Rob Gerhardt, Mba Email & Phone Number

Charlotte, North Carolina Area

Contractor:Focus on leading vulnerability testing, application and infrastructure remediation. Direct and monitor all activities for highly complex, high risk, strategic technology-based projects from initiation to delivery. TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT:- Coordinate with business partners to develop technology concepts, requirements, design alternatives, project schedules, and costs for new systems initiatives. - Plan and direct highly complex program schedules and budgets, monitoring project status in comparison to cost/time projections. - Provide consistent and comprehensive status reports, project updates, and ongoing cost analyses, significant issue management/resolution and communication at Executive levels. - Provide direction to all related technical project management staff while serving in the primary project leadership role.

Charlotte, North Carolina Area

Contractor:Engaged in business analysis, data analysis, design, security, and change management in developing a data warehouse solution

Charlotte, North Carolina Area

Contractor:Project Managed numerous projects designed to deliver a program solution that includes the provisioning of well-integrated systems, software, processes and electronic data enabling the customer to efficiently and effectively manage pipeline assets.

Greenville, North Carolina Area

Initially recruited as a Business Consultant to be the liaison between the business & IT and assist Infrastructure teams develop and implement their platform strategy moving forward. Evolved into leading a team of 11 engineers in all aspects of technology design, implementation, and management for client & collaboration solutions. Leveraged ITIL approach to craft & execute a shift from Novell to Microsoft technology strategies; enabling new capabilities for the business.BUSINESS LEADERSHIP:- Authored the business vision and aligned technology roadmap to meet dynamic market and business requirements- Established the capital planning process for the Vidant Organization- Prepared and defended 5 year capital plan to include resource requirements, milestones, contingencies & mitigation plans- Guided transformation from “Break-Fix” IT centric mentality to forward-looking, ITIL focused methodologyTECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT:- Selected to Program Manage a dynamic, robust technology innovation program that modernized the organization’s operating system, messaging, enterprise video, collaboration, application virtualization & deployment strategy based upon a maturing ITIL framework - Led collaborative engagement with technology vendor to migrate from Novell GroupWise to Microsoft Outlook, Lync & SharePoint while evaluating technological, financial and legal implications of hosting on premise, hybrid or cloud - Managed the migration to Windows 7; accountable for all software compatibility tracking & remediation

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Initiated the transition of responsibilities and built a new Engineering team staffed for 12 engineers and 3 project managers to manage the enterprise Point of Sale (POS) environment in the US and Canada (60,000+ cash registers, Self-Checkouts, handheld scanners, flatbed scanners, and payment terminals). INNOVATIVE SOLUTION DESIGN - Initiated the future POS hardware and OS strategy that aligned with Target’s expansion into Canada and the continued growth of the domestic footprint- Evaluated the Implementation of new payment terminals chain wide including the capabilities for P2P Encryption and EMV

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Directed team of seven engineers and a project manager in solution design and engineering management across 1715+ stores, 37 distribution centers, and 54 headquarters facilities. Defined technology solutions roadmap. Oversaw vendor relations, including vendor sourcing and selection, product procurement, and implementation.ITIL INNOVATIVE SOLUTION DESIGN & DELIVERY:- Partnered with business teams to shape the vision for market leading mobile and digital experiences for guests across multiple channels - Managed multiple strategic vendor relationships to drive technology innovation, establish product roadmaps, and ensure service delivery to exceed established business objectives.- Led pilot project to plan and develop solution to push targeted marketing content to in-store shoppers using location-based services and traffic flow analyses through smartphones connected to guest wireless network.COST SAVINGS:- Captured $22M cost avoidance opportunity via vendor management and optimization of wireless solution refresh plan.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP- Virtualized server environment for retail stores, reducing physical server footprint by 71% (7 physical servers to 2 physical) - Delivered $25M in hardware acquisition capital avoidance alone over a 5-year refresh cycle (not to include implementation, maintenance, refresh costs, etc.)- Partnered with Microsoft to remedy application performance issues in stores leveraging Hyper-V; upgrading Server OS to optimize the application database. Expedited to meet peak season timeline, reducing outage window from 8 to <2 hours- Created server virtualization strategy and led team in deployment of ~1,500 servers and de-commissioning of ~1,000 legacy servers across data centers and distribution center facilities in a 2-year span - Recognized with CIO Award for excellence and innovation in positioning IT as a Service - Spearheaded Lean Six Sigma initiative that streamlined server build process, cutting build cycle times by 62%.- Unified efforts of disparate teams to accelerate deployment and provisioning time

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Recruited as a Business Consultant which matured into building and leading the technology planning and integration team designed to develop strategic roadmaps for Infrastructure teams and combine technological efficiencies and synergies to lower the Total Cost of Ownership of IT for Engineering.INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGY & OPTIMIZATION- Documented the strategic technology and financial roadmap for infrastructure teams- Defined, built and socialized a multiple year planning tool designed to estimate hardware lifecycle and financial impacts to Target for 5 years; incorporating what if scenario capabilities to drive long-term ROI focus on hardware lifecycle

Greater San Diego Area

Coordinated project teams comprised of cross-functional resources through all project lifecycle phases for IT, process improvement, and other special enterprise-level initiatives. Defined project plan and secured resources. Led scheduling, forecasting, budget estimates, implementation and presented status monthly to senior leadership.PROJECT & FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT:- Led $55M project to integrate 200K+ devices onto a unified, secure network solution - Cut network implementation costs 52% by devising comprehensive process improvement strategy - Accelerated site deployment times 45% while boosting customer satisfaction-Orchestrated monthly Profit & Loss (P&L) forecasts and present schedule, status and Estimate at Completion (EAC) forecasts to senior management on a monthly basis. Required extensive coordination with matrix staff to ensure budget, forecast and schedule were aggressive yet attainable and defendable -Led enterprise-wide special projects. This includes integrating Project Risk Management, implementing Earned Value Management (EVM), assisting to establish an internal Program Management Office (PMO), and leading various other process improvement initiatives

Greater San Diego Area

Supervised team of up to 9 in planning/execution of consulting engagements with government client. Evaluated business needs and authored business case/operational impact analyses. Presented solution alternatives to account stakeholders.Provided high level of consulting to Space & Naval Warfare Information Technology programs. Assisted with strategic planning, process improvement, financial management, cost analysis, budget and forecast development, justification and defense.ECONOMIC ANALYSIS & BUSINESS ANALYSIS:- Ensured continuity across business requirements, functional requirements, and system design via continued involvement in all phases of the SDLC process - Developed macro-driven modeling tools designed to compare fiscal and operational impacts for several alternatives. Utilized linear programming to ensure optimal performance, given numerous programmatic constraints.- Identified future program objectives and resources required; prepared defendable business cases that detailed cost and benefits of proposed initiatives.CONSULTING ENGAGEMENT MANAGEMENT:- Served as Job Manger for 8 Cost-Plus Fixed-Fee and Award-Fee tasks; involved in selling, costing, sales/margin forecasts and reconciliation.- Supported $900M program with annual consulting value of $5.1M.

Greater San Diego Area

Provided hands-on program support to SPAWAR, Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programs, for the acquisition of Global Command and Control IT Systems for U.S. Allies.PROJECT LEADERSHIP:- Prepared formal contracts between the U.S. Government and the customer country. - Led, negotiated, and secured value pricing for requested systems, forecasted program support and system lifecycle requirements for lifecycle of each contract.- Coordinated timely Y2K compliant system upgrades across 13 countries utilizing limited resources.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Served as Financial Analyst for Heath Services, Emerging Markets Portfolio. Performed extensive financial analyses, monthly forecasting and timely, revenue reporting. Monitored project activity for financial discrepancies and overruns, advising the Project Manager of financial risks, opportunities, and potential impacts. Executed detailed accounting transactions, such as, journal entries, write-ups/offs, marketing adjustments, revenue recognition and severance accruals for complex contracts.

Master Of Business Administration (M.B.A.), It & Finance

MBA

Bachelor’S Degree, Finance

B.S. Finance