BENJAMIN RILEY

 

 

A Head of Services and Operations with expertise in leading, inspiring and professionalising global organisations and functions during both rapid growth and periods of consolidation, developing pioneering and revenue generating services by applying innovative technical solutions to business requirements.

 

 

 

2008-            NASSTAR plc

AIM listed software broadcaster providing Software-as-a-Service hosting desktops, email, applications and web services from carrier class data centres.

 

                     Chief Operating Officer

Recruited to lead end-to-end technical operations and service delivery, £3m annual budget.

á       Implemented operational maturity program improving service, delivery, security, SLA performance and customer satisfaction.

á       Delivered 99.999% service availability (from ~ 97%).

á       Redeveloped solution delivery strategy improving time to deploy and Professional Services revenue and margin.

á       Introduced management, customer and board level operational reporting.

á       Conceived and delivered Disaster Recovery policies and procedures.

á       Delivered infrastructure optimisation program, including virtualisation.

á       Re-negotiated vendor contracts improving both commercial and operational terms and introduced vendor management dashboards.

á       Introduced procurement improvements saving > 23% CAPEX.

 

 

2002-2007    OPENWAVE SYSTEMS (merger between Phone.com and Software.com)

T/o $400m, Nasdaq listed provider of software applications, infrastructure and services to mobile and broadband communication service providers.

 

2005-07        Director - Global Support and Services Operations

Promoted to lead all customer facing technical functions and major internal IT projects, $15m annual budget.

á       Conceived and developed automated platform monitoring and reporting solution achieving > 500% return on $1.3m investment in first quarter after launch.

á       Implemented company-wide Oracle ERP solution on time and within budget.

á       Developed, implemented and managed web-based customer support portal including full online self-service capability and automated contract renewals.

á       Led integration and migration of support and maintenance tracking systems reducing complexity and administrative overhead while improving the issue resolution process.

á       Led the development, implementation and management of internal and external knowledge bases, improving consistency and MTTR.

á       Defined and implemented common solution architecture achieving deployment consistency, reducing complexity and the cost of ongoing support while improving PS performance and margin.

á       Conceived and directed reviews of key customersÕ IT operations, generating > $3m new revenue while reducing number and complexity of service requests.

 

2006             Director - Technical Services, APAC Region (concurrent with above)

Seconded for seven months to turn around a failing operation with disillusioned customers and employees, a general lack of ownership in region and significant revenue at risk.

á       Quickly stabilised situation, developing and implementing recovery plan.

á       Averted loss of contracts worth $45m and materially increased customer satisfaction.

á       Took the region from the worst to the best performing support operation across all KPIs.

á       Delivered PS revenue growth while increasing margin to > 40%.

á       Recruited and mentored top class permanent regional Services Director.

 

2002-05        Director, Global Messaging Support

Promoted following merger to establish a combined global operation providing technical support across entire messaging products and services line.

á       Developed and implemented follow-the-sun 24x7 support model.

á       Designed organisational processes, procedures, interfaces and structure.

á       Consolidated 8 regionally located support centres in to 3, reducing costs by > $5m.

á       Created customer and partner technical certification program improving customer and SI operational performance.

á       Achieved zero % rate of voluntary attrition throughout.

á       Delivered and subsequently maintained 80% reduction in service request backlog.

 

 

 

1999-2002    PHONE.com (formerly Unwired Planet)

Start up to t/o $200m, provider of software applications, infrastructure and services for mobile service providers.

 

2000-02        Director, EMEA Technical Support

Promoted to run the technical support and maintenance operation for all customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

á       Built team from 30 to 70, developing strong team ethic and collective responsibility.

á       Introduced transactional customer satisfaction survey, subsequently adopted globally, leading to a 50% improvement in the EMEA customer satisfaction index.

á       Provided significant pre- and post-sales technical input across the sales cycle to help secure product sales, service agreements and maintenance contracts.

á       Developed excellent customer relationships based on technical expertise and trust, contributing to product and service sales growing from $18m to $85m.

á       Led cross-functional redundancy program effecting 150 personnel in preparation for the merger between Phone.com and Software.com.

 

1999-00        Manager, Technical Assistance Centre

Approached to establish a UK based technical support team to provide pre- and post-sales technical support to mobile phone service providers in Europe, USA and Asia.

á       Grew the team from just 3 to 40 technicians during a period of extraordinary growth.

á       Introduced field operations cross-training program improving platform design quality.

 

 

 

1994-1999    3COM CORPORATION

T/o $4bn, Nasdaq listed provider of enterprise, small business and consumer networking products and solutions.

 

1996-99        Manager, Global information Systems

Promoted to manage the worldwide electronic communications services and platforms.

á       Consolidated Lotus Notes infrastructure from 230 servers to just 75, achieving 4-nines service availability, while user base grew from 12,000 to 27,000.

á       Managed design, specification and implementation of IT elements for two new-build 500-employee office buildings and complete re-fit of a third.

á       Designed, developed and implemented new Network Operations Centre.

á       Delivered web-based intranet and partner extranets.

 

1994-96        Team Lead, IT Helpdesk

Recruited to lead and develop the UK arm of the IT helpdesk.

á       Managed successful European ISO9002 certification program for the IT helpdesk.

 

 

 

1992-1994    VARIOUS – Freelance Consultant

1992             ZERO-ONE COMPUTING (New Zealand) – Solution Architect

1990-1991    MacWAREHOUSE – Technical Support Engineer

1989             STATE RAIL AUTHORITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES (Australia) – Systems Analyst

1986-1989    UK and GENERAL SECURITIES – Systems Engineer

 

 

 

QUALIFICATIONS        ITIL IT Service Management.

 

 

MEMBERSHIPS             British Computing Society, Institute of Directors, Service and Support Professionals Association, Consortium for Service Innovation (USA).

 

 

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