Christopher Thorp Email & Phone Number

Austin, Tx, Us

Austin, Texas, United States

Austin, Texas, United States

Helpdesk Manager (3 years) - Managed Tier 1 and Tier 2 helpdesk technicians within the ITS division of a nonprofit educational association, including staff supervision and development- Successfully migrated from existing ticketing platform to a more robust ITSM platform- Implemented new standards, processes, reporting, and metrics within ServiceDesk Plus to deliver and manage high quality and consistent support- Greatly reduced the volume of helpdesk requests by building out a… Show more Helpdesk Manager (3 years) - Managed Tier 1 and Tier 2 helpdesk technicians within the ITS division of a nonprofit educational association, including staff supervision and development- Successfully migrated from existing ticketing platform to a more robust ITSM platform- Implemented new standards, processes, reporting, and metrics within ServiceDesk Plus to deliver and manage high quality and consistent support- Greatly reduced the volume of helpdesk requests by building out a knowledgebase for both end-users and technicians, including 100+ new articles, while also clarifying internal support processes and procedures- Improved closed-ticket survey results to over 95% “Excellent” satisfaction from month to monthIT Procurement Specialist (3 years)- Established a new role focused on software and hardware licensing, inventory, and vendor management for IT - Built new processes around the entire lifecycle of software assets and related equipment, including procurement, financial management, deployment, maintenance, and retirement - Centralized the management of all licensing and brought TAC into licensing compliance. Created an IT Software Catalog for tracking, documenting, and managing software inventory, including usage, assignments, and expiration dates- Worked with internal business units and coordinated with vendors on software related projects, including new implementations, upgrades, and migrations- Collaborated with business units to develop and manage the IT budget, forecast future software needs, optimize license utilization, and identify cost-saving opportunities- Worked with Legal department and IT subject matter experts in contract and consulting negotiations, amendments, and new contract models to ensure optimal asset management- Negotiated with vendors for better pricing and initiated newer licensing models resulting in roughly $94,000 annual savings in the first year of the new role- Assisted with annual IT budget and purchasing budget Show less

Austin, Tx

-Managed a team of diverse technical staff within the System Support Division of a nonprofit educational association, including staff hiring, supervision, development, and evaluation-Developed new processes and metrics while refocusing staff responsibilities to improve project management and delivery while increasing workflow efficiency, leading to improved team productivity-Reconfigured roles for individual team members to better utilize skillsets within the team, providing for… Show more -Managed a team of diverse technical staff within the System Support Division of a nonprofit educational association, including staff hiring, supervision, development, and evaluation-Developed new processes and metrics while refocusing staff responsibilities to improve project management and delivery while increasing workflow efficiency, leading to improved team productivity-Reconfigured roles for individual team members to better utilize skillsets within the team, providing for increased cross-training opportunities and focus-Continually create collaboration opportunities between my team and the business-Manage System Support Release Cycles, with focus on automation, standardization, and continual process improvement-Assist the Director of Systems Support with annual operating budget Show less

Austin, Tx

- Managed a team of 22 in providing comprehensive technical support services to a wide spectrum of business clients of an Austin-based cloud hosting solutions provider, with responsibility for optimizing internal processes and ensuring on-time delivery of all services- Defined previously-unclear roles for various tiers of technicians, created a ticket queue assignment system, and designated a specific “triage” technician for each shift, resulting in decrease in initial response time… Show more - Managed a team of 22 in providing comprehensive technical support services to a wide spectrum of business clients of an Austin-based cloud hosting solutions provider, with responsibility for optimizing internal processes and ensuring on-time delivery of all services- Defined previously-unclear roles for various tiers of technicians, created a ticket queue assignment system, and designated a specific “triage” technician for each shift, resulting in decrease in initial response time from six hours to only five minutes, significant improvement in customer satisfaction scores, and increased sales to existing customers- Oversaw all aspects of departmental expansion from 8 technicians to a team of 22 technicians and other staff, including creation of new positions and definition of roles for trainers, advanced technicians, managers, and support staff- Defined service level agreements, set priorities for different types of support issues, and developed a clear internal escalation process, improving both customer satisfaction and employee performance - Managed departmental migration from SalesForce to ZenDesk ticketing platform, resulting in an improved customer experience and employee workflow, as well as increased data collection opportunities Show less

- Provided ongoing virtualization engineering and implementation support within the University’s centralized, enterprise-level VMware virtualization infrastructure, resulting in elimination of redundant IT staffing and hardware needs in various university departments and total cost savings of more than $1.5 million- Planned, implemented, and supported the University’s first Site Recovery Manager implementation project, including a budget of more than $125,000, and coordination with on-site… Show more - Provided ongoing virtualization engineering and implementation support within the University’s centralized, enterprise-level VMware virtualization infrastructure, resulting in elimination of redundant IT staffing and hardware needs in various university departments and total cost savings of more than $1.5 million- Planned, implemented, and supported the University’s first Site Recovery Manager implementation project, including a budget of more than $125,000, and coordination with on-site VMWare professional services, ITS Network, and ITS storage groups throughout the process- Assisted in testing of VMWare’s beta IaaS offering of vCloud Hybrid Service (vCHS) for hosted virtualization, and provided feedback to the University on the product’s future uses and disaster recovery solution potential Show less

Austin, Tx

- Provided comprehensive private cloud management services to more than 300 business clients, working daily with new and existing virtualization and SAN technologies- Managed a variety of customer-specific implementation projects, including customer onboarding and building final solutions

Washington D.C.

- Led a team of systems and network administrators in the design, implementation, and maintenance of organization-wide IT infrastructure projects affecting 150 local and remote employees of a national professional association - Worked with Director of IT to provide input on the IT Operations Group’s $400,000 annual capital and operating budget, including licensing management, estimation of upcoming equipment refresh needs, and pricing and sourcing of necessary products and services relating… Show more - Led a team of systems and network administrators in the design, implementation, and maintenance of organization-wide IT infrastructure projects affecting 150 local and remote employees of a national professional association - Worked with Director of IT to provide input on the IT Operations Group’s $400,000 annual capital and operating budget, including licensing management, estimation of upcoming equipment refresh needs, and pricing and sourcing of necessary products and services relating to planned projects- Developed and implemented a new virtualization initiative that yielded a 40% savings in energy usage and a 50% reduction in cooling requirements, and achieved a 99.98% up-time rate by improving backup and imaging processes and establishing regular maintenance windows- Sourced vendors and negotiated contracts for a variety of large-scale IT projects, including negotiation of a 30% price reduction for shared storage by leveraging future business with Dell account managers Show less

Arlington, Va

- Provided lead engineering support for Windows NT-based systems.

Houston, Tx

- Served as technical lead and manager for Jr. and Sr. Systems Engineers while responsible for the design, implementation and maintenance of all Windows systems software and hardware for EPGN data centers in three locations supporting 400+ users.

Vienna, Va

- Provided systems engineering support for various projects related to the Reserve Component Automation System (RCAS) program for the National Guard and Army Reserve.

Ashburn, Va

- Responsible for the design, implementation, and maintenance of the corporate network. Managed all aspects of network administration and communications systems while leading systems administrators.