I am responsible for strategic growth that meets the needs of our clients and helps to enable a path for Indigenous people to have sustainable careers in Canada’s knowledge economy.PLATO is on a mission to break down barriers to Indigenous participation in the technology sector. We do this by training and employing Indigenous software testers and knowledge workers from coast to coast to coast, in partnership with Canada’s leading organizations.Through skill development, coaching and mentorship with our senior team, we are helping to create Canada’s workforce of the future.If you want to find our more, please get in touch!Craig

I am responsible for strategic growth that meets the needs of our clients and helps to enable a path for Indigenous people to have sustainable careers in Canada’s knowledge economy.PLATO is on a mission to break down barriers to Indigenous participation in the technology sector. We do this by training and employing Indigenous software testers and knowledge workers from coast to coast to coast, in partnership with Canada’s leading organizations.Through skill development, coaching and mentorship with our senior team, we are helping to create Canada’s workforce of the future.If you want to find our more, please get in touch!Craig

ITC is an IT staffing boutique specializing in finding long term, non-permanent work for independent consultants. After being in the IT industry for more than 17 years, I was reminded the best thing about the industry is the people. I wanted to get back into a position where people were the center of my daily activities. As a result, ITC Saskatchewan was born.ITC doesn’t pretend to be everything to everyone. We never will. We are an effective resource for independent IT consultants to find work, and for employers to find the IT skills they need.We know what it’s like to fly solo. In our opinion, there is nothing better. Independent consulting has many rewards. We get to;• Call our own shots• Work when we want to work• Work for whom we want• Focus on the work we love• Enjoy obvious tax advantages• And more...But at the same time, there are challenges. There are things that pull us away from the work we are good at. These include;• Finding the next gig• Non-billable time between jobs• Negotiating contracts• Invoicing employers• Collecting from employers (let’s face it, some are really, really slow!)• And more here too... After dealing with these challenges (and watching other consultants struggle with the same), we decided to create an organization that would provide the kind of service consultants deserve. ITC helps you remain independent, but provides similar support that the big firms only provide their own consultants.17 years in the commercial IT space has taught us a lot. The biggest thing we learned is when you help people succeed, you succeed.We don`t expect your business. We simply ask for the opportunity to earn it.

We have defined an incredibly rewarding mission for our team.Fundraisn is built on the idea that we can build a business that has a positive and measurable impact on communities like yours.But it is really in the “why do we do it?” that brought us to where we are.Yes, we have a great platform. But we focus on the outcomes people are trying to achieve. Our team has helped raise money for sports, classrooms, nonprofits, youth clubs, animal rescues and many other great causes. You might say we’re motivated by community.Fundraisn is created for you by people like you.Our focus is to make it easy and save you time. This includes planning, promoting, hosting, managing and reconciliation of your fundraising activities. Fundraisn supports local business by providing restaurants, product and service providers a platform to help you with your fundraising needs.You raise the money you need while supporting those businesses that are so critical to your area.We see it as a win-win!Drop me a line if you have some thoughts on how we can impact community together.

Vivvo designs, builds, delivers and supports innovative software as service applications.We have a culture motivated by client outcomes. If Vivvo's solution doesn't have a positive impact on our client’s business, we are not satisfied. At the core:- Vivvo works to understand our client’s “big picture" objectives.- We act with integrity in everything we do. - We believe in contributing to the community we live in.Our four key principles that drive us daily are:- Operate in a spirit of win/win.- Have the customer’s business outcomes top of mind.- Be selective in who we hire and only take on people who are top shelf (or pushing for it).- Design solutions with reusable components.We have a strong network of innovation partners to draw on for any engagement. Combined with an abundance mentality, our vision embraces creating strategic partnerships to assist in bringing other Saskatchewan based, entrepreneurial solutions to market.

At the Ministry of Education, I have been hired by the Assistant Deputy Minister as a senior consultant.There are a number of roles I play at the Ministry, but the core of my activities are;- Assist in the creation of a strategic engagement model with Education stakeholders. This is to allow the ministry to better identify and prioritize stakeholders and be more proactive with their stakeholder clients.- To assist the ministry in aligning their Stakeholder Relations Branch with the Ministry strategic plan and the Government and Saskatchewan's Growth Plan for Education.- Creation of a clear vision, mandate, governance model and funding model for IT within the Ministry of Education- Implement strategy to better align IT resources with the strategic direction of the Ministry- Renegotiation of the current MOU with the Information Technology Office.

Principle and Senior Management Consultant.With the philosophy of customer first, I have spent a majority of my career in roles aimed at understanding the business of IT. I align business objectives with IT (people, process and technology) to help deliver desired business outcomes.During my tenure in the industry (at IBM and ISM Canada) I have either personally driven, lead or have been on a team that has driven approximately half of one billion dollars in total contract value in Saskatchewan.I have years of experience assisting clients evaluate their core business and finding cost effective solutions for non-core requirements, including outsourcing. These opportunities have given me a great deal of understanding and experience in dealing with change in both the customer’s organization as well as the service provider.Successful negotiation and delivery of these types of agreements require me to be comfortable having sensitive discussions with the highest level of executives in several types of organizations. This includes CEOs and Deputy Ministers. Discussions are often delicate, particularly if challenges within their organization are identified, or if there is an impact to Human Resources.Personally, I enjoy this level of conversation. It is where I feel I’ve added a great deal of value to my clients’ business.

As Business Development Executive I was responsible for growth in the strategic outsourcing line of business. Average contract size I personally signed was approximately $30 million.I have been able to understand the business dynamics of a customer and align solutions (a mix of people, process & technology) to achieve desired business outcomes. This role is exclusively designed to create outsourced opportunities with corporate clients, which often leads to people transitioning from “their company” to ISM Canada.The complexity of negotiating outsourcing contracts can’t be understated. In this position I was able to balance of a number of things. Some of them include;1. The ability to effectively deal at the executive level of organizations.2. Understanding key customer business requirements and translating them to an IT solution.3. Understanding what the customer considers to be their core competency and what makes the most sense for a partner (ISM Canada) to execute on their behalf.4. Ability to create a business case that shows a clear comparison between current state and most desired state (such as Positive ROI, Risk Reduction or Business Enablement).5. Strong negotiating skills with an approach that seeks mutual value for both the customer and ISM Canada.6. Creation of a strong governance model during the contracting phase and the creation of a strong governance model for ongoing operations between the 2 organizations.7. Sensitivity to impacted human resources and a strategy to manage change at a human level.8. The ability to manage and partner with 3rd party organizations.9. A balance of revenue for ISM, competitive pricing for the client, a level of desired profitability and a high measure of satisfaction.

I effectively delivered service commitments to the client while achieving financial objectives of profit and revenue for ISM.It is critical to have an understanding of not only IT Service Delivery, but the customer’s business operations as well. In this role I was able to motivate, lead and organize the IBM team to effectively deliver a long term annuity based contract.My skills include:1. Client-centric value propositions tailored to the client’s industry and specific business situation.2. Minimizing the complexity across IBM service brands to ensure a single team approach to the customer.3. Negotiation skills.4. A strong understanding of service levels.5. Ability to serve the role of brand strategist, responsible for the overall account plan and cross brand strategy.6. The ability to create and maintain a strong governance model with the client. (This oftenincludes creating a strategic relationship map between the organizations).7. To be able to adapt the delivery model to meet changing customer business objectives.

I was able to get creative in this role and foster diverse go-to-market strategies through strategic alliances in the prairies. A key skill I developed in this role is the understanding how to leverage the core competencies of a partner, and aligning them with the core competency of IBM. By focusing on key customer initiatives and bringing the best of a partner and IBM, we were able to deliver creative solutions to many clients in the prairies.1. Responsible for executive relationships with influential business partners in the prairies.2. Created client-centric value propositions with the business partner tailored to the client’s industry and specific business situation.3. Engaged IBM brand specialists to ensure the highest value to the business partner and end customer was realized.4. A 3-way mutual value strategy for the customer, business partner and IBM.

Primarily focused on building and managing executive relationships with some of IBM’s largest Saskatchewan customers. I was able to leverage a high-level strategic understanding of not only the IT industry, but the customer’s industry as well. Strong team management and personal accountability led to a number of successes over the years.During my time in this role I;1. Created client-centric value propositions tailored to the client’s industry and specific business situation.2. Developed Executive relationships with major commercial accounts in Saskatchewan.3. Lead a team of cross brand specialists and ensured the highest value from IBM to the customer was put forward.4. Served the role of brand strategist, responsible for the overall account plan and cross brand strategy.5. Had a high level of enthusiasm and focus on customer business issues which translated into very strong customer relationships and satisfaction.

My first job at IBM had me focused on the growth strategy and management of the Saskatchewan territory from an Intel hardware perspective. I enjoyed lots of success in this role as I;1. Developed key go to market strategies within the hardware segment (e.g.: identify solutions, value propositions, customer approach, and communication strategy).2. Management of complex IBM and business partner relationships.3. Focused on customer initiatives and ensured needs and expectations were consistently met.4. Developed close working relationships with customers.5. Consistently achieved revenue targets while balancing competitive pricing in the marketplace.