Mark Keating Email & Phone Number

Ameren is a fortune 500 utility with 7.5 billion in revenue providing power to 2.4 million customers. The Transmission Division is responsible for 8000 miles of Transmission infrastructure which includes over 800 substations. Transmission's goals are to enhance reliability and improve system performance as well as increase access to more types of generation. I was responsible for enabling technology improvements to increase efficiency and reduce cost for the Transmission business lines which encompassed close to a billion dollars of projects that were managed by our applications and platforms. Some of the major platforms we supported were GIS ESRI, Oracle Unifier and OPPM, Red Hat OpenShift and SharePoint. I expanded our automation services to include automating tasks and workflows through the use of RPA, RDA, and machine learning to reduce manual repetitive tasks and eliminate paper-based processes. To better understand the impact of automation, we leveraged data analytics enabling the business lines to measure how much time and cost was saved. In order to ensure my department was working on the highest value efforts, I collaborated with the business leadership within Transmission to understand their business goals and priorities. I also worked with Ameren’s IT leadership to ensure our goals aligned with the broader goals of the organization. With a strong understanding of the business lines’ needs, I developed both short-term and long- term strategic plans along with business cases to determine the level of effort/cost and how it compares to the proposed business value the project is expected to deliver. Once the business cases were approved, I managed the overall budget allocated to perform the work across the department

Promoted due to the increased demand of my team’s services to digitize and automate existing and new business processes along with data visualization of those processes using existing platforms and custom application development. I was tasked with building a dedicated team with full-time staff that consisted of business analysts, a data scientist and developers. The team expanded it capabilities to include machine learning. The decision to leverage machine learning was based on challenges the Transmission maintenance team had with manually processing hundreds of thousands of asset images. I proposed and oversaw the creation of Transmission’s AI team. We built a Red Hat OpenShift based machine learning platform with a CI/CD pipeline then developed the asset inspection machine learning application on top of it. The application went into production in 2023 during my role as Senior Manager. The application reduced image inspection times by 90% with an error rate equal to the human error rate. Drove achievement of goals and outcomes for both the team and individuals. Stressed the importance of collaborating with stakeholders to ensure the work being done was high value to the organization. Developed and executed the group’s business cases and roadmap for planned work centered around delivering measurable business value.

My goal as a lead was to drive measurable value to Transmission. I was responsible for all aspects of the Transmission SharePoint environments, ranging from managing daily activities and work queue/backlog to long term strategy planning with my leadership. The team consisted of 3-5 consultants and 17 servers that we managed. Proposed and enacted the expansion of the service offerings our team provided to include analytics and workflow automation using SharePoint to help achieve Transmission’s goals. Proposed and spearheaded the adoption of Agile and TFS (application to input and track all work/tasks in the sprints) for the entire applications development department (3 teams) for standardizing and improving our work management process which empowers our developers to better manage their workload.

Greater St. Louis Area

Converted to an employee from my consulting role to continue to build out Transmission's SharePoint environment. Worked with leadership to begin formally creating a team to expand the SharePoint services to Transmission. Brought on two more consultants to assist with growing the initiative. Led the team to deliver on-time, within budget and exceeding expectations blue chip projects such as automating the Job Description form, developing and delivering the Human Performance Initiative SharePoint application and the centralizing and automating of the drawing request process via SharePoint and workflows for construction projects. Oversaw the upgrade from SharePoint 2013 to SharePoint 2016 that was on time and within budget.

Ameren Transmission - SharePoint Consultant 1/15 – 1/17 Brought on for initially a 3-month contract to administer the Transmission SharePoint site collection that Ameren corporate IT had setup for Transmission. Immediately identified several issues and challenges that were hindering the ability to fully leverage the capabilities SharePoint can offer to a number of existing Transmission business challenges. Provided examples of solutions that could benefit the business if adopted. Developed a plan with Transmission leadership to build out a dedicated SharePoint environment for Transmission that would allow us to address those business needs faster, with greater customer service and tailored to meet the business needs.Between 2008 and 2015 Clayco - SharePoint ConsultantSuccessfully turned around a failing SharePoint environment by assessing the current environment then developing a project plan and cost analysis with senior management to improve the environment from an ad-hoc state to a managed one.BioMedical Systems Project - SharePoint Architect and DeveloperMulti-year, multi-million-dollar project for a Web based ECG Management system intended to be an infrastructure support system that facilitates the measurement of ECG values in the support of clinical trials across the country. Responsible for leading the design, build out and administration of the development, UAT and production SharePoint Farms. Successfully led the upgrade from SharePoint 2007 to 2010. Involved with the design, development, integration, implementation, training and maintenance of the ECG Management System within SharePoint.

Responsible for acquiring new customers and providing IT contract, contract to hire and permanent placements nationwide across a wide array of industries. Provided heavy client interaction to determine the business drivers behind their needs. Working closely with recruiters to ensure the appropriate candidates are found and screened. Provided relationship management between clients and consultants towards the agreed upon expectations.

Responsible for solution selling IT professional services projects with a concentration in Network Infrastructure and Managed Services. Also responsible for overseeing the project as a relationship manager.

Began as an Application Interface Developer then promoted to Project Manager. Responsible for overseeing the design and development of custom internet applications using Microsoft technologies. Tasked with growing the accounts managed.