 and a job very well done!! Even though this was what I expected when I saw that you were appointed as a PM for the transfer project - anyway Great Job and let's hope that we get the opportunity to work together again.’ 25/02/’11 PM: ‘Thank you for leading this project so professionally and giving me free hands to run my subproject but giving me support whenever I needed.’ 23/02/’11 Tech Lead: ‘I hope to have opportunity to work with you in the future so I can learn from you, you are truly amazing.’

Page 11: Alexander van der Plasfreelancepm.dk/docs/CV_Eng_Alex_van_der_Plas.pdf · • EuroStar conferene, Copenhagen 2005. • StarEast conference, Orlando 2004StarEast conference, Orlando

CURRICULUMVITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________

Alex van der Plas Page 11 of 17

RESPONSIBILITIES AND RESULTS BACKGROUND INFO

Senior Project Manager, AXE Maintenance With teams ranging from design maintenance to customer support, Alex was responsible for the entire AXE maintenance program. The complexity of this role was the vast amount of interfaces with customers/suppliers, the budget constraints and the large product portfolio. Within one year Alex implemented efficiency programs in the area of customer escalation handling, reduction of TR handling cost, delivery precision / lead time, stinker analysis, system improvements and reduction of TR backlog. One of the key elements enforced in the program was the mindset of being pro-active. The customer perception and satisfactions was improved significantly. This was achieved by bringing the maintenance organisation closer to the customer and at the same time making the program more accessible and responsive.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson Älvsjö/SE, Oct 2009 - Sep 2010 The AXE Maintenance program has a vast product portfolio with customers all over the world. The team members are located on 4 different continents, the majority in low cost countries. With the continuous focus on cost reduction, the objective was to optimize our operations but still secure the product quality. The program covered design maintenance, customer support and hardware supply.

Senior Project Manager, CP09a During the CP09a project it was vital to maintain absolute focus due to the time constraints. Teamwork was also important, and at the same time one of the challenges in this project. With clear communication and strict but fair management, Alex managed the project despite the different geographical locations of the teams and differences in culture and ways of working. Main obstacles that were resolved during this project ranged from delayed hardware deliveries to late incoming change requests. Half a year after the initial planning was completed, the product was released in time for customer acceptance.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson Älvsjö/SE, Feb 2009 - Sep 2009 Being responsible for the entire development phase, Alex took the lead for the CP part of an AXE telephone exchange release. The project consisted of around 50 people and was located on 4 different continents. Time schedule was extremely tight from the start, putting a lot of pressure on most of the team members.

Senior Project Manager, APZ 212 60 The obvious task at hand was to get the project back on track. All required functionality was delivered but with an unacceptable quality level and test execution behind schedule. Using his network within Ericsson and his communication skills, Alex found the right people to support the project to address the quality issues. Supporting the test lead with his background in Test Management, test execution gained focus and speed. Overall project planning and reporting was much improved. When handing back the project in the middle of January, the project was back on track and ended up delivering on time mid February.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson Älvsjö/SE, Dec 2008 - Jan 2009 A few months before release date the PM of IT development project in Boulder/USA was going on leave for 2 months. The project was off track, and reaching the deadline on time seemed impossible. Alex was chosen to take the lead in this project.

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CURRICULUMVITAE ______________________________________________________________________________________

Alex van der Plas Page 12 of 17

Senior Project Manager, BC The project Alex entered was planning from day to day and quality levels were unclear. After a quality assessment, a new project completion date was set to mitigate the quality risks. At this stage, the quality risks were defined. Product management accepted the risks and choose to deploy the product. Part of the release decision was a continuation plan for fault correction deliveries, now introduced in the project time plan to further improve quality levels. After further improving processes and downsizing, the project was handed over to the maintenance organization.

Freelance PM consultant at Ericsson Älvsjö/SE, Aug 2008 - Nov 2008 Starting his own company, Alex received his first assignment on familiar territory. Ericsson was in need of a senior project manager to conclude the BC project. Within this project, Alex took the lead for the largest design group of roughly 100 people, divided over 3 continents. There where only weeks before the planned project completion date.

Senior Project Manager, IPonCP Coming into this project, the motivation and confidence was low. The previous project manager was not in control, with the result that many outside the project were steering the project in different directions. Taking the lead in this project, Alex brought control back to the project. Setting clear direction and communication channels, the project management team got back in the drivers seat, with increasing confidence and motivation. The execution phase of the project was completed according to agreed time plan and limitations.

TietoEnator consultant at Ericsson Älvsjö/SE, Apr 2008 - July 2008 The objective of the IPonCP project is to integrate IP technology into the AXE telephone exchange. Many project managers on this project have been replaced, mostly because the could not handle the stress. Roughly 50 people were working in the IPonCP project.

Senior Project Manager, AXE CP 07A 5 Months before the conclusion of the CP07A project, the APZ 212 55 platform had some fundamental problems. Project status was unclear and chances of making the 3 final deliveries on time with required quality levels were slim. With a half year assignment, Alex took over the PM role. By re-structuring the project, implementing a clear time plan and focus Alex got the project back on track together with very skilled project members. Within this assignment, the deliveries were made on time, with acceptable quality levels.

TietoEnator consultant at Ericsson Älvsjö/SE, Sept 2007 - Feb 2008 The AXE telephone exchange is a product line of circuit switched digital telephone exchanges manufactured by Ericsson. CP 07A was a project within AXE 07A. Around 200 people were participating in the CP07A project on 3 different continents.

Project Manager, IS1.0 EXB&L3X Taking over the EXB&L3X project in the final stage, EXB had already been released but L3X had major quality issues. With a team of about 15 people, a sub-contractor in India and the total project management in Sweden, Alex made significant improvement to the project and product. Committed time plans and budgets were kept. Technical and complex problems were addressed. Test coverage and test automation secured. Co-operation with sub-contractor improved significantly. During this assignment, Alex was also stand-in Overall Project Manager for the entire IS1.0 project on several occasions.

Ericsson , Oct 2006 – Aug 2007 IS, Integrated Site, is a cost effective and compact Telecom solution. It is able to house multiple Telecom products developed by Ericsson, allowing simplified O&M and is highly scalable. EXB and L3X are respectively L2 and L3 switch blades. The provide Ethernet connectivity. L3X also is a low cost router with limited router functionality but with high performance.

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Project Manager, TSP5.2 CWOS Since December ’06, Alex was project manager for the TSP5.2 CWOS project which includes approximately 50 people. The project started in June ’05 and set PRA in April ’06. The main objectives until PRA were to improve system stability, reduce TR backlog and to increase the Disk Database capacity. Out of the 18 work packages, 17 were delivered on time and eventually PRA was set on CWOS subsystem as planned on the 5th of April. The TR backlog was reduced by 100 TR’s, Disk Database delivered 2 weeks before planned delivery date and system robustness improved significantly. PRA on TSP5.2 total product was set one day early on the 20th of April with all functionality included and a budget overrun of less then 3%. From April until June, Alex’s responsibility was to deliver 2 MCP’s and transfer the TSP5.2 CWOS project to the maintenance organisation in Hungary.

Ericsson Alvsjö/SE, Jan 2006 - June 2006 Within the Telecom Server Platform (TSP), Clusterware/OS (CWOS) is the largest subsystem. TSP5.2 CWOS was also biggest contributor to the TSP5.2 project. TSP5.2 project started in June ’05. In December ’05 the TSP5.2 CWOS project manager’s contract was terminated. Alex was sent out on a short term assignment from Ericsson Denmark to take over the project manager responsibilities.

Team Leader, IP Consolidation / TSP5.2 Working with a group of 10 people, Alex was the team leader for the IP Consolidation WP within the TSP5.2 project. His responsibility was to create the time plan in cooperation with the team members, manage all the activities within the work package and secure that we meet the delivery date with the right content/quality. The work package was delivered on time. All required functionality and documentation was included. For this team, Alex introduced the Lichtenberg approach to time estimate the work.

Ericsson, June 2005 - Dec 2005 One of the work packages within the TSP5.2 project was IP Consolidation. It’s objective was to introduce new IPv4 and OSPF features but also to raise the quality level of the documentation.

Team Leader, VIP / TSP5.1 Delivering IP functionality to TSP 5.1, the VIP & Ethernet work package was one of the bigger work packages. Alex was team leader for 10 to 15 people (varied according to work load) and responsible for planning, coaching and supporting the team. Joining the work package in the middle of execution, Alex managed to put the team back on track and deliver on time. Both VIP documentation and overall quality was improved.

Ericsson Alvsjö/SE, Feb 2005 - May 2005 In the TSP 5.1 project, work packages are introduced. Meaning that the project is divided in smaller packaged with a well defined set of requirements and its own team and team leader.

Test Manager, TripleT With a team of 4, our objective is to use existing test cases where possible and design new ones if needed for the TSP project. Because of the large amount of test cases, the test execution and reporting process has been fully automated. Within the first half-year the number of test cases was over 1200. Alex’s responsibilities were test management, planning, coaching and sponsor relations. He introduced one-to-one meetings to improve the coaching of his team members.

Ericsson Denmark, May 2003 - Feb 2005 TripleT, which stands for TSP Test Team, is about developing and executing automated test suites for the TSP (Telephony Server Platform). The IP functionality of this server platform needed to be verified using automated testing.

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Test Manager, IP Host project Joining the project in the middle of the execution phase, Alex’s task was to improve the function tests done within the project and automate them. Within a few months all required function tests were described, 40 test cases were automated and test execution time reduced to half a day. The test reporting was done via the project web page to reduce time spend on documentation. Since the improvement program was on track and not much co-ordination was necessary, Alex was assigned to a new project.

Ericsson Denmark, January 2003 - April 2003 The purpose of the IP Host project is to adapt the TIP stack to serve as the IP stack in the CPP platform. Thereby it is to provide application programs on a Cello 4 node access to an IPv4 network.

Test Manager, IP on Cello 4 project At the start of this project, Alex designed a test strategy that also included the different test activities in the design stages. Besides the project goals of verifying the requirements, high priority was given to the automation of test cases. Leading a team of 8 test engineers, Alex was responsible for function / system test and the automation of the regression tests. During the project, a lot of focus was directed towards stability. This resulted in a more stable system. Around 100 test cases were automated and used for regression testing. During this project Alex introduced the ‘exploratory testing in pairs’ concept as a method to share knowledge, explore new areas, improve team spirit and gain new experiences.

Ericsson Denmark, June 2002 - December 2002 The objective of the IP on Cello 4 project was to make IP an integrated part of the CPP Platform release 4 by integration of SWIPE. The IP on Cello 4 project was cancelled prior to delivery due to problems in the CPP platform itself. To reduce platform complexity and maintenance it was decided not to integrate SWIPE into the CPP. Overall project management as most of the development was done in Sweden.

Test Manager, TripleR project Joining the project in its 2nd increment, Alex was responsible as test manager for the improvement of the test strategy and verification of the RXI820 router- and QoS functionality. The function tests were performed by 4 test engineers. For the 3rd increment of the project, Alex received responsibility for the verification of the entire product. This time, the tests were performed by more than 10 test engineers. Around 20 test area’s were covered with a total of 680 test cases. The test execution was concluded according to plan. As test manager Alex was also responsible for trouble report handling. Using untraditional ways, Alex has changed the negative attitude towards trouble reports into a positive and productive use of it. During this test process, Alex introduced new test tools e.g. metrics and test coverage.

Ericsson Denmark, February 2001 - May 2002 The objective of the TripleR project was to develop the RealTime Router release 1 and 2 (RXI820 R1 and R2). The RealTime Router has features like dual IPv4/IPv6 protocol stack with full routing functionality, header compression and Quality of Service and was based on the CPP platform. 2 sites in Sweden and 1 in Denmark executed the project.

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Test and Documentation Department Manager In a rapidly growing company (from 45 to 140 employees in less then 2 years) Alex received the responsibility of starting up a Test and Documentation department. Starting only with 3 people in the department Alex build up a department with 10 test engineers, 3 technical writers and 2 web designers. Also in this period a test process was defined and applied to projects, document process implemented and the company web site redesigned. As department manager Alex was also a member of the Ericsson Telebit management team. After carrying both department manager and test manager responsibilities during several months Alex decided it was time to focus more on test management and therefore concluded his responsibilities as department manager.

Ericsson Denmark, April 2000 - May 2001 Ericsson Telebit Communications was growing fast in 1999 and 2000. There was a need to divide the company into several departments and at the same time improve the focus on test and documentation.

System Supporter When Alex started at Ericsson Telebit, his main focus was on the QTPv6 project (Quantum Test Program – IPv6). Within this project an IPv6 network was being deployed on a European scale. Using this network, research on IPv6 was conducted by 15 organisations around Europe. Shortly after Alex joined, he became project leader of QTPv6. He was also part of the Customer Support group. On his own initiative, he has written documentation and presentations for a customer training course. About once a month he also lead training. For the system tests he documented test descriptions and set up a problem report system to improve the quality of the hardware and software products. Other responsibilities he carried were on-site support, demonstrations and interoperability tests. These tasks also required a lot of travelling around the world.

Ericsson Denmark, June 1999 - March 2000 Ericsson Telebit Communications A/S is one of the 3 Ericsson sites in Denmark, and develops and markets its own networking products whit the main focus on multi-protocol routers. With only 2 customers in Denmark, the majority is located around the world. The Customer Support group, which consists of 10 people, is responsible for internal and external support, training, demonstrations, system test and documentation.

Network Specialist / Upgrading Backbone As a consultant from Logica Alex was assigned to Rabofacet. Rabofacet is part of the Rabobank, which is one of the biggest banks in the Netherlands. Leading a team of 4 people, Alex was responsible for upgrading the central routers on the backbone of Rabobank’s nation-wide computer network. Besides the upgrade of software, the configurations of the routers were changed to improve the efficiency of the backbone. Other tasks within this project were to update the documentation on the design of the backbone, produce test-specifications, set up a test environment and certify the new software and configuration.

Rabofacet / Logica, The Netherlands, 1999 The backbone of the nation-wide computer network of the Rabobank has changed several times since the first implementation. Documentation of the design and configuration of the backbone is out of date. There is also an error in the design, which needs to be corrected. The software on the central routers also needs to be upgraded to be able to support new features.

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Network Specialist / Extending Computer Network In a one-man project, Alex designed and implemented a new LAN segment. This segment is to be connected to Rabobank’s nation-wide computer network, in order to enable the technical support centre to install Windows NT servers. Because an external company provides the technical support, security is an important issue. Among other security features, IP filtering was implemented to restrict access to resources from the technical support site. The network design was approved by the security department of Rabobank and is now in operation.

Rabofacet / Logica, The Netherlands, 1999 The technical support centre is going to install Windows NT servers and place one on the LAN in each bank of the Rabobank. The installation of these servers is to be carried out at the technical centre. During the installation-procedure of a server for a particular bank, the server needs to connect to the PDC on the LAN of this bank. Connectivity between the banks and the technical centre is therefore required.

Network Specialist / Upgrade routers of Rabonet Alex worked within a team of three people and our main objective was to update the software and configuration of approximately 1600 3Com routers, located throughout Holland, working from a central location. In order to achieve this we tested new router software and a new configuration. We also developed a management system that is capable of distributing the router software and activating it. The routers can also be controlled using the management system. Within five weeks, the new software was distributed, activated and verified on all 1600 routers. Testing the router software, designing distribution and activation processes, maintaining contacts with staff from 3Com and supporting other team members were among his responsibilities.

Rabofacet / Logica, The Netherlands, 1997-1998 The Dutch Rabobank consists of approximately 1000 banks. A nation-wide computer network connects all these banks. Traffic within the corporate network is routed using 3Com routers and brouters. One of the responsibilities of Rabofacet is to control, update and maintain the 3Com routers and brouters. New software had to be installed on the routers to fix a bug and to make the new features, provided by the latest software release, available.

Software Designer / User interface for control room For one of the control rooms of STC Alex developed a graphic user interface. All the necessary information to control a ground station satellite is gathered by this application and presented in a single screen. The same application can also be used to manage several devices that are needed to control the information flow to and from the satellite. The application was developed in LabView for Windows, which is an object oriented programming language. During this project Alex gained experience in several communication protocols and in programming in a Windows environment.

SHAPE Technical Centre, The Netherlands, 1996 SHAPE Technical Centre (STC) is a technical division of SHAPE, which is a military branch of NATO. In one of the control rooms of STC the connection between ground station and satellite is monitored and controlled. A graphical user interface was developed using LabView for Windows in order to present important information from different devices on a single screen and to provide user-friendly control of the equipment.

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Software Designer / ATM via satellite Alex was part of a small research team looking at ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode). Alex was responsible for the development of a software application that could analyse the efficiency of ATM over a satellite link. This application was developed in C and was able to generate different information flows, e.g. data, voice and video traffic, simultaneously. Each type of traffic has its own characteristics. The result, calculated by this application, was used in the final report. During this project Alex gained more experience on UNIX and learned about ATM.

SHAPE Technical Centre, The Netherlands, 1995 At STC, research has been done to analyse the efficiency of ATM over a satellite link. An application which can generate different independent information flows and measure the results was developed in order to analyse the behaviour of ATM.

Software Designer / Projection of satellite contours In a Windows environment, Alex developed an application that can project the elevation and gain contours of a satellite on a world map. The application is developed using MapBasic for Windows and MapInfo for Windows. By doing this project Alex learned to program in MapBasic, which is similar to Basic, and also learned about geostationary satellites.

SHAPE Technical Centre, The Netherlands, 1995 NATO has several geostationary satellites. To be able to determine if a certain satellite link between two different locations on earth can be established, a map is used which shows the gain contours of a specific satellite channel.