Tim Garrison Email & Phone Number

Houston, Texas, United States

Dusting off my development skills and getting back to building cool and useful things. Focusing on tooling and automation for the storage operations team, as well as improving quality of life for the on call roles in the operations automation team.

Houston, Texas Area

As Manager of Software Engineering in the File/Block Operations Automation team, I lead a team dedicated to designing, developing, and supporting automated software solutions using the Ansible platform. Our primary objectives are to maintain proper security compliance posture and reduce the opportunity for human error during configuration tasks performed by operations engineers.Under my leadership, we have achieved significant improvements in operational efficiency and quality. We reduced the number of caused-by-change service disruptions by 25% and simplified and optimized the execution of operational tasks, resulting in a 20% reduction in operational costs.While I haven't been directly involved in coding in this role, I actively support my team by staying abreast of technological advances in PHP and Ansible. This knowledge enables me to provide guidance and support to my team, facilitating their development and delivery of automated solutions to the operations team.Additionally, I have fostered a team culture centered around agile processes, promoting collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement. I conduct comprehensive code reviews to maintain code quality and adherence to coding standards, ensuring that our solutions meet the highest standards of reliability and efficiency.My role as Manager of Software Engineering is characterized by a commitment to driving excellence, efficiency, and innovation within my team, resulting in tangible improvements in operational performance and customer satisfaction.

Houston, Texas Area

As Manager of Software Development at IBM Cloud Infrastructure, I led a team in delivering advanced features and optimizations for the Storage as a Service (STaaS) offering. Under my guidance, we achieved significant enhancements, including snapshot support, replication support, and volume duplication support in version 2 of STaaS.One of our notable achievements was a tenfold reduction in block and file storage provisioning time, resulting in a 90% reduction in error rates and a 95% decrease in provisioning time, significantly improving efficiency and customer satisfaction. I spearheaded the implementation of robust monitoring and alerting systems for storage provisioning, ensuring proactive monitoring of provisioning time and failure alerts, while also collaborating closely on architectural design and solution reviews.My leadership extended beyond technical contributions to fostering a high-performing team culture. I cultivated a team with a focus on agile practices and methodologies, conducting comprehensive code reviews to maintain code quality and adherence to standards. This approach facilitated successful deployments of updates to the customer portal and API client, enhancing user experience and integration capabilities. Additionally, I implemented effective reporting mechanisms and live dashboards, streamlining management of team efforts and facilitating transparent decision-making.Throughout my tenure, I ensured expert support for file, block, and backup storage solutions, ensuring customer satisfaction and timely issue resolution. I successfully guided the team through the challenges of adapting to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring seamless continuity of business operations.My role was characterized by a commitment to excellence, innovation, and team empowerment, resulting in tangible improvements in product quality, customer satisfaction, and team performance.

Houston, Texas Area

As a Development Team Lead at SoftLayer Technologies, I played a critical role in architecting, designing, and developing the flagship cloud file and block storage offering, a highly optimized and scalable solution catering to customer needs for block and file storage solutions.Under my leadership, our team drove the accelerated development of the cloud file and block offering in 2014 in response to the urgency of modernizing our infrastructure solutions to satisfy customer demand of performance and features. Since its inception, the service has consistently averaged over 1 million provisions per year, attesting to its robustness and scalability. I actively contributed to the development of the base product, ensuring its alignment with customer requirements and product objectives.In addition to overseeing the development of the file and block offering, I coordinated and coached team members, facilitating daily development activities and performing code reviews. I collaborated in architectural design and review of proposed solutions by team members, ensuring that our technical solutions met the highest standards of quality and efficiency.My role extended beyond development to ensuring products met specifications by closely working with product stakeholders. I provided expert support for file, block, and backup storage solutions, enhancing the overall customer experience.Technical responsibilities included writing PHP code and complementary SQL code to implement necessary functionality in the orchestration and management engine, as well as developing comprehensive unit tests using PHPUnit to ensure code quality. Additionally, I assisted in writing and reviewing technical documentation to support the implementation and maintenance of STaaS.My tenure as Development Team Lead was marked by a commitment to excellence, innovation, and collaborative problem solving, resulting in the successful delivery and ongoing refinement of the offering.

Houston, Texas, United States

As a Software Engineer at SoftLayer Technologies, I played a pivotal role in developing and implementing custom solutions to enhance operational efficiency and customer experience. Key projects included automating Regional Internet Registry registration for customer-allocated subnets, developing database-driven configuration management tooling for internal services and hosts, and creating a dynamic ruleset service for targeted maintenance and outage notifications.One of my notable achievements was the design and implementation of a highly-scalable, proprietary monitoring platform using Python, PHP, and MySQL. This platform provided real-time insights into system performance and helped ensure uninterrupted service delivery for our customers.Additionally, I led efforts to design and validate configuration management processes for new and expanded datacenters, contributing to the scalability and reliability of our infrastructure.Throughout my tenure, I actively participated in peer code reviews, fostering a collaborative environment and ensuring high-quality code delivery.My role at SoftLayer Technologies allowed me to leverage my technical expertise to develop innovative solutions tailored to our unique operational needs, driving continuous improvement and excellence.

Houston, Texas, United States

As a Systems Engineer in the Advanced Services team at The Planet Internet Services, I thrived in tackling diverse challenges and finding innovative solutions using the most appropriate technologies. I specialized in delivering customized solutions to meet the unique needs of various departments, including Customer Support, Customer Finance, Staff Training, and Customer Quality Assurance and Reporting.Utilizing my expertise in bash, PHP, Python, and C#, I developed bespoke reporting mechanisms and tooling, significantly enhancing team efficiency and customer satisfaction. My approach was not limited to familiar technologies; I embraced new tools and languages as needed, demonstrating my agility and willingness to learn.This adaptability earned recognition across the organization, leading to requests from department heads, including the CEO, to develop solutions tailored to their operational needs. Whether it was a familiar problem or a new challenge, I approached each task with the same level of dedication and determination to deliver optimal results.In addition to my technical contributions, I played a key role in mentoring early-career developers, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and knowledge sharing.My tenure at The Planet Internet Services was characterized by a commitment to innovation and collaboration, resulting in tangible improvements in departmental workflows and customer service delivery.

As IT Director at Touch Support, LLC, I spearheaded outsourced technical support services for shared web hosting customers, specializing in Linux hosting environments. My journey from Level 1 Technical Support to IT Director within a short timeframe attests to my rapid learning and adaptability.In this role, I honed my expertise in Linux operating systems while providing comprehensive technical support, including email troubleshooting, spam eradication, DNS configuration, and server monitoring. I developed internal tooling to streamline support processes, empowering staff to deliver efficient and effective solutions to customers.Beyond technical support, I oversaw the operation of IT services, including proprietary software development and general IT support for the company. I played a pivotal role in supporting workstation infrastructure, managing phone system upgrades, and facilitating a seamless business transfer during Touch Support's acquisition by The Planet.One notable achievement was my successful integration of a custom and proprietary monitoring solution inherited from my predecessor. Leveraging a combination of C++, MySQL, and PHP technologies, I optimized and maintained the monitoring system to ensure uninterrupted service delivery.Throughout my tenure, I demonstrated a self-directed approach to problem-solving, leveraging the most suitable technologies to meet evolving business needs. My leadership and technical acumen were instrumental in driving operational excellence and supporting business growth.

I was the manager of this two-bay quick lube, filling the gap between the general staff and the upper management. It was my responsibility to ensure the shop was kept clean and presentable, to make sure the employees completed their duties, and to ensure customer satisfaction was 100%. While in this position, I was also responsible for all the IT-related portions of this shop, and 2 others. I established the company website, which doubled as a CRM/Payroll system, and set up the wired/wireless networks at the three shops.