May 2013 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Mukesh Kashyap, I.S.P., ITCP
Director, CIPS BC
Business Advisor – IM/IT, Government of British Columbia,
Ministry of Finance, Internal Audit and Advisory Services
About Mukesh:
What is your Background?
I immigrated to Canada 15 years ago from India, where I worked for the Federal government of India as a System Manager upon the completion of my degree in Computer Science.
I am presently working as a Business Advisor – IM/IT with the Government of British Columbia, Ministry of Finance. I am responsible for developing IM/IT strategies, providing assurance and audits for information management and information technology systems across British Columbia’s ministries and crown corporations. During reviews, I apply IM/IT standards for business requirements, SDLC, security, architecture and governance, consistent with the government guidelines and industry frameworks.
Previously, my contemporary assignment with the Ministry of Social Development was an enterprise wide multi-year, multi-ministry, and multi-phased high profile business transformation project. As the project director (controls & quality), my responsibility was to develop a new notion of performance measurement framework (e.g. Benefit Realization) as well as reporting for the ministries and Treasury Board. In addition, I was involved with reviewing the project controls and quality of business processes, including security and privacy, along with identifying risks.
Earlier I worked for 8 years with the BC Ministry of Forest as a Systems Analyst and later moved to a Team Leader/ Project Manager and Business Analyst position. During this time I developed, implemented and maintained several corporate revenue systems, I led and worked with the federal government and industry stakeholder’s collaboration. Previously I worked as a consultant for couple years with BC Ministry of Health and worked on Mainframe systems.
I have a Master’s in Business Administration with specialization in management consulting and Advance certificate in Business Analysis from Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC and a Bachelor degree in Computer Science. I have been working with the provincial government of BC for more than 13 years. My efforts were recognized and honored by the National and Provincial professional associations (i.e. CIPA, BC Technology, Government Technology, and the BC Premier Award) for my teamwork, project management and innovative skills while dealing with numerous internal and external stakeholders (i.e. industry, federal and provincial government, and vendors). In addition to ISP and ITCP from CIPS, I maintain a few other designations from ITSMF, ISACA, IIA and the BC government.
In my spare time, I enjoy volunteering. I volunteer my time with several professional, community and cultural associations. I volunteered for four years as the Vice-President and secretary for the Greater Victoria International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) chapter and am one of the active founding members for this chapter. I also volunteered with the Institute of Internal Auditors Vancouver Island chapter as the Chair of communication and Program coordinator for more than two years. I prepared our quarterly chapter newsletter and organized events. On behalf of the chapter, I participated in the IIA North American Leadership conference.
Presently I am on the Trustee board of Victoria Hindu Parishad (VHP), and Departmental Representative with the Association of Public Sector Information Professionals (DPI) on behalf of the Government of BC. I have been on the board of VHP for more than 13 years, as an Executive committee member, Vice-President and Treasurer. I have been involved with developing and organizing events, involving membership and promoting cultural and heritage values in the communities’.
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
I received my ISP designation in 2006 and joined the CIPS British Columbia Board of Directors in 2007.
As a Director (Membership) with CIPS-BC I maintain memberships and related issues and share them with the CIPS National membership committee, National office and the BC board. During 2010 I led and proposed to provide rebate to members to maintain and encourage an increase in membership. Recently a similar exercise was completed, by excluding the section fee in BC. As a board member I actively participate in the work and events organized in BC.
I worked on the on British Columbia Technology Award Review Committee during 2006 as an adjudicator, where I was assigned to review the technological features/ components of the nominated projects and provide recommendations for the projects, on behalf of CIPS,
I was an active member of the CIPS Common Body of Knowledge for Computing and IT (CBOK) committee in 2012. My involvement was present from the beginning of the group and I led two key technical sections of CBOK. The group I worked with was very professional and knowledgeable. The CIPS CBOK is a wonderful tool for IT professionals in Canada and across the globe.
My objective is to bring CIPS’ values in the mind of IM/IT and other professionals. I represented CIPS-BC and participated in the Information and Communication Technology Council (ICTC) I-Advance program National Review committee and previously participated as the subject matter expert in developing I-Advance certification activities.
Being a Business Advisor – IM/IT (IM/IT Auditor) with the Government of British Columbia, I was nominated by the CIPS National Board to audit CIPS certification application processing and overall governance of CIPS. I worked on the application processing and presented my report to CIPS National Board and Executive board. I am pleased to receive the support and dedication of the CIPS National and Certification council members.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
My involvement with CIPS has provided me incredible opportunities to work with committed, adoring and motivated IM/IT professionals. Engagements with CIPS activities at the National and Provincial level provide me with opportunities to meet, and work with like-minded people and most of all, learn from them.
The CIPS professional designation allowed me to further develop and maintain my profession year after year. Also allows me to maintain my designations, and stay up to date with existing and evolving technologies and management competencies.
At end, I would like to emphasis that the CIPS designation is a gateway to immigrant IM/IT professionals in Canada.
April 2013 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Jon Nightingale, I.S.P. (ret)
President, CIPS BC
About Jon:
What is your Background?
I originally came to IT indirectly. I started my university education at UBC in mining engineering. I had several summer jobs in the far north, and during the last one got involved in a project using a software program for doing open-pit mine design and planning. At that point I decided working in the wilderness was not for me and computer programming looked interesting. I switched to computer science and graduated in the first year UBC offered a degree in computer science. Upon graduation I took a job at the UBC Computing Centre, which ended up as a 20-year career, primarily in client support areas.
In 1993 I took the opportunity of a severance package from UBC and went out on my own. A couple of years later I was back at UBC as a contractor doing some website design work. During that time I was also doing work for a small Internet start-up company and this eventually morphed into a full-time job. The main focus was web-based image collections, primarily in the museum and fine-art areas.
I cut back to part-time work a couple of years back and am now pretty much retired. For leisure these days I walk a lot to stay fit and enjoy travelling and photography.
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
Over my many years in CIPS I have served in multiple roles at the local, provincial, and national levels. My CIPS career started in 1976 when my UBC boss Al Fowler, then on the CIPS Vancouver Board and later a CIPS National President, asked me to take care of the Vancouver membership list. I spent much of the next few years working on membership matters locally and nationally. Long before the Internet we actually ran the national membership system on UBC's mainframe, with the National Office accessing it via Datapac.
I was on the National Executive in the mid-80's when we had the referendum that started us on the path to our professional designations. In 1996 I joined the Certification Council which I chaired for a number of years, and I also chaired the council experience committee that reviews the experience reviews of I.S.P. applications.
In 2004 I took on the role of Chair of the Governance Committee which, over the next several years, moved CIPS to its new and current structure. Subsequent to that I served on the CCITP and am currently completing my second term as President of CIPS BC.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
My early years in CIPS contributed greatly to my professional development. It provided an opportunity to interact with a variety of people at different levels in their careers, from students to CIO's. Local dinner meetings and seminars as well as the annual national conferences kept me up-to-date on the industry.
The greatest pleasure of involvement with CIPS for me has always been working with a large, diverse, and dedicated collection of individuals and this, more than anything, is the reason I have remained active so long. Through CIPS I have developed a network of colleagues and friends that extends from one end of the country to the other.
March 2013 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Thomas Boxall, I.S.P., ITCP
Developer, ISM Canada
Director, CIPS Saskatchewan
About Thomas:
What is your Background?
I've been programming since I was 7-8 years old. My father bought the family an Amiga 500 when I was a child and I fell in love with AmigaBasic and all the possibilities it presented. I entered the IT Industry in 1999 as a Signal Operator for the Canadian Forces. This gave me a very raw view of what computers can do in the worst conditions, and seeded the dedicated and professional attitude I have to this day. While with the Canadian Forces I served one tour in Afghanistan with the Canadian Forces Joint Signal Regiment (CFJSR). In 2007 I was hired by ISM Canada, an IBM company, where I've worked as a Developer for the last 6 years. In 2011 I became the first person in Saskatchewan to receive their ITCP via the application process. My interests include, role-playing games (of which I develop for several companies), mobile development, Open Source development, politics, and I'm a strong supporter of the Canadian Forces.
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
I first heard about CIPS while in University, but didn't become involved until I joined ISM Canada. CIPS' desire to promote professionalism in the IT industry resonated with my desire to be an IT Professional. I started off as the Student Coordinator for CIPS Regina and participated on the CIPS Regina Board until their amalgamation with CIPS Saskatoon to create CIPS Saskatchewan. I continued to volunteer for CIPS Saskatchewan as a Student Coordinator in Regina. 2 years ago I was voted onto the CIPS Saskatchewan Board of Directors and took up the position as the Southern Saskatchewan Program Director. Last year the Northern Saskatchewan and Southern Saskatchewan Program Chairs were merged and I became the CIPS Saskatchewan Program Director. I owe a lot of my success to the hard work of our Executive Director Maria Galati, our partnership agreements with groups like PMI, IIBA, and the Regina Tech Community, and my desire to bring the best content to our members.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
I've never really thought what value my involvement with CIPS provided, I always volunteered because I believe in what CIPS stands for, and what we bring to the IT Industry. I will always work hard to promote professional development to our members, students, and the IT industry. I want to thank CIPS for awarding me as the CIPS Volunteer of the Month. It has always been a great honour for me to be a part of this great organization, and I try to give back as much as I can.
February 2013 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Lynne Heffel, CHRP, CCI
President, HR Works Inc.
Past President, CIPS Edmonton
About Lynne:
What is your Background?
My background is not, and never has been, in Information Technology. It is interesting how I slipped into this sector of the business world and have never come out. I am in human resources – thus the CHRP designation (Certified Human Resources Professional). I also attended a virtual university – Corporate Coach International and earned my Corporate Coaching Certification (CCI) in 2000. I was hired, many years ago, by a recruitment firm to start a ‘technology’ division for the firm. Through my work with this particular firm, I was contacted by many IT companies or the IT division of a company, to help them find people to fill their open IT positions. So, it was not too long after opening this technology division that I was labeled as the ‘go to’ person for IT people. Along with this label, there was an assumption that I was an IT person. Because of this assumption that was out there, panic set in and I realized I had better get some knowledge and some networking contacts in this area. Therefore, in 1986 I joined CIPS Edmonton and have been a member ever since.
I have been self-employed for the past 18 years and can attribute my tremendous success with the IT realm from my association with CIPS over the years. I have met numerous contacts over the years that have become friends, business colleagues and clients.
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
After I joined CIPS, I must admit I did not feel like I fit in ….. after all, I was human resources not a ‘techie’. Because of this, I thought how do I get to know more people in this ‘community’ faster and my answer was – start up a special interest group (SIG). As my background was all in the soft skills side of training and education and CIPS was so technical my choice was for a ‘soft skills’ SIG which I called the OA SIG (Office Automation Special Interest Group). I ran this group from 1987 to 1989 and was then asked to take on the membership portfolio. In those days, it was an appointed position, not a voted in position. I held this position from 1989 to 1991. Guess what? This involvement worked as I quickly got to know many, many names and faces and I started to feel like I fit in and I was actually starting to like all these ‘techie’ types!
In 1991, I was asked if I would like to run for President and was voted in. After I served my 2 year tenure, I stayed as a member for quite a few years and then in the Spring of 2002 I started up the HR SIG (Human Resources Special Interest Group) which I ran until 2006.
I am still an active CIPS member and get involved with helping with the ICE Conference and other CIPS Edmonton initiatives whenever possible.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
My involvement with CIPS has afforded me the opportunity to meet numerous people from all walks of life. Because I am self employed, I have been fortunate to be able to deal with some of these people on a professional basis as they have become clients over the years as well as friends.
I can honestly say that CIPS has provided me with my ‘technical’ education and with a wonderful network of people that I can lean on whenever I need technical advice or knowledge both professionally and personally. It has been great to be involved with such dedicated individuals who have a very strong commitment to continuous learning.
I am honored to have been selected Volunteer of the Month – not really sure if I am deserving of this honor but I thank you and would like to say that I share this honor with many of my CIPS colleagues.
January 2013 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Debbie Conrad, EMBA, I.S.P., ITCP/IP3P, CIM
Registrar & Marketing Director, CIPS Ontario
Membership Director, CIPS Executive Council
About Debbie:
What is your Background?
As a seasoned IT Professional and Business Consultant, my career began after graduating from Fanshawe College in the mid 70’s, with a diploma in Business Data Processing. I was fortunate to be offered my first full time programming position after a Co-op with 3M Canada in London, where I later held the roles of Senior Analyst, Project Leader and IT Trainer. After 15 years, I ventured out to start up a home based business with a focus on IT Training, Development and Leadership.
Now with over 35 years of experience, my commitment to life-long learning, professionalism, and continuous change has allowed me the opportunity to work with large organizations, private and public education providers, municipal government, small to large businesses and volunteer organizations.
In addition to CIPS certifications as well as many others, I have continued my professional development and in 2011, completed an Executive MBA in Global Leadership, through the University of Fredericton.
While my current interests are quite varied, I look forward to building on my past experiences with opportunities to influence and guide strategic planning, governance, ethics, change management, cultural diversity and creative thinking while continuing to give back to our community.
My true passion in life is spending time with my family, especially my grandchildren. There is no greater joy than traditional family feasts, baking, reading old classics and enjoying the fresh outdoors while I watch our future leaders grow. My family is truly my inspiration and has always supported my volunteerism with CIPS.
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
As a CIPS member since 1984, I have had the honour and the privilege of working with and learning from some of the most brilliant and amazing leaders across Canada. While inspired very early in my career to get involved with volunteerism, I continue to help support CIPS at all levels.
Since joining CIPS, my roles have included being President of CIPS London (‘87-88); Regional Director South Western Ontario (‘89-94); as well as serving on various committees locally and nationally.
I currently serve as Provincial Registrar/Secretary and Marketing Director on the CIPS Ontario Board of Directors as well as Director of Membership on the Executive Council.
At a local level, I enjoy helping to plan events and act as a liaison with our partners in the interest of helping to strengthen the value of membership while providing professional opportunities.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
As a seasoned IT Professional, CIPS I.S.P., and grand-parented ITCP recipient, CIPS has enabled me to achieve a wealth of knowledge and experience through professional development and leadership opportunities. In addition to an incredibly large and strong network of friends and colleagues, CIPS provides the opportunity to stay connected and continuously learn and grow in this ever changing world while giving back to our community.
I get great satisfaction in helping to make things happen and thoroughly enjoy working with people who contribute so freely of their time and energy, especially in challenging times.
It is truly an honour to be recognized as CIPS volunteer of the month and I sincerely thank all those who continue to provide leadership and support.
November 2012 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Ron Richard, I.S.P., ITCP/IP3P
CIPS NL Board member
About Ron:
What is your Background?
Started as a computer programmer and now I have about 30 years of experience. From writing computer programs at Dalhousie University when attending high school, and from working in the IT industry while involved in continual college, university and other education, I’ve now held positions at most any level, contributed to the development and improvement of best practices, and been involved in projects involving just about any type of IT expertise. There’s more information on LinkedIn, and I welcome connections for anyone who may like to view the full profile or have a chat.
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
CIPS NS, CIPS National, CIPS NL… when the many related years are combined my involvement has included such things as organizing events and helping with others, chairing certification and other groups and holding various committee and board positions, delivering presentations and sharing ideas and thoughts in writing including through various sites, blogs and so on. Anyway, while the majority of my involvement relates to CIPS NS, all of my CIPS involvement required the collaboration of others and so for anything I’ve been part of I give full credit and thanks to those who made things possible.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
I hope my involvement has helped towards increasing positive awareness, consciousness, or energy in relation to the emergence of a formal global IT profession. CIPS has been in existence a long time, and progress continues to be made thanks to many. The positive updates around the IT industry in fact are great to see, and now more than ever there seems to be a real profession. There’s hope for a future that is bright, and ideally progress will continue and significant gains will be made in coming years on route to 2020 or what I like to call perfect vision leap year 2020. Grateful to have been selected volunteer of the month, I look forward to reading about the contributions of many more CIPS members as goals are identified and achieved for the profession and public. In any case, from various events attended, and from ongoing networking with fellow IT pros, I find membership in CIPS is of tremendous value; and considering the many in CIPS who are deserving of recognition, I am humbled to have been selected Volunteer of the Month. Thank you. I share this with all who have collaborated with me over the years. Thanks again to each person.
October 2012 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Jeff Knechtel, I.S.P., ITCP
Past President, CIPS Toronto
Director, CIPS Ontario
About Jeff:
What is your Background?
- My undergraduate degree is from the University of Guelph with an unusual specialization combination of Computer Information Science and Drama.
- More recently I took advantage of the Bursary available to CIPS members and received an Executive MBA from the University of Fredericton (which I recommend very highly).
- Over the past two years I've been learning Spanish as a second language (what did people do before immersion lessons with unilingual professors via Skype?) and have been keeping busy raising two young children.
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
- I've been on the Toronto board of directors for the past 8 years, and more recently the Ontario board.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
- I've recieved my I.S.P. and ITCP though CIPS, and I wouldn't have an MBA if it weren't for CIPS. However, it's through volunteering that I've received the most value.
- There's certainly value if you meet someone at an event, but a casual meeting isn't a substitute for the trust that can be built when you work alongside other people in a volunteer capacity. Through volunteer work, you not only get to know people, but you get to build a level of trust with them that can truly enrich your life.
September 2012 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Ken Metcalfe, I.S.P., ITCP, CCP
Director I.T., Privacy Officer
The Portage la Prairie Mutual Insurance Co.
About Ken:
What is your Background?
Anybody looking for old Byte magazines? I believe I still have a couple of 8Kx1 memory chips from my socketed Z80 motherboard! When looking back Computer Science at university had been largely languages, numerical analysis and just beginning to branch out as a department in its own right. Moore’s Law was evident with computers rapidly escaping the glassed-in, raised floors of the mainframe world. ARPnet was all the buzz, promising to connect networks of computers and the university’s PDP 8 to the “world”.
Employed with Portage la Prairie Mutual Insurance since 1978, I began at the bottom and at the top at the same time as I was their first “computer’ guy. After stabilizing the IBM System 3 card system, the company ‘computer’ department has transitioned over the years from a “necessary evil” into an integral business component.
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
My first involvement with CIPS began with their national conferences. In 1987 CIPS became a permanent component of my career and I obtained my I.S.P. in 1992. Working with the CIPS Winnipeg section in various board positions, I became the Manitoba Region Director on the CIPS National Board, ultimately holding executive board positions of both Treasurer and Secretary. I participated during the formation of the provincial CIPS structure and have held executive board positions in CIPS Manitoba and continue as a working board member. At CIPS National I have remained a member of the Finance Committee.
Over the past 10 years I have been your national representative to the Institute for the Certification of Computing Professionals (ICCP), which provides knowledge assessment towards the I.S.P. and ongoing recertification credits. I currently hold the executive board position of vice president.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
Active involvement in CIPS has been the key to my professional growth. I could not have led the company I.T. transition without my constant and active participation in CIPS. Understanding and maintaining a professional I.T. focus has been both a rudder and engine driving my career. While business focuses on business, CIPS members have provided key support and insight, keeping me on the path of an I.T. professional.
August 2012 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Cheryl Lundrigan, B Sc., I.S.P., ITCP, PMP
CIPS NL Past-President and current Vice-President
About Cheryl:
What is your Background?
In 1986 I graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science. During my student years, Information Technology was just taking off with very few people owning a computer. We all used typewriters for writing our Term Papers and a Commodore 64 was the hot commodity if you could afford one. Portable Computers wouldn’t be available until a few years to come and even when it did arrive; it was called a luggable computer. This was just a glimmer of what would come 30 years later with today’s Ultrabooks and iPads being top of the list for back to school must haves. Anyone graduating from IT today should wonder where our industry will be in another 30 years, 2042 will be futuristic looking for sure.
My roles within IT swayed from Computer Support, System Networking and Administration, IT Service Delivery, Change and Configuration and now into Project Management. I’ve been employed by engineering companies for most of my career, working on large scale projects such as the Frigate Program and Oil projects Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose. I moved from project work for 7 years to deliver IT Service Management in a global environment feeding my travel impulses. In between, I had the opportunity to work for the RCMP on the local Provincial LAN rollout which included implementation of Laptops for the patrol cars.
The last few years, I‘ve moved into Project Management in the IT Health Care Sector. Traditionally, Health Care has been mostly a paper based practice, but along with every other industry out there, it is transforming into a fully electronic digital world, allowing patients from coast to coast to obtain better health care by improving access to technology and information.
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
It was in the early ‘90s that I first heard of CIPS. It took me a long time to figure out it was not pronounced sips but was with a “K”. Of course then I called it chips for awhile, but eventually I got it right. Each year a notice would go around to the engineering companies looking for women who were in the IT field to speak at an annual CIPS’ sponsored Women in IT (WIT) conference. Back then, few women were in IT and so this program was timely and beneficial.
Fast forward 20 years and I am the Past-President of CIPS NL, have been on the CIPSNL Board of Directors since 2008, and on the WIT Committee looking for more women to speak at the conference. During my year as President, we expanded the WIT Conference outside St. John’s and held a satellite conference in Corner Brook. Next year we are hoping to go north and bring it into Labrador. The local CIPS chapter also represents Nunavut, although we are not sure if we’ll make it that far but it is on the radar. The conference is still aimed at Grade Nine girls to expand their knowledge of what IT is about and encourage them to consider a career path in Information Technology. The significance now though is that IT is everywhere, and in every field making it much more attainable.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
I bring enthusiasm to our small membership, always looking for interesting speakers to present to our CIPSNL members. We have held many luncheons that I have arranged, from RCMP Computer Forensics to Organizational Change Management within the IT Health Care sector. One of our events drew 80 people which, in proportion to our 20 odd membership, is quite a turn out.
As my role on the WIT Committee, I pushed to expand the WIT conference outside the capital city. I believe we need to include more Rural schools where it is very beneficial because they do not have as much opportunity to attend these type of events which are normally offered in cities. This year we expect to start a Youth in IT seminar/workshop of some sort and work with the High School Students. We may partner with the local Newfoundland Association of Technology Industries in a joint event.
The Networking opportunities, great Speakers and focus on professionalism are all key reasons I am involved with CIPS. CIPS’ I.S.P. and ITCP certifications provides an assurance for recruiters to know the candidate already comes “Pre-qualified” to a certain extent.
July 2012 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Dean Hartley, I.S.P., ITCP
Vice President, IT, Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority
About Dean:
What is your Background?
I became interested in computers when I was in grade ten and the math instructor brought in a RadioShack TSR-80. Shortly after I convinced my Dad to buy an Apple II computer for his business, and I self taught myself computer programming. I developed a piece of software for my Dad’s company to print exhibitor nametags at tradeshows.
I enrolled in the Computer Systems: Operations and Management (CSOM) program at Cariboo College (now Thomson Rivers University). The program was put together by Jack and Brenda Mathews, both with an IT consulting background. I graduated in 1987 and in 1990 the CSOM program was accredited by CIPS. Jack and Brenda built an excellent program and today it continues to develop well prepared IT professionals geared towards business.
I began my career as a programmer at the BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC). I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to work in many different roles to develop a broad understanding of IT. After many technical roles I began leading projects and eventually worked my way into various management roles. BCLC is a very innovative company and a leader in the gaming (lottery, casino, bingo) industry.
For the last four years I have been working in the role of Vice President at the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority in Saskatoon. I’m responsible for the IT strategy and the delivery of IT projects and services to the organization. We have over 1,800 employees working in our six casinos.
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
Jack & Brenda Mathews were big supporters of CIPS and encouraged all the CSOM students to become members. For a short period of time I was on the CIPS Kamloops Board, responsible for the monthly newsletter to members.
Since moving to Saskatoon, I have been very involved with CIPS Saskatchewan serving in the roles of Director-at-large, primarily in programs delivery, and then in the roles of Vice President, President, Past-President, and Treasurer. Just recently I was nominated to the CIPS National Board. I obtained my I.S.P. designation in 2008.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
For me the I.S.P. designation means I’m part of large group of trusted IT professionals who stand for a body of knowledge, a code of ethics and a commitment to continuous learning.
Being involved with the CIPS Saskatchewan Board has allowed me to further develop many skills and work with an excellent group of volunteers. It has been very rewarding to be part of a team that has advanced CIPS Saskatchewan over the last few years. Getting to know other IT professionals from a diverse group of industries has been exciting.
June 2012 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Deborah Harrop, I.S.P., ITCP, CISSP, CBCP, CISM
Senior Manager, IT Service Delivery, Workers’ Compensation Board Alberta
About Deborah:
What is your Background?
I had an early mid life crisis. I went back to school in my thirties to take a diploma program in Computing Systems Technology at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). While it was a two year program if you went full days, I was working full time and, as a result, spent 5 ½ years at night school. It was a lot of fun and a great deal of work, but ultimately very rewarding.
I started my IT Career with Canadian Utilities as a mainframe Help Desk Analyst while I continued with my studies at NAIT. Night shifts and carrying a pager provided great experience in time and crisis management. I moved on to develop a real love for Disaster Recovery Planning and IT Security as I lead those teams with the same company, rebranded as ATCO I-tek. After 10 years an opportunity came to my attention at WCB where I have spent 12 years in a variety of areas including IT Security, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning. I spent a few years managing the teams responsible for Infrastructure and Operations and most recently I’m leading the teams responsible for IT Security, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning, Help Desk and Desktop Support, Enterprise Architecture and IT Finance and Contracting. The most fun I have though is in leading the groups that provide governance over our outsourced Application Development and Maintenance, helping to ensure that WCB Alberta is investing in the best tools and applications to meet our business objectives.
In my spare time in the summer I indulge in my love of gardening. Peter, my husband, and I have an award winning garden that has been featured in several magazines and on a number of fund raising tours for charities and not-for-profit organizations such as Alberta Ballet, local libraries and women’s shelters. Peter deals with the hardscaping, music systems and lighting while I take care of the plants. We both enjoy sitting in the gazebo with a glass of wine when the work is done! I spend the winter months enjoying my other love – painting. I dabble in oils, acrylics and most recently using pencil crayons. I think I’m returning to my childhood – anyone else recall colouring in maps of Canada with pencil crayons?
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
I have had the privilege of working with great volunteers with CIPS in a number of capacities. I served on the local Board in Edmonton for a number of years and helped to chair the program committee for the National Conference. The friendships I developed there have lasted for many years. The past 12 years I have been involved with the Edmonton CIPS Women in IT Conference committee. We organize and host an annual conference at the University of Alberta for 350 Grade nine female students to help them understand what a wonderful, rewarding career IT can be. It is so gratifying to hear them adopt our messages that IT Careers are not just for geeks and that girls can be very successful in IT.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
The connections I have made through CIPS have helped me move forward in my career and provided me with amazing opportunities to work with motivated, passionate and dedicated IT professionals. The experience I gained through my work with CIPS has lead to new job opportunities, the ability to participate in marketing CIPS and the IT Industry, and to give back to both the industry and to the community.
May 2012 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Jason Janes, I.S.P., ITCP, PMP, MCTIP
Past President, CIPS Newfoundland and Labrador
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/jasonjanes
About Jason:
What is your Background?
I am a self proclaimed technology geek having been introduced to programming as a teen in the early 1980s using a Commodore Vic-20. Soon after, I was employed by Radio Shack and continued working there through college where I completed a Business and Computer Studies diploma at Fisher Institute (College of the North Atlantic).
During those early years, my entrepreneurial spirit also began to shine when I started my first business during high school and then worked as an IT consultant shortly after college. This entrepreneurial spirit still exists today with my involvement in StartUpNL (http://www.meetup.com/startupnl). I then worked in many IT roles from Development and Project Manager to Chief Technical Officer for a range of businesses servicing very diverse industries from mining, heavy construction, and road building to food, beverage, and consumer packaged goods. I'm currently focused on delivering solutions built on Microsoft technologies like SharePoint utilizing mobile and social features.
In my spare time, I enjoy the outdoors. I joined the Scouting movement as a youth and continued as a Scout leader teaching camping and canoeing safety. Now my wife and I enjoy travelling and we have explored much of Canada, United States, Europe, and the Caribbean but we always love to come home to Newfoundland and Labrador and spend quality time with our Golden Retriever, Maddie.
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
In 2008 after returning home to Newfoundland and Labrador, I wanted to become reacquainted with the IT industry here so I began the search for a like-minded group of technology professionals. I very quickly found the CIPS NL group and joined them for a lunch and learn session. I liked what I saw and decided to volunteer. In a very short time, I earned the respect of the group and was nominated to the position of Vice President and during the 2009 AGM, I became President. I held that position for 2 years and I am currently the past president.
My goal is to raise awareness for the importance of professionalism in the IT industry. Each and every day, I meet with individuals and organizations that either provide or consume IT services and reinforce the importance of professionalism in their organizations. It sometimes feels like an up hill battle but it is definitely a worthwhile effort.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
The CIPS organization and professional designation has been invaluable to me. I consider professional designations to be the differentiator when comparing resumes of individuals with similar skills and experience. If an individual is willing to invest in obtaining and maintaining a professional designation, it demonstrates their commitment to the profession and technology. Setting a goal to maintain my designations ensures that I stay up to date on existing and evolving technologies and management concepts.
April 2012 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Lem Murphy, I.S.P., ITCP
Regional Director, CIPS Nova Scotia
CIPS Nova Scotia Rep, CIPS National Board
Database Administrator, CAE
About Lem:
What is your Background?
I didn’t touch my first computer until I was in high school, and in 1978 that was the TRS-80 Model 1 Level II with an extravagant 32Kb of memory, a cassette recorder to save programs and a choice of BASIC or Assembler. I haven’t been far from computers since.
Military College brought many shocks, not the least of which was in programming in FORTRAN on a DEC PDP-11 using punch cards. I finished my Bachelor of Science at Mount Saint Vincent University where in addition to my studies, I worked as a Student Computer Operator and as a Computer Lab Assistant (DEC VAX 780’s and Terminals).
I have worked in the defence industry ever since I graduated; it hasn’t all been at the same company and many times when the business card changed I was still sitting at the same desk doing the same job as always. The positions have changed from developer to System Administrator and Database Administrator, while the challenges have changed from solving programming problems, to bigger problems like leading a small team to complete Y2K changes and the more bewildering challenge of standing in a datacenter blackened by fire and working to have it operational within 24 hours of the flames being extinguished.
What type of Involvement have you had with CIPS?
I joined CIPS in 1994 but for the first few years my involvement was limited to attending events and networking. Then in 1998 I started thinking about applying for the I.S.P., so in 1999 I started studying for the ICCP exams, which I finally wrote in early 2000.
In 2001 Andrew Morrisey recruited me as the Treasurer of CIPS Nova Scotia during the last push of the Legislation project. Then in 2003 with the I.S.P. Legislation passed and Proclaimed, I slipped back into being a member. But then in 2006, I was recruited to be the Vice-President of CIPS NS, which led me to be part of the Informatics 2007 team in Halifax. As I changed role from President to Past-President, I also found myself as the CIPS NS representative on the CIPS CCITP / National Board, which I continue to serve on today.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
Well, it’s safe to say that my current employment is a direct result of networking at one CIPS event in Halifax. In addition to the obvious benefits of networking, serving on the Provincial and National Boards has provided me with opportunities to meet, work with, and learn from other professionals which I otherwise would have missed.
I am a firm believer of certification as a demonstration of professionalism and competency and have worked hard to attain my credentials to show my personal commitment in a rapidly changing and expanding industry.
CIPS with its Code of Ethics, the commitment to continuing education and its professional certifications is a comfortable fit.
March 2012 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Pat Gaudet, ABCP, I.S.P. (ret.)
CIPS Golden Horseshoe, Executive Member - Meeting Coordinator
Gaudet & Associates, Consultants - Advisor / Consultant
About Pat:
What is your background?
At the time when I started my career at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) there was relatively little formal education offered in Information Technology careers and the demand was high. I was fortunately able to learn on the job through self study and classroom courses. I supplemented that education with attendance at conferences and local events hosted by industry leaders and external education and networking associations.
I am very grateful for the valuable assistance from supervisors and work and other colleagues who mentored me at different times in my career.
I spent my whole IT-specific career in the Systems department at RBC, with a variety of types of positions from programmer through to program manager. I was fortunate enough to gain early valuable experience by developing, installing and maintaining banking systems in a number of international sites. Other interesting experiences included managing the project for an internal IT conference for business and IT managers and staff, and participating in a newly-established function providing internal consulting to IT and to business units. Then came Y2K - I coordinated the EUC/MIS preparation for Y2K and then the IT unit’s Y2K contingency plans, after which I managed the unit’s business continuity process for the department for a five years.
After finishing my career with RBC I established myself as an independent consultant specializing in business continuity management and have been enjoying the exposure to different types of businesses.
What type of involvement have you had with CIPS?
I became active in CIPS Toronto about 20 years ago when I helped establish a special interest group (SIG) focusing on end user computing / management information systems. I also co-founded CIPS Toronto’s Y2K and Business Continuity Management (BCM) SIGs.
I became a member of the CIPS Toronto Board in 2000-2007 with early responsibilities tied to media relations and publishing the CIPS Toronto magazine. I was President of CIPS Toronto 2001-2003, spent three years 2004-2007 on the CIPS National Board and four additional years on the Finance Committee. In 2007 I joined the CIPS Golden Horseshoe Board where I still serve today.
I received my I.S.P. designation in 2002 (currently inactive status due to shift of work focus).
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
My involvement with CIPS has been a very good investment. Through participation in meetings, conferences and volunteer leadership activities, I have benefited from exposure to many aspects of technology and business and management that would not have been possible if I had not looked outside my own work environment.
My CIPS colleagues have been great sources of information about the industry and about management practices. Many of them have become longer term friends through shared goals and experiences. Similarly, working with my CIPS colleagues has provided value back to my employer, as my gained knowledge and skills are applied in the work environment.
I strongly believe that you get back what you give. Over my career I have been active in many different types of volunteer organizations including Junior Chamber (Jaycees), Junior Achievement, school and police advisory boards, ASM (Association for Systems Management) and, currently, the Canadian Red Cross, and throughout, that rule has held for me.
February 2012 CIPS Volunteer of the Month:
Shane M Ridgway, I.S.P.
CIPS Saskatchewan President
SaskTel
About Shane:
What is your background?
I took my post-sec education at SIAST, Completing the Business Certificate Program & Computer Information System Diploma with cooperative education designation.
I am currently a Technical Analyst in the IT Infrastructure Operations & Support area, where I support SaskTel internal and external services. I have been with SaskTel since 2004.
While completing my Computer Information System (CIS) diploma and Certificate in Business Administration, I have started my IT career at the Moosomin School Division No. 9 where I provided Computer Systems and Server Support to the schools within the division. I then moved to Moosomin Team New Holland where I was the Technology Department Manager, providing training to Team members, planned, implemented and documented their Windows / UNIX network.
After completing my CIS diploma at SIAST, I had the privilege of working with the Saskatchewan Department of Learning to complete and redesign their Department website. During that time I gained valuable project experience while working with others from various Learning Branches and Units. I then moved to the SaskTel Internet Support Centre where I have gained knowledge of the queue environments, supported services portfolio, and the scope of support provided. From the IPSC I moved to the Server Operation Centre @ SaskTel where I have gained knowledge of SaskTel’s operations. After working in the SOC I accepted a position in IT Infrastructure Operations & Support as a Technical Analyst. Through my current and past endeavors, I have broadened my existing skills which I will continue to bring to the industry.
I enjoy traveling, scuba diving, downhill and cross-country skiing.
What type of involvement have you had with CIPS?
I am currently serving on the CIPS Saskatchewan Board of Directors as the President. Since CIPS hosted an information session at SIAST in 2001-2002 I had an interest in what CIPS had to offer. I have been involved with CIPS Saskatchewan since 2009 as a member at large. I helped in various ways such as managing their website.
I received my I.S.P. designation on March 2010, and joined the CIPS Saskatchewan Board as the Programs Director for South SK (Regina & Area). In the Q3 2011 I became the Acting President and President in Q4 2011, and am currently holding this office.
What value has your involvement with CIPS provided?
Throughout my journey in IT, CIPS has encouraged and provided avenues to grow as an IT professional though networking, the ISP certification, accreditation of IT programs, professional development, and leadership skills. I feel that non-profits like CIPS bring like-minded people together in the field of IT. CIPS takes a practical approach to promote professional standards and asks it members to adhere to a Code of Ethics. The right of title in the IT industry sets us apart and promotes a pathway for the members to be the best they can be, therefore improving quality of life and setting a foundational corner stone in the IT industry. CIPS encourages a commitment to my profession, provides me with pride in being a member and I.S.P. holder. Working with IT professionals, academics, CIPS Saskatchewan Board, and practitioners to make a difference in the face of IT gives me personal value, and I am indeed grateful.
