Short term projects:
Introducing intranet/internet and other associated systems within the Franciscan community providing policy for security and DR. Successfully project managed the re-write of the website and it\'s launch as well as the hosting agreements/web services with third party suppliers (www.franciscans.org.uk). Through the introduction of SEO management and website re-design, this has led to a 400% increase in website traffic and an improvement to number 1 position (from twelfth), within key internet search engine results

The Society of Saint Francis World Wide community - Programme management of web portal system design of portal system and then writing of site, via third party, tender management of process, SLA writing and monitoring. Successful launch of portal system (on time and under budget), which had been installed for three years previously

Project Management in re-writing policy and procedure and checking delivery of main contractor\'s (BT retail) programme to a \'high street\' charity for WAN and LAN environments \' 110 sites (including head office and retail shops in UK), with 40,000 supported consumer user-base. This has lead to a 15% saving in operating the retail shops\' connectivity and allowed greater use of remote working, leading to a further 3% saving due to process improvements.

Head of I.T. (Fixed Term Contract during their management buy-out process)
The company is the leading direct sell tour operator for luxury villa accommodation (around 12,500 villas), a user base of around 180 employees in two sites and a turnover of approximately Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£10million per annum, of which 80% is generated through on-line sales
Day to day line management of Lead Developer (team of 15), Infrastructure Manager (team of 2), Service Desk Supervisor (team of 2)
Key successes:
o new flight booking system implementation (tender process, selection, implementation)
o restructured the IT service management function by introduced ITIL service management functions (agreeing, setting and reporting on SLAs)
o new \'home worker\' system implementation (to alleviate issue with call centre staff shortage in Kent): requirements gathering, tender process, selection and implementation \' leading to 15% of calls being handled by home based agents around the UK and the ability to increase call centre opening hours by flexible home-working arrangements. System used Cisco AVVID with QoS and ADSL connections

Chief Technology Officer (Propety Management company, 6 years)
Member of Management Board \' aligning business goals and IT strategy (building IT roadmap, budgets, forecasts, etc)
Day to day accountability for development team (3 internal and 11 external), IT support team (6 supporting Microsoft platforms for servers and email systems), project management function (5), IT compliance (1)
Key successes:
o Managed amalgamation of systems and IT personnel following acquisition of UNITE\'s largest competitor \' saving Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£190K per annum in operating system fees
o Researched why critical I.T., staff turnover was so high creating poor customer service and affecting SLAs. Changed the structure and introduced cross-system training and involvement with a reward structure. Job satisfaction within the division increased by 65% and staff turnover reduced from 40% to 5% while company growth increased significantly and the number of remote supported sites increased by 150%
o Significantly increased both Customer sales (+3%) and Customer retention (+4%) by the introduction of Customer in-room internet and VoIP system into 30,000 portfolio rooms. Initial concept, requirements, tender process, vendor selection, negotiation, programme management of deployment and monitoring of Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£6million per annum contract)
o Directed and Programme Managed tender, selection, purchase introduction and support of group-wide ERP system, which is scalable and fully integrated. This underpinned the group\'s 60% per annum growth for three years. System used, Oracle E-Business Suite (11.5.10)
o Lead 6 million programme for off-shore developed Customer booking, payment and reporting system to deal with over Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£100 million of income per annum. Vendor selection, contract negotiation, project management, influencing and system implementation \' external off-shore support thereafter

Head of IT - large airline (12 years)
Member of operations Board \' assisting in company strategy and aligning IT function with the goals/aims set. Production of IT strategy, budget control Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£8 million per annum)
Ran all IT \'operational\' management, support and development, Tactical and long/short term planning, reservations systems, airport check-in desks, office PCs, servers, telecommunication systems \' including UHF radios and mobiles, network infrastructure, (over twenty UK/European sites), plus departmental budgets, strategic medium and long term planning for the companies use and requirements
Daily Management of aircraft route planning for Isle of Man routes (12 aircraft with Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£48 million per annum revenue). 3 staff members
Ran Project Management function (7 staff)
Ran Office Services department (5 staff)
Some brief highlight examples:
o Programme managed the implementation of a Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£180m per annum franchise agreement designed to elevate the companies brand image by franchising with a World leading brand. The franchise arrangements were successfully in place a month early
o Considered that fees levied to use third party booking systems were too high and not particularly efficient. Designed and Introduced an innovative system for agencies including service and commercial agreements which saved the company Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£180K per annum and generated additional income of Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£90K per annum
o Influenced the company to become an \'on-line\' presence (against some other Director\'s views), I built business cases and won the approval of the Board then I commissioned the writing of the bespoke on-line booking, payment and CRM system suite of programs. As head of the technical aspect of the programme, I controlled all aspects of the interfacing, data migration and legal compliance. The saving following the successful implementation of the system was Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£350,000 per annum
o Unified IT systems and their associated support personnel following the acquisition of another company. By streamlining licensing, centralising the IT support function and systems, the saving was Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£120,000 per annum, plus another Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£45,000 in staff costs
o Consolidated telephony and internet systems of the group - taking control from divisional contracts to a centralised function. Having changed some suppliers and re-negotiated other contracts, the saving was 5% for the IT department and 3% for other divisions (around Ã�’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½Â’¯Ãƒï¿½Â’¿Ãƒï¿½Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒ’¯Â’¿Â’½Ãƒï¿½ï’¿’½Ãƒï¿½Â£80,000 per annum in total)
o Designed and implemented the companies Business continuity planning including updating and training of personnel.

Mar 2010

Society of St Francis

Production of web portal system for the World-Wide Anglican Franciscans to use, clickable mapping system for areas, domain linking to each geographic area.

Ongoing technical support for www.franciscans.org.uk - European Province website.

Provision of POP3 and webmail for Sisters of the Community of Saint Francis.

Reviews for this job by:

Sister Helen Julian

I would highly recommend Mark Gould-Coates; he is very professional and client centred, and has used his expertise to give us exactly what we wanted - even when we didn't quite know what that was!