Mike Garner

Mike Garner Email and Phone Number

Be comfortable being uncomfortable @ Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield
Mike Garner's Location
Conway, Arkansas, United States, United States
Mike Garner's Contact Details
About Mike Garner

Director with 20-years of leadership experience in multiple industry sectors with a focus on diversity and inclusion of ideas and individuals to drive towards end-to-end solutions that solve problems and create innovations in a data driven manner to align with the overall objectives for the organization

Mike Garner's Current Company Details
Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield

Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield

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Be comfortable being uncomfortable
Mike Garner Work Experience Details
  • Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield
    Director, Infrastructure Operations
    Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield Dec 2021 - Present
    Little Rock Metropolitan Area
    Responsible for all aspects of server administration, enterprise directory services, secure file transfer, data center administration, network operations, production operations, and process support. These aspects include technology roadmaps, life cycle management, risk mitigation, innovation, and continual improvement all within the guidelines of ITIL and Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
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  • Acxiom
    Sr Manager/Team Leader, Network Security Engineering, Corporate It
    Acxiom Mar 2013 - Dec 2021
    Conway, Arkansas
    Oversee a staff of 12 network and firewall engineers responsible for the engineering function within Network Services. Studied 2 years major incidents to discern core issues affecting uptime. Developed stability roadmap to improve network availability, which has improved by over 200% since inception. Effectively managed $2M capital budget to balance technical refresh and new business growth. Completed technical refresh program that retired over 350 routers, switches, firewalls, and load balancers reducing operational expense by over 50%. Developed workflow, metrics and dashboards for productivity and upper management visibility using Jira.
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  • Acxiom
    Release Manager/Business Improvement Manager. Product & Engineering
    Acxiom Oct 2011 - Mar 2013
    Conway, Arkansas
    Business Improvement Manager/Release Manager, Product & Engineering-Release Readiness, AcxiomResponsibilities included but not limited to the following: Partners with executives and business groups to help provide strategic direction in identifying and prioritizing process improvement initiativesUtilizes industry standard process methodologies (like LEAN/Six Sigma) to increase client valueCoordinate and/or leads process improvement initiatives through the disciplined use of measurements, accountability and analysisOrganize, lead and facilitate cross-functional project teamsResults achieved but not limited to the following:Conducted unified collaboration evaluation for product engineering organization of 1000 usersWorked with corporate IT to conduct a video conferencing equipment evaluation for the enterpriseIdentified solution for data loss prevention of cloud based storage solutions outside the data centerDeveloped and delivered training for document collaboration domain Migrated users, content from pilot to production collaboration domain with no files lostDefined vision, scope for continuous delivery automation enterprise tools evaluationCoordinated RFI process with 10 separate vendors and internal evaluation teamEstablished, executed on plan to deliver interim open source solutions pending enterprise evaluationThe Release Readiness group is responsible for ensuring the appropriate tasks are completed of the stabilization and deployment phases of the Microsoft Solutions Framework. As a IT Process Engineer, I am responsible for continued process improvment, change management ticket escalation for the UAT and production environments, metrics related to release management, and updating documentation for the AIS/AISS applications.
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  • Windstream Communications
    Staff Manager / Data Network Operations
    Windstream Communications Mar 2007 - Feb 2010
    Responsibilities included but not limited to the following:Create, coordinate, and manage projects to improve operational efficiency, standardizationAdministration of the change control process for the data network elementsResolution of chronic issues within specific data network elementsMeet with major customers to capture requirements, discuss outages, action plans as neededNetwork security for network elements themselves and DMZs not protected by Corporate ITDefinition of systems/IT requirements for projects to increase operational efficiencyManaging capital budget in support of above responsibilities each yearResults achieved but not limited to the following:Created, coordinated, and managed project plans for implementation of new core network, IP standardization, and many other projects to improve network stability, customer satisfactionInitiated development of method of procedure (MOP) templates for change controls to standardize design, review, implementation, and improve uptime of the networkInitiated IP configuration standardization, failover test projects to improve route propagation, network failover, and uptime Worked action plans in response to 3rd Party network, security auditsDefined business requirements for work flow improvements in the system used to manage change controls to ensure each change control moves promptly through the system towards implementationImproved the change control scheduling procedures allowing the overall interval to be reduced to average of 21 daysImplemented both hardware and software resolutions to one vendor's equipment that reduced outages from an average of 2 per month over the last 2 years to 0 is last 3 months (Outages affected ~25,000 customers)Implemented standard procedures for firewall administration, installation of attack objects on IDP platform, failover to backup TACACs server for network access, and on-call duties for analysts
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  • Windstream Communications (Alltel)
    Staff Manager / Data Network Operations (Tac)
    Windstream Communications (Alltel) Feb 2003 - Mar 2007
    Responsibilities included but not limited to the following:Manage the DSL TAC organization to stated service level objectivesCreate, manage project sub plans in support of merger and acquisition activityAuthor root cause analysis documents for major outages including after action plansAct as escalation point for customer service and field operations staffs into TAC organizationsContinuous process improvement to provide quicker, better service for the customersEstablish and manage a new department to handle MPLS based customers, and other complex data services, with end to end responsibility for the trouble until resolutionResults achieved but not limited to the following:Initiated standard operating procedures and functional divisions of work and work assignments for DSL TAC network analystsManaged tasks from project sub plan in support of Valor integration activitiesCreated work unit measurements to provide employees with performance objectives monthly, yearlyInitiated process to sample, measure quality of work performed by the network analysts in the DSL TACDevelop staffing models to justify additional staff members based on increases in demand work to help minimize workgroup overtime and improve employee moraleLaunched first-call TAC for dedicated data customers back in 9/2003 to consolidate support for 3 different products out of 3 other support centers on a 24x7x365 basis Worked with front line broadband customer care center to change trouble process flow for certain kinds of troubles to go directly to the field reducing overall trouble interval by 4 hours on ~20% of the ticketsEstablished service level objectives for the Dedicated Services TAC of 70% calls answered in less than 120 secondsEstablished service level objectives in DSL TAC for calls answered in less than 60 seconds 80% of the time, tickets worked in less than 4 hours on average, and new DSL orders provisioned at least 3 days out
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  • Alltel
    Manager / Assignment And Service Activation
    Alltel Sep 2000 - Feb 2003
    Responsibilities included but not limited to the following:Manage the line assignment departments for the west region to stated service level objectivesAct as escalation point for assignment/outside plant record issues from field operationsEnsure that outside plant records system (MIROR) has best records integrity possibleManage the service activation department for the west region to stated service level objectivesAct as primary assignment manager for new products, systems for overall assignment organizationEstablish and manage LSPAC (Local Service Provider Access Center) to contractual obligations for service levelsManage CLEC assignment group for the west region including escalations to the incumbent LECsResults achieved but not limited to the following:Initiated monthly procedures to audit outside plant records, in conjunction with field operations, to improve record quality and reduce phone calls from installers onsite with the customerDeveloped measures for order assignments and met those objectives 98% of the timeDeveloped measures for ADSL order loop qualification and met them in under 4 hours 96% of the timeStarted up LSPAC department initially taking over 7000 faxed orders monthly for service from resellers documenting standard procedures for LSR handlingImplemented web front end to replace fax for reseller orders into the LSPAC that allowed for no additional headcount for 18 months despite over 40% more reseller orders during this time period Sponsored the automation of voice mail programming within the service activation group to reduce manual interventionImproved service order delivery timeframes to 2 days or less in AR, MS, and TX by working orders ahead and pulling in the work unit service order calendars
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  • Alltel Communications
    Business Analyst / Business Processes
    Alltel Communications Aug 1997 - Sep 2000
    Responsibilities included but not limited to the following:Identify key business owners, stake holders for rollout of a new product, systemGain agreement from key stake holders for participation in regular status meetingsConduct requirements gathering sessions with key business owners, stake holders separatelyPrepare flow charts and make changes based on feedback from group of stake holdersDocument overall process documentation including roles of each work groupFacilitate in-person working sessions for requirements gathering based on project complexityConduct initial user training sessions on as needed basisSubmitted system enhancement requests to IT organization as requiredResults achieved but not limited to the following:Prepared business processes for initial deployment of ADSL in 1999Conducted initial user training for activation and customer service groups in support of ADSL deploymentPrepared business processes for use of Local Number Portability in ILEC wireline marketsCompleted, used yellow belt training course as part of the Six Sigma process improvement methodology to identify and correct various processes supporting ADSL productConducted initial user training for provisioning groups for to port numbers to other carriersFacilitated working sessions to capture requirements in support of CLEC expansion into ILEC marketsSubmitted system enhancement requests in support of ADSL, LNP, and CLEC competition projectsPrepared business justification for the initial LSR gateway in support of LSPAC groupDocumented required fields from LSOG forms required for internal operating systems
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  • Alltel Communications
    Associate Engineer
    Alltel Communications Jul 1995 - Aug 1997
    Responsible for special circuit assignment and traffic engineering for the states of Missouri and Oklahoma for the Southwest Region. Duties include monitoring line circuit and voice trunk capacity, forwarding information to central office engineering to get additional equipment ordered, building circuit/design layout records, interacting with central office technicians for installation and other staff as needed.
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Mike Garner Skills

Process Improvement Project Management Business Analysis Program Management Vendor Management Telecommunications Business Process Improvement Team Leadership Analysis Troubleshooting Customer Satisfaction Training Strategic Planning Customer Service Team Building Account Management Operations Management Visio Cross Functional Team Leadership Outlook Outside Sales Call Center

Mike Garner Education Details

Frequently Asked Questions about Mike Garner

What company does Mike Garner work for?

Mike Garner works for Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield

What is Mike Garner's role at the current company?

Mike Garner's current role is Be comfortable being uncomfortable.

What is Mike Garner's email address?

Mike Garner's email address is mi****@****iom.com

What is Mike Garner's direct phone number?

Mike Garner's direct phone number is +150134*****

What schools did Mike Garner attend?

Mike Garner attended University Of Arkansas.

What skills is Mike Garner known for?

Mike Garner has skills like Process Improvement, Project Management, Business Analysis, Program Management, Vendor Management, Telecommunications, Business Process Improvement, Team Leadership, Analysis, Troubleshooting, Customer Satisfaction, Training.

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