Michael Holness Email & Phone Number

Ashford, Gb

Ashford, Gb

Supporting and growing the Customer Engagement and Power Platform teams

Sevenoaks, England, United Kingdom

Volunteer position helping with coaching and umpiring

London, United Kingdom

My role with Hitachi Solutions Europe is a Senior Director working in the Consulting Services Leadership team. The role is quite varied and the team is spread across the UK, Portugal, Bulgaria, France and Germany. The current team are over 800 people and deliver professional services and solutions based on Microsoft Dynamics and Azure. Areas that I am responsible for: • Client and Project Reviews – This involves catching up with the Project Directors, Project Managers and Architects… Show more My role with Hitachi Solutions Europe is a Senior Director working in the Consulting Services Leadership team. The role is quite varied and the team is spread across the UK, Portugal, Bulgaria, France and Germany. The current team are over 800 people and deliver professional services and solutions based on Microsoft Dynamics and Azure. Areas that I am responsible for: • Client and Project Reviews – This involves catching up with the Project Directors, Project Managers and Architects on a regular basis to get an accurate status report, RAID update and progress against plan.• Work Orders – Writing and reviewing commercial estimates and ensuring they are all following a templated framework. Ensuring the contracts are deliverable and safe to operate with.• Resourcing – Management of the right resources to the right activity to ensure the best job can be completed.• Recruitment – Recruiting some of the best specialists in the market to grow the team as there is the demand. Recruited over 140 consultants since April so far this year and continuing to grow across Europe.• Career Development – Oversee all staff development. Ensure they all have a career mentor who meets with them monthly and constantly get feedback from the team. Perform mid and end of year reviews and manage promotion panels. Oversight on salary changes as roles change.• Utilisation – Management of the allocation of the project work to the team and ensure they are kept busy. Have utilisation targets to maintain across the team for the year and these need to be monitored and reported monthly to the senior management team.• Training – Overseeing the training plans across the team. Bringing in graduates in Portugal and Bulgaria for training to consultants. Show less

London, United Kingdom

Working as part of the Consulting Leadership Team providing support and delivery expertise to the Customer Experience team. Responsible for support to the team for day to day activities and delivering quality using methodologies.

London, United Kingdom

Currently managing major programmes with large teams and budgets. Focused on delivering quality on time. Previously managed smaller projects for multiple financial clients through the project lifecycle as well as the test phases for various releases of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Each project was run with an Agile approach to projects with rapid delivery with quality. As well as being involved in delivery the role involved work with the pre-sales activities and early project definition… Show more Currently managing major programmes with large teams and budgets. Focused on delivering quality on time. Previously managed smaller projects for multiple financial clients through the project lifecycle as well as the test phases for various releases of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Each project was run with an Agile approach to projects with rapid delivery with quality. As well as being involved in delivery the role involved work with the pre-sales activities and early project definition work. Other responsibilities included:• Project and resource planning;• Project governance and reporting;• Budget planning and monitoring;• Development team management;• Methodology creation and guidance• CRM Test Strategy;• Overseeing testing during development working closely with the development team; • Management of the client UAT phases to ensure full requirement coverage was achieved and all business processes and functionality were tested;• Producing and reviewing and overseeing project documentation;• Providing post go live support and resolution to issues raised. Show less

Ashford, England, United Kingdom

Working at Ashford Hockey Club (Kent) as the Head of the junior section to promote growth and a fun environment for juniors to get into hockey and progress with their sporting careers. Setup a coaching framework to bring coaches together and align standards, planning and expectations on and off the pitch. Ensured ratios were followed for all session, assisted with planning and ensuring sessions followed the guidelines with England Hockey. Created a new store for equipment and ensured the… Show more Working at Ashford Hockey Club (Kent) as the Head of the junior section to promote growth and a fun environment for juniors to get into hockey and progress with their sporting careers. Setup a coaching framework to bring coaches together and align standards, planning and expectations on and off the pitch. Ensured ratios were followed for all session, assisted with planning and ensuring sessions followed the guidelines with England Hockey. Created a new store for equipment and ensured the best equipment was available for every session. Covered all the junior admin in the club management system, followed up on finances, assisted with marketing to drive revenue and worked closely with local schools for club awareness. Helped to evolve the partnership with Ashford School for joint use of facilities and the coaching provision. Ensured DBS checks were performed, supported students with their DoE feedback and monitored all first aid activities.During the Covid period took on responsibilities of the Covid Officer, attended calls with England Hockey to ensure the club operated as much as possible within the guidelines and safety procedures that has to be followed.Supported the wider club and committee. Completed courses and coaching qualifications and completed the migration of the website and club membership database to a new improved platform. Show less

London, United Kingdom

Working with a Wealth Dynamix customised version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM managing the Model Office phase of testing. This involved engagement from the investment managers and other users from the business to run through the new business processes and ensure the system met their requirements. Produced the performance test plan and provided advice on best performance settings when using CRM with Outlook. Performed some performance tests and engaged with and external supplier to perform… Show more Working with a Wealth Dynamix customised version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM managing the Model Office phase of testing. This involved engagement from the investment managers and other users from the business to run through the new business processes and ensure the system met their requirements. Produced the performance test plan and provided advice on best performance settings when using CRM with Outlook. Performed some performance tests and engaged with and external supplier to perform full load testing. Show less

London, United Kingdom

Returned to RBS to continue the MS Dynamics CRM development for an uplift to the Business Banking division and a new deployment to all Commercial Banking staff. Working primarily as the UAT Test Manager ensuring test coverage from the requirements to the business processes and procedures through to CRM. Ensuring the scripts were created working with the business in Quality Centre in a modular way to support the functionality across many roles and to support changes. The UAT phase was being… Show more Returned to RBS to continue the MS Dynamics CRM development for an uplift to the Business Banking division and a new deployment to all Commercial Banking staff. Working primarily as the UAT Test Manager ensuring test coverage from the requirements to the business processes and procedures through to CRM. Ensuring the scripts were created working with the business in Quality Centre in a modular way to support the functionality across many roles and to support changes. The UAT phase was being run as using a model office approach. The physical test environment was set up to reflect live with the relevant supporting teams including SME’s, senior stakeholders and the business change team. End users were invited to a model office session and scheduled to attend. Data relevant to the users was created against the scripts they were to execute. All output from the UAT phase was provided to the training team with any known problem areas.Provided extensive assistance to the offshore teams to ensure the System Test, System Integration Test and Performance test phases had sufficient test coverage. Worked closely with the Strategic Portfolio Management and assisted with the Test Assurance activities Show less

Kingswood, Surrey

Positioned within the UK and International Development department working on a Direct to Customer Portal project. The Portal would support customers managing their own portfolio of products and giving them the flexibility to select new products to meet potential life milestones. The project involved multiple suppliers following an agile approach for rapid delivery and integrating with existing systems within L&G. The responsibilities on the project included the following:• Test… Show more Positioned within the UK and International Development department working on a Direct to Customer Portal project. The Portal would support customers managing their own portfolio of products and giving them the flexibility to select new products to meet potential life milestones. The project involved multiple suppliers following an agile approach for rapid delivery and integrating with existing systems within L&G. The responsibilities on the project included the following:• Test Strategy agreed between all parties supporting the agile approach;• Setup and control of Quality Center for the UK and International Development department and oversaw the migration to Application Lifecycle Management;• Planning workshops to baseline project plans;• Updating requirements and ensuring they were testable;• Creating the User Journeys in Quality Center to support the integration and UAT test phases ensuring they met the requirements.A second programme of work in the same role position was for a newly developed mortgage solution. Working with companies (DPR & HML) to build separate pre-completion and post completion systems with an integrated link. During this programme worked with Experian, Call Credit and Decision Metrics to develop a dual bureau finance check as part of the application process to ensure affordability checks for responsible lending were performed. Show less

London, United Kingdom

Guys & St Thomas’s Foundation TrustWorking on a Data Centre move and a Telephony upgrade project with the Trust staff. The Data Centre holds a number of life critical systems which need to be migrated to a new Data Centre. The Telephony upgrade project updates all the phones and introduces resilience across the Guys and St Thomas’s sites. The responsibilities on the projects are as follows:• Test Strategy for the projects;• Test Documentation for the projects;• Test… Show more Guys & St Thomas’s Foundation TrustWorking on a Data Centre move and a Telephony upgrade project with the Trust staff. The Data Centre holds a number of life critical systems which need to be migrated to a new Data Centre. The Telephony upgrade project updates all the phones and introduces resilience across the Guys and St Thomas’s sites. The responsibilities on the projects are as follows:• Test Strategy for the projects;• Test Documentation for the projects;• Test management of the Trust staff during the projects;• Project management and planning updates;• Engaging end users for UAT. Show less

London, United Kingdom

Working on a Microsoft Dynamics CRM project with both onshore and offshore teams to improve delivery, standardise project approaches and methodologies. The project integrated the Microsoft Dynamics CRM product with the banks back office systems for regular data loads and updates. Travelled to India to work with the test teams. The responsibilities on the project are as follows:• Test Strategy for the projects;• Test Documentation reviews (Test Plans, Test Script Coverage, Test… Show more Working on a Microsoft Dynamics CRM project with both onshore and offshore teams to improve delivery, standardise project approaches and methodologies. The project integrated the Microsoft Dynamics CRM product with the banks back office systems for regular data loads and updates. Travelled to India to work with the test teams. The responsibilities on the project are as follows:• Test Strategy for the projects;• Test Documentation reviews (Test Plans, Test Script Coverage, Test Readiness Reviews & Test Reports);• Detailed System Integration Testing to ensure systems communicated correctly and there was zero data loss between systems.• Engaging Security teams for Security testing;• Managing the Performance test teams across the projects;• Support and handover to the UAT teams.The role includes management reports for the projects with RAG status’s and tracking against the project plans to ensure delivery timelines have been met. Show less

London, United Kingdom

Test Management Services Consultancy. Worked at clients Friends Life and RBS.

Dorking

Working with a technical team at Friends Life performing a large system migration project from Bupa Healthcare. Technologies included web applications and Citrix based applications hosted on Solaris, Windows 2008 and RHEL. The responsibilities on the project include the following:• Test Strategy;• Overall project planning;• Test Documentation (Test Plans, Test Specifications & Test Reports);• Commissioning Testing of the new infrastructure;• Integration Testing with the… Show more Working with a technical team at Friends Life performing a large system migration project from Bupa Healthcare. Technologies included web applications and Citrix based applications hosted on Solaris, Windows 2008 and RHEL. The responsibilities on the project include the following:• Test Strategy;• Overall project planning;• Test Documentation (Test Plans, Test Specifications & Test Reports);• Commissioning Testing of the new infrastructure;• Integration Testing with the new ancillary components;• UAT with the user community spread across multiple sites;• Security test with a 3rd Party Company;• Volume and Performance Testing for a like for like comparison.The role includes understanding the technical design documents and comparing the old system setup to the new. Daily reports are produced to the management team showing both build and test progress against the project plan Show less

Representing BT working on the National Programme for the NHS as a Test Manager covering the Community & Mental Health systems. The test management responsibilities have included working the following:• Working with the suppliers both onsite and remotely;• Organising Usability and Test Witnessing workshops with the NHS end users to ensure the quality of the product is acceptable; • Project Planning for Test Phases;• Recruitment of staff;• Risk and Issue… Show more Representing BT working on the National Programme for the NHS as a Test Manager covering the Community & Mental Health systems. The test management responsibilities have included working the following:• Working with the suppliers both onsite and remotely;• Organising Usability and Test Witnessing workshops with the NHS end users to ensure the quality of the product is acceptable; • Project Planning for Test Phases;• Recruitment of staff;• Risk and Issue Management;• Reviewing new opportunities within the business;• Financial planning and cost forecasting for the projects;• Onshore and Offshore team management split between the UK and Indian offices. In addition to Test Management I have been responsible for updating the London Overarching Test Strategy and taking the Test Teams through a Scampi B CMMI Assessment in 2008. I have also had experience working on the Cerner Millennium applications and PACS. This included working on the RIS (iSOFT) and PACs (Phillip’s) systems. Show less

Working with a SAP based end to end delivery system working with couriers to arrange the best delivery methods for the items selected. SAP systems used - CRM for the call centres, SAPR3 for the store ordering and call centre ordering. Mainframe system for the warehouse stock control and label printing. Worked with Metapack (delivery management software supplier) for the courier selection systems through the SAP CO (Customer Order System) to deliver an end to end solution to B&Q for their… Show more Working with a SAP based end to end delivery system working with couriers to arrange the best delivery methods for the items selected. SAP systems used - CRM for the call centres, SAPR3 for the store ordering and call centre ordering. Mainframe system for the warehouse stock control and label printing. Worked with Metapack (delivery management software supplier) for the courier selection systems through the SAP CO (Customer Order System) to deliver an end to end solution to B&Q for their store orders, web orders and call centre orders. Show less

As Xansa.

At Lloyds TSB I worked in the Corporate Web Development department for the Strategic Delivery Centre. During this time I was involved in the following activities:• Performance Testing using LoadRunner on a web based banking system. • Reviewing and writing Test Conditions and Scripts to ensure that there was adequate coverage. • Supporting the City Office after a new system installation.• Reporting statistics to the Project Manager.

London, United Kingdom

• Defect and Test Management for a new recruitment system involving 600 users.• Reporting and managing statistics to the Project Manager.• Highlighting risks.• Ensuring Test Scenarios are executed and created correctly

RelQ-Europe is a consultancy company which specialise in all aspects of testing. Whilst working for the company I was involved with various clients and projects. These clients included Spherion Europe, Vodafone, First Data Europe and Citibank.

Newbury

• Writing test scripts with reference to functional requirement documents to ensure coverage.• Checking MQ messages to ensure that the correct ones were triggered when expected.• Ensuring that the backend processes were functioning correctly during end to end testing.

Basildon

• Defect management for the project using Test Director as a defect tracking and test execution tool.• Producing statistics for the Test Manager to demonstrate the progress of the project• Visiting the Software Suppliers representing First Data Europe to ensure quality fixes are delivered.• Managing defects from four clients during client UAT.• Producing procedure documentation for clients to use during their testing phases.• Reviewing business requirements to ensure the… Show more • Defect management for the project using Test Director as a defect tracking and test execution tool.• Producing statistics for the Test Manager to demonstrate the progress of the project• Visiting the Software Suppliers representing First Data Europe to ensure quality fixes are delivered.• Managing defects from four clients during client UAT.• Producing procedure documentation for clients to use during their testing phases.• Reviewing business requirements to ensure the software supplied meets business needs.• Project tracking.• Worked on 4 projects whilst at this client. These included a credit card setup application, a letters system and a mainframe data conversion. Show less

London, United Kingdom

• Writing test scripts with reference to functional requirements documents to ensure coverage of test conditions for payments and reporting.• End-to-End testing ensuring data has been passed correctly at each stage via legacy systems.• Regression testing using an in house automation tool based on WinRunner.• Full documentation of all executed scripts to ensure QA requirements met and audit trail provided.• Fault raising via Global Defect Management System.• Recording of… Show more • Writing test scripts with reference to functional requirements documents to ensure coverage of test conditions for payments and reporting.• End-to-End testing ensuring data has been passed correctly at each stage via legacy systems.• Regression testing using an in house automation tool based on WinRunner.• Full documentation of all executed scripts to ensure QA requirements met and audit trail provided.• Fault raising via Global Defect Management System.• Recording of executed scripts for inclusion in provision of daily test statistics. Show less