Eric Ratts Email & Phone Number

Denver, Co, Us

Denver Metropolitan Area

- Establishing Enterprise Architecture Programs: Spearheading the development and implementation of comprehensive enterprise architecture (EA) programs, focusing on scalability, efficiency, and alignment with business goals.- Team Leadership and Development: Building, mentoring, and leading high-performing EA teams capable of tackling complex technological challenges and delivering innovative solutions.- Vision and Strategy Formulation: Crafting and executing forward-looking IT visions and strategies that anticipate and address future business needs and technology trends.- Reducing Architectural Debt: Implementing best practices and innovative solutions to minimize legacy system constraints, thereby enhancing system efficiency and business agility.- AI Strategy and Roadmap: Leading the creation and execution of AI strategies and roadmaps, integrating AI technologies to drive organizational transformation, process optimization, and competitive advantage.- Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborating with senior management, cross-functional teams, and stakeholders to ensure IT initiatives are closely aligned with overarching business objectives.- Innovation and Continuous Improvement: Promoting a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and adaptability to navigate the rapidly evolving digital landscape.- Achieving Sustainable Growth: Leveraging IT infrastructure and digital capabilities to catalyze sustainable growth, innovation, and enhanced competitive positioning.

Initiated Strategic Planning and Roadmapping:• Successfully engaged with senior business leaders and technology solution partners to identify and document critical business priorities and value drivers.• Created detailed business capability models that identified gaps, misalignments, and deficiencies.• Collaborated with stakeholders to construct multi-year roadmaps addressing identified gaps and deficiencies to ensured long-term business alignment and capability enhancement.• Worked collaboratively to implement roadmaps, balancing strategic goals with practical considerations.Scenario Planning and Risk Management:Utilized what-if scenarios to anticipate potential risks and built robust alternative plans. This approach ensured preparedness for various business scenarios and mitigated risks effectively.Documentation and Maintenance:• Created current-state architecture diagram using city-map model to help stakeholders understand the complexity and interrelationships of their systems, processes, and data• Owned and drove the maintenance and upkeep of enterprise artifacts and roadmaps.• Initiated processes to ensured that all documentation remained current, relevant, and useful for ongoing strategic planning.Change Management and Advocacy:• Regularly connected with leaders to share the vision and value of roadmaps• Actively solicited and incorporated feedback to refine and improve strategic plans, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and adaptability.

Forward-facing and trusted advisor to guide clients through future-state vision and prioritization while assessing current-state capabilities and technical debt.- Identified gaps in PPT (people, process, technology) to establish governance frameworks and develop roadmaps to stir transformation and innovation while advancing digital enablement.- Developed and created content to support new Enterprise Architecture as a Service offering

Oversaw Enterprise Architecture practice in support of IT Engineering objectives• Organized and presented architecture models representing organization’s capabilities and gaps• Led and participated in planning and estimation of new strategic initiatives

Denver Metropolitan Area

Oversaw development and delivery of IT strategy, vendor and contract management, governance, finance and performance management, and entire IT portfolio• Achieved savings through shrewd vendor renegotiations and cost optimization• Launched and accelerated organization's Digital Transformation Strategy resulting in the establishment of key priorities and capabilities, identification of risks, and development of timelines and a 3-year roadmap• Pinpointed and fixed operational inefficiencies within the Portfolio Management Office (PMO) to transition to a steady state and achieve strategic portfolio alignment and prioritization, budget and resource management, and project management intake and execution efficiencies• Identified and inspired new technology solutions and opportunities for innovation• Assessed current-state capabilities through collaboration and cross-functional teams

Greater Denver Area

Collaborated with regional CIOs to define and advocate business-aligned technology strategies, capital investments, and solution roadmaps while reducing architectural debt and optimizing existing technologies• Replaced legacy platform with state-of-the-art design that not only created new functionality and $12M+ annual savings but also formed two new lines of business• Rebuilt and matured Enterprise Architecture and catalog of services by championing best practices and architectural principles, including enhancing the governance process and bringing together fragmented architect and engineering resources from siloed regional pockets• Conducted technology evaluations and due diligence during acquisitions to determine risk, system consolidation opportunities, and integration timelines• Upon joining, assumed leadership of Microsoft O365 implementation project that was off-schedule and returned it to “green status” within 3 months

New Jersey, United States

Accountable for helping leaders enable their future-state capabilities to drive the organization’s targeted outcomes through the choice of programs, projects, and initiatives. Due to rapid growth through a merger and several acquisitions, spearheaded and resolved IT roadmap and strategy for the enterprise rationalization and consolidation of duplicate capabilities, technologies, and services across the organization. Directly oversaw multi-million-dollar Enterprise Architecture department and bimodal program along with overseeing all other project-specific budgets.• Pioneered and drove ground-breaking digital solutions by creating and owning the roadmap and implementation of Google Cloud Platform within the enterprise network that increased interoperability, data convergence, and expanded usage of AI and ML in HMH's patient care, medical school and biomedical research organizations. This technology directly contributed to the sequencing of DNA to determine risks to cancer and other diseases.• Partnered directly with Google and other strategic vendors on healthcare and life science innovation initiatives, including AI-enabled diagnostic imaging interpretation, digital speech analysis, and precision medicine with IoT and genomics• Responsible for implementing multi-million-dollar and enterprise-wide Google Program into and across the organization, including not only overseeing the full life-cycle from inception and owning timelines for the project but also the change management• Asked to be member on Google’s Advisory Boards for Chrome OS and for Chrome Browser and presented at Health Impact East Conference because of cutting edge use with Google Chrome• Orchestrated and contributed to the culture of bringing together the merger of two large IT departments into a single technology organization

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Interfaced with all business areas to champion the development of future-state capabilities and the technical roadmap to bridge gap between strategy and execution. Initiated key projects, sequencing, and milestones for addressing legacy systems at the right pace and cost, including determining which to keep or replace as well as which were eligible for consideration to migrate to the Cloud. Maintained awareness of industry, market, and technology advances to identify impact and influence on the organization. Promoted best practices and enhanced the IT culture to meet current and future development and succession plans. Collaborated closely with CIO on $15M+ capital and $150M operating IT budget.• Advocated and launched modernization of delivery truck platform that resulted in annual savings by reducing waste/damaged products and maintenance while increasing driver safety and route efficiency• Overcame organization’s cultural resistance to change by collaborating with senior leadership and business units on the vision of the desired state and hosting town hall meetings to interact, energize, and clarify the shift to new-ways-of-working with the organization• Rolled-up sleeves to partner with business units in evaluating current processes, resources, and technologies which produced a simplified technology landscape that addressed roadblocks for current and potential future solutions, drove innovation, and reduced costs wherever possible• Initiated integrated business processes and streamlined project initiation by establishing a governance process to guide decision making and ensure compliance with best practices and policies• Communicated the financial story of IT driving revenue versus incurring costs by having transparency of total IT cost, investment, and staffing resulting in actionable budgeting practices and financial models within both IT and business units

Greater Denver Area

Championed and aligned the strategic and technical vision for all initiatives and information systems as part of the CIO’s leadership team. Managed and organized high performing Architecture, Business Intelligence, and PMO departments. Established and implemented Enterprise Architecture (EA) program using a hybrid framework of TOGAF and Gartner’s EA to focus on optimizing fragmented legacy processes into an integrated environment that was responsive to change and supported delivery of business strategy. Identified and evaluated current and emerging technologies and industry trends together with ways to reuse existing resources. Sponsored and supervised proof-of-concepts (POC) and pilot-prototypes to ensure fit and appropriateness prior to major initiatives and complex projects.• Shaped, drove, and led strategy and roadmap for migrating from Y2K era technologies and manual processes to an integrated Omni-Channel Unified Retail Platform, including eCommerce, Order Management, Product Content, and Direct-To-Consumer Fulfillment options using internal hub-stores (ship-from-store) and distribution centers and also directly from vendors (drop-ship), which achieved 2-3x growth in online sales and into a $100M+ eCommerce website• Finished 2015 under budget while increasing top-line growth and margins by collaborating with Merchandising, Supply Chain, and Store business units on short-term and long-term strategies that led to implementation of architectures and solutions which increased private label brands and in-stock to +95%• Within three years, built a new Enterprise Architecture program rated by Gartner as Level 4 (Integrated) and adding value throughout the organization• Reduced IT expenses by $3M and increased performance through consolidation, simplification, and standardization of the IT portfolio and by aggressive vendor and contract management

Greenwood Village, Co

Responsible for the collaborative work across lines of business and departments to deliver signature-ready recommendations and architectures for the enterprise. Managed and led a department of onsite, remote, and offshore architects, analysts, developers, PMs, QA testers, and contractors. Aligned and led enterprise data architecture and portfolio towards future business needs and capabilities. Implemented metrics and targets to ensure delivery against success criteria of scope, schedule, resources, and budget. Established and maintained an information and data management discipline including data governance and reference architecture repository.• Implemented and integrated next-generation enterprise-wide healthcare administration solution on Facets, including migration of legacy systems from prior acquisitions• Received recognition and an award for providing critical leadership and direction for the integration of GREAT-WEST HEALTHCARE’S architecture into CIGNA’S which resulted in greater interoperability, increased performance in batch processing, and savings from provider contracts• Initiated and created data science platform to identify potential fraudulent claims which led to resulting in growth• Provided guidance as a consultant on Global Health / Expatriate Insurance project (international expansion)

Greenwood Village, Co

• Set strategy and vision for implementing and integrating next-generation core healthcare administration solution on Facets, including migration of legacy systems from prior acquisitions• Designed and implemented printing automation architecture for Explanation of Benefits (EOB) statements which was so successful and flexible that it was used for all Healthcare printing (COBRA, EOP, membership communication) and later for Great-West Finance’s printing (401K statements, portfolio packages) o Architecture and application was scalable on shared- and distributed-resources o Included ground-breaking (at the time) Federal Reserve Board Check 21 compliant checks for payments o Application also generated invoices on-demand for viewing and printing via a secure web portal for internal and external customer; thus, one of the many benefits was eliminating the need to archive the output file and reduced the need for expensive storage of paper and electronic files

Englewood, Co

• Responsible for architectural and solution guidance for Business Information and Data Warehouse platforms• Reporting functionality was industry-leading and significantly exceeded expectations and provided improved customer, client, and partner satisfaction scores that led to strong company growth and influenced to the company being acquired• Recognized and acted on opportunity to increase customer satisfaction and build a competitive advantage by creating emergency-action reporting to proactively identify and notify travelers and companies of a crisis, such as an airliner crash, areas affected by earthquake, baggage-handler strike, cancelled flights, etc.• Enhanced customer experience by initiating and architecting customized user interfaces which had the look-and-feel for seamless integration into customer’s intranet sites• Led cross-functional team which designed, developed, and maintained reporting for managing and enforcing travel policy compliance and recognizing savings by using company’s services• Increase efficiency and reduce downtime by working with engineering and ops teams to automate data extraction and updating of data• Mentored and developed technical team to attract and retain key talent, including conducting technical training to increase proficiency and skills

Englewood, Co

Managed and led team critical for company to be able to emerge from bankruptcy• Reported to Vice-President of Network Cost Analysis• Initially provided quick wins for company during bankruptcy by stabilizing legacy systems, developing solutions to audit invoices, and strengthen security and data integrity vulnerabilities• Led dedicated team for strategic, multi-year Line Cost Reduction Project which reduced expenses by more than fifteen million dollars a month ($180Million annually) within first year and was critical to the emergence from bankruptcy• Transformed company’s financial reporting, including quarterly and annual financial statements• Managed day-to-day operations of extreme development (Agile) team of developers and analysts which transformed business requirements into financial reporting, including creation of company’s quarterly and annual financial statements• Conferred frequently with independent financial advisors and auditors during and after bankruptcy, including assisting with the compliance of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and implementing their technical recommendations• Created and implemented multiple projects resulting in efficiency and cost-savings, such as conversion from paper to standard EDI invoices• Researched and integrated industry-standard reference data to automatically audit invoices for rate and mileage exceptions• Launched and architected conversion to commercial invoice auditing software for performance, functionality, and savings

Boulder, Co

Start-up company that developed an Internet-scale image search and indexing service and sold access to that search technology to the Internet's leading search engines as well as private customers interested in piracy detection. Company achieved several notable technology and product outcomes including the first-ever content-based image search engine, a thousand-plus node computing grid, the first Internet-scale deployment of a Web-services based cloud service, and multiple image processing and detection innovations for object and pattern recognition. Ereo was sold in 2001 and the technology was integrated by both Google and Microsoft.