William F. Schmitt

wfs@schmittnet.com
PROFESSIONAL
SUMMARY 		Dynamic, resourceful technology executive with a proven track record managing technology systems and people, including applications, data, and infrastructure.
  • Adept in assembling and managing cross-functional teams to produce quality deliverables ahead of schedule and under budget;
  • Creative thinker, receptive to new technologies and able to adapt existing technologies to new and innovative uses;
  • Core technical expertise in all aspects of the development cycle, including needs analysis, requirements/process definition, application and database architecture, programming, testing, documentation and training;
  • In-depth knowledge of existing and emerging technologies, architectures and platforms, with the ability to apply them to the strategic benefit of the organization.

PROFESSIONAL Independent Professional Services
05/2003-Present
EXPERIENCE Independent professional services to various clients including management, website development, database design, and architectural services.
  • Acting CTO - TakesAllTypes.org, an organization building a social networking platform for increasing Blood Donations.
  • Interim CTO - Echo Music, a startup in the personal music space
  • Executive Technology Advisor - NHDS, Inc. a company focused on increasing the value of healthcare data to the consumer
  • Technology Advisor - Village Group, Inc. - focus on collaboration tools
Village Group, Inc., Waltham, MA
Chief Operations Officer 		06/2004 – 12/2007  

Head of Operations for this direct descendent of the Delphi Internet Service, one of the pioneers in offering internet service to consumers and businesses. The company is primarily a publishing organization with a current focus on authentication and security.
  • Reestablished the infrastructure using 100 percent Open Source Products and Architecture;
  • Implemented Online Collaborative Workspace
  Muze, Inc., New York, NY
Electronic publisher of entertainment data 		08/1998 – 04/2003
  Senior Vice President (CTO)  
  Spearhead all technology-related activities, including software development, in a J2EE architected environment, network infrastructure administration and telecommunications support across multiple locations. Manage 43 employees including 2 Vice Presidents, 2 Directors and several Managers; report directly to the Chief Executive Officer. Administer a technology budget representing 1/3 of all company expenditures. Direct all software development and licensing, technology support, production technology and all technology-based infrastructure from telecommunications through hardware acquisition/ maintenance.
  • Reorganized department into four key areas: Software Development, Database Development, Application Management and Infrastructure Support.
  • Re-focused development on core projects able to offer a clear benefit to the company.
  Accomplishments:
 
  • Eliminated all unnecessary and off-budget expenditures, decreasing annual cost of technology by over 30%.
  • Reduced annual technology expenses from $5 Million to $3.5 Million:
    • Through departmental reorganization, reduced headcount from 43 to 27.
    • Consolidated voice telecommunication from 5 vendors to 2, negotiating a 50%+ reduction in calling rates.
    • Identified and recouped over $80K in erroneous billings.
  • Successfully managed response to a disaster at co-location site in which 2/3 of the infrastructure was lost. Restored system with virtually no impact on customer deliverables. Leveraged this success to achieve funding for the development of more efficient architecture.
  • Reorganized all technology functions into a single department, structured by function, with a single point of entry into technology from all other business units. Shifted focus from departmental goals to support of corporate goals.
  Vice President, Technology Architecture  
  Directed all application and database architecture, development and support functions. Retained direct responsibility for the database team managing all DBAs, database developers and database modelers. Coordinated all software development group activity.

Accomplishments:
  • Demonstrated productivity and functional justification for changing database development environment from IBM DB2 to Oracle, showing cost reductions that more than offset the additional licensing costs.
  • Smoothly migrated databases from IBM DB2 to Oracle.
  Director, Chief Database Architect  
  Provided consistent, thorough management and maintenance of all database functions and security.
  • Supervised DBAs and all database development.
  • Represented technology group to other company departments and presented overall database direction to potential outside investors.
  Accomplishments
 
  • Created a development template that enabled continued production of older systems, without requiring a complete redevelopment of all legacy processes.
  • Designed and implemended the architecture for the next generation of the Muze database, capable of managing all music, books and video products from a common data warehouse.
  • Initiated automated replication to a remote secondary de-normalized database for all output operations.
 
  Airmedia, Inc.,New York, NY
Database Manager 		07/1997 - 07/1998
  Led all database-driven operations and development for this wireless Internet alert services provider, broadcasting News and Alerts nationally. The Sybase database served as the backbone for product functionality.
  • Designed, implemented, tested and produced the database product.
  • Performed database replication in a standby environment
Accomplishments:
  • Reworked the control and release processes to minimize the impact of system upgrades on a 24/7 production schedule.
  • Imposed structure on stored procedures and other database development; also implemented optimization techniques within software development process, reducing both production time and loads on the production servers.
  • Eliminated the separation between traditional programmers and database developers to better focus development on the end product rather than individual modules.
 
  TXbase Systems, Inc.,Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Technology Consultant 		09/1996 - 07/1997
  Supplied solid support to the client base during a major software upgrade for this Canadian provider of manufacturing management software.
  • Established the first US-based technical support operation.
  • Provided full-range technical support from pre-sales activity through software implementation for all U. S. operations.
 
  Mobius Management Systems/Systar Technologies,Larchmont,NY
Principal Consultant 		04/1988 - 08/1996
  Project Manager and individual contributor for the custom development of enterprise-wide and Web-based document/media information management technology running on Client/Server SQL/Server, VAX and IBM mainframe platforms. Successfully directed the full life cycle development process from pre-sales proposal preparation, requirements analysis and product design through implementation. Supervised project teams of as many as 5 consultants. Key member of the Corporate Management Committee.
 
  Service Bureau Company/Business Information Services,
Technical Consultant 		06/1977 - 03/1988
  At the district level, coordinated and supervised all client installations in the district through the entire project life cycle including custom software development; and provided technical assistance, review, and direction for all business proposals.
Platforms
Development: IBM Websphere, Visual Age Persistence, Java, Visual Basic, Crystal Reports, COBOL, PHP Scripting, Apache Web Server, MS Project
Databases: Sybase SQL Server, MS SQL Server, Access, Oracle, DB2, Infopac-RDS, Sybase PowerDesigner, Sybase Replication Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL
Operating: FreeBSD, Sun Solaris, AIX, Windows 95 through XP, OS-MVS, MS-DOS, VAX VMS
PROFESSIONAL
CERTIFICATION 		Certified Sybase Professional - (System 10)
EDUCATION Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT
Bachelor of Science, Accounting, 1977