Donna Thomas Email & Phone Number

Austin, Tx, Us

I recently started teaching a continuing education course at the Austin Community College called “Getting Started with Business Analysis”. I am having fun and sharing my career related experiences with the students. I am also writing and publishing books related to business analysis.

Odessa/Midland, Texas Area

Interim VP for 5 months in a part-time status. Full time VP in September. As Interim VP, I completed a Functional Capability Matrix for the university with Gartner. Developed a plan of action to address impacted critical business capabilities. Managed a Data Analytics program to deploy a new SAP data warehouse, data governance, critical admission reports, and a dashboard to summarize critical activity related to strategic plan. Played a major role in strategic planning while managing the Information Technology (IT) and Institutional Research departments and budgets. My office provided technology and analytical support to achieve the universities strategic objectives, and project management capabilities to manage and communicate status on the facility, business and IT projects created to deliver the strategic plan. The IT team supported staff, students, faculty, and classrooms with issues, new projects and new equipment. Odessa is my hometown and I was excited about the opportunity to help grow the university to support the community and region.

Office Of Strategic Initiatives

Assisted UT System Administration executives define strategic plans for the "Quantum Leap" initiatives introduced by Chancellor (Admiral) William McRaven in Nov 2015. Established a Project Management Office (PMO) with an adaptive project management framework that includes an agile decision process. Implemented the "Planview Enterprise" strategic, project and financial planning capabilities to define roadmaps, set plans, manage projects, and communicate progress across the 14 institutions. Created a Project Management Community of Practice (CoP) to continuously improve tools, processes and adoption. Received the Planview Vision Award at the Horizon conference in October 2017, and the 2018 Ventana Research Technology Leadership award for our innovative way of implementing Planview to support the Chancellor's strategic initiatives.

Austin, Texas

Analyzed existing project management practices and established a Project Management Office (PMO) for the Technology and Client Services organizations using the Microsoft Solution Framework (MSF) and (Clarity) CA PPM software. Managed a Client Delivery, Technology, and Infrastructure Portfolio of projects and programs with a large team residing in St Louis, Austin, and remotely across the US. Collaborated with external clients to define how strategic programs would be managed to support their PMO processes. Collaborated with internal Sales, Account Management, and Technology teams to finalize solutions, allocate resources, and define schedules. Managed the CA PPM roadmap. Implemented a cross-functional end-to-end test strategy for client implementations.

Austin, Texas Area

Managed a program that consolidated two strategic applications to create the new Accountable Delivery System Platform (ADSP) and deployed to existing clients. Managed a cross-functional IT team to analyze existing software development practices and consolidated the two distinct development methodologies into an iterative agile software development lifecycle (SDLC). Deployed the iterative Agile SDLC and key CA PPM capabilities in 45 days to 300+ resources. Defined a “just enough” process improvement program to address process pain points and required SOC1 processes. Facilitated 3-day Kaizen event with a cross-functional IT team to develop a Requirements Management framework.

Austin, Texas

Analyzed course curriculum and developed lecture material to introduce the Unified Modeling Language (UML), and how to create Use Case Diagrams and Use Cases. The lecture helps students understand the difference between structural and behavioral system modeling, and focuses on how behavioral modeling can be leveraged throughout the software development life cycle (SDLC). The lecture was delivered to two classes a semester for 3 years to undergraduate students seeking a Management Information Systems (MIS) BBA in the McCombs School of Business.

Amd

Managed a pool of 14 Business Analysts and coached team on requirements & project management methodologies. Defined a requirements management framework that was implemented globally and based on the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) and CMMI. Integrated the new framework with existing tools: HP ALM (Quality Center) and Microsoft Visual Studio (TFS ). Created a role-based staff development plan and training material for the new requirement methodology. Deployed the training material in the US and Malaysia.

Austin, Texas Area

Defined and deployed a global deferred revenue recognition solution to integrate AMD graphics business with existing Distribution Partner business. Managed matrix team of 30+ IT and 15+ business resources and 2.5 mil budget to enhance modules and transform business processes. Technology stack included SAP Sales and Distribution and CRM modules, and Portal technologies.

Austin

Managed the product roadmap for the Oracle Incentive Compensation (OIC) application to optimize incentive calculations and allocations for an order management system using agile methodologies. Managed the product roadmap for the Oracle application used to define, access, and maintain different categories of internal resources and resource hierarchies. Analyzed global CRM tools, reports, and business processes in US, Europe, Japan, and China, and assisted with the management and integration of global resource data needed for the Salesforce CRM application. Managed a portfolio of projects for the IT Product Management Organization to improve internal Sales and Order Management processes and products. Trained and coached Yellow and Green Belt project leads to reduce costs and improve quality.

Austin, Texas Area

Assisted in defining a global audit universe for IT applications and presenting audit roadmap to leadership team. Audited IT applications using COBIT framework and validated financial systems for Sarbanes-Oxley IT compliance. Assisted application owners to close audit management action plans and define controlled self-assessments.

Austin, Texas Area

Developed a project management office (PMO) and steering committee to prioritize and charter projects that aligned with strategic business objectives. Developed a standard process to create a business case that was used for project prioritization. Presented prioritized projects to IT for scheduling and resource allocation. Completed several complex, cross functional projects that required people, process, and technology changes, and yielded quantifiable business results. Obtained Six Sigma Black belt certification for completed projects.

Austin, Texas Area

Managed a product roadmap for an order management system utilized by 6 business units and 3k sales resources. Estimated and managed project schedules, resources and costs for large complex IT projects. Managed team of 8 developers and business analysts to develop software architecture proposals including requirements, costs, business and process impacts, and schedules. Defined and designed new customer and quote business functions and use cases using UML and DOORS.

Austin, Texas Area

Selected by Executive team to help establish an IT college recruiting program and recruit students for entry-level I/T positions. Staffed IT resources for all levels and functions, negotiated compensation, and relocation package for external hires.

Austin, Texas Area

Evaluated tax software vendors, negotiated contract, and managed vendor support. Managed project to integrate 3rd party tax software solution (Taxware, formerly AVP Systems) with legacy order management, financial, and service systems to ensure legal compliance and improve tax auditing and reporting capabilities. Managed project to integrate AMEX credit card remittance business rules with order management system to ensure compliance and reduce rates for corporate credit card purchases. Analyzed business needs, processes, and problems to define business case which included scope, benefits, forecasted resources, project costs, and milestones. Translated business needs into system requirements and technical design.

Mis Department, Mccombs School Of Business

Delivered guest lectures on “Estimating Effort and Project Costs” to undergraduate seniors. The material was published in the “System Analysis, a Project Management Approach” textbook by Ray McCloud and Eleanor Jordan. Assisted Professor in creating lecture material for an undergraduate elective, “System Analysis for eCommerce”. Delivered the lecture material for one semester to a class of 40 students seeking a Management Information System (MIS) BBA in the McCombs School of Business.

Austin, Texas Area

Supported a client/server manufacturing system, developed reports, and deployed upgrades. Managed a corporate software process improvement initiative, which resulted in 75% of the IT manufacturing resources passing an SEI CMM Level 2 internal audit within nine months. Gained thorough understanding of SEI CMM, PMI and IEEE guidelines and standards for developing software while obtaining SW Project Management certification. Motorola certified CMMI appraiser.

Austin, Texas Area

Customized the user interface to support legacy system gaps and global deployment of the Remedy Service Management application. Defined requirements to consolidate Canada & US Service Call Tracking systems for enterprise solution. Managed a project to create new subsystem and SQL database for new US professional services. Performed programming, installation, and operation tasks to support a large-scale Service Call Tracking system deployed over 38 worldwide sites.