LARRY SPARKMAN
6352 Duck Call Court · Tallahassee Florida 32309
850-264-5506 · larrysparkman99@gmail.com
PROJECT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST
Project Management specialist with a Master’s Degree in Project Management, over 20 years of experience in the management and supervision of IT Project Managers and IT Projects within a variety of technical environments. Project Management Methodology expert with recent experience managing projects to satisfy the F.A.C Project Management Rule 60GG.01.
Certifications: PMI-PMP · PMI-ACP · Scrum Master · Lean Six Sigma Black Belt · ITIL · ISO
Software: Smartsheet · Cherwell · SharePoint · Microsoft Project · Visio · MS Excel · PowerPoint
Projects: Data Center Consolidations · vxBlock Migration · Isilon Implementation · Disaster Recovery
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
SPARKMAN PROJECT MANAGEMENT ___________________________________March 2021 to Present
Offering part-time project management consulting services.
DIVISION OF STATE TECHNOLOGY (DST), Tallahassee Florida___________May 2012 to February 2021
Formally known as the Agency of State Technology (AST), DST is a division of the Department of Management Services responsible for the support and maintenance of the state’s Information technology Data Center.
Project Manager/ PMO Manager
Developed and implemented a formal Project Management Office methodology including tools, templates and processes designed to manage projects for AST. Successfully managed the migration of several agency’s hardware to the AST datacenter in 2013 and 2014. Designed/Implemented a SharePoint PMO project dashboard and assisted in its conversion to Smartsheet. Served as Project Manager for the implementation of Cherwell for AST, AHCA and DOR, and other enterprise projects including the vxBlock migration, Isilon implementation and the ongoing management of Disaster Recovery Exercises for 14 customer agencies.
COMPUTER TRAINING & CONSULTING, Tallahassee, Florida______________Jan 2016 to Dec 2017
Client: Ministry of Finance, Bahamas
Provided Project Management Methodology training to the Project Office for the Ministry of Finance in the Bahamas. Developed and delivered training classes and helped design and implement a SharePoint PMO site designed to present enterprise level project status reporting for executive management.
IMAGE SOFTWARE CONSULTING, Tallahassee Florida
Client: ACS – State of Florida Enterprise E-mail____________________________ July 2011 to May 2012
Deployment Manager / PMO Specialist
Developed, implemented and executed the Enterprise E-mail Deployment methodology while working as a Deployment Manager responsible for planning and coordinating the migration of over 100K Email boxes for over 30 state agencies to a new email environment called Outlook Web Application (OWA).
Client: Florida Dept. of Revenue, Information Systems Program _________April 2011 to June 2011
Project Management Specialist
Responsible for mentoring and training project managers and supervisors in the formal project management methodologies defined by the ISP PMO. In addition, provided hands on guidance and advice on how best use the HP Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) tool for defining, tracking and managing IT projects. Dramatically improved the understanding and acceptance of formal project management methodologies defined by the PMO.
COMPUTER TRAINING & CONSULTING, Tallahassee, Florida___________June 2010 to April 2011
Client: Florida Department of Financial Services, Workers’ Compensation
Project Manager
Lead a team of four consultants in the conversion and rewrite of the Workers’ Compensation Integrated Suite of applications and modules from PowerBuilder 6.5 to a .Net web-based system. Responsible for defining project scope, estimating work effort, communicating status, and the delivery of a quality solution on time and within budget.
Key Achievements:
- Lead estimating and scheduling efforts during the RFQ process resulting is a winning proposal.
- Facilitated a re-estimating effort to re-baseline the project schedule and clarify the Critical path.
- Proactively addressed critical issues and executed appropriate change control measures when necessary.
SEVA TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, Tallahassee, Florida_____________________July 2007-December 2008
IT consulting firm developing database-driven software applications for government and business clients.
Director of Project Management
Recruited to establish and oversee Project Management Office optimizing delivery of web application services. Developed proposals in response to quote requests from government agencies. Orchestrated operations of proposal teams; collaborated with IT staff members to gather requirements, assess client needs and design solutions; estimated scope of work, pricing and timeframe; oversaw logistical assembly and collection of documents. Executed and managed Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) projects. Spearheaded legislative budget request initiatives.
Key Achievements:
- Secured $4 million in funding from Florida Legislature in support of IT enhancement project upgrading and integrating DEP servers through expert leadership of budget request efforts.
- Coordinated modernization of DEP servers. Oversaw scheduling, work breakdown structure, definition of deliverables. Facilitated meetings and provided regular status reports to CIO.
- Enhanced requirements gathering and business design processes through the development and training of customized technical life cycle tools, techniques, and methodologies.
KEANE, INC., Tallahassee, Florida _____________________________________February 2004-June 2007
Global IT consulting firm specializing in formal project management, employing approximately 15,000 employees worldwide.
Principal Consultant—Project Management Officer
Established a Project Management Office. Trained, mentored, and managed business analysts and project managers in project management tools and techniques. Commanded and managed numerous projects simultaneously and oversaw project resource operations.
Key Achievements:
- Designed, implemented and oversaw operations of highly efficient Project Management Office.
- Heightened project visibility and sharpened communication with executive management through development of stable and consistent approach to project scope and objective definition.
- Orchestrated strategic plan to integrate water-monitoring data from 5 distinct areas into central database. Commanded definition of 15 sub-projects and approval of $2 million operating budget.
- Delivered employee education to Information Systems personnel in use of MS Project 2003.
COMPUTER ASSOCIATES, Tallahassee, Florida _____________________September 1997-April 2003
Global software development and implementation firm with approximately 30,000 employees.
Project Management Office Representative
Served as primary oversight representative for all mainframe projects throughout U.S. and Canada; ensured quality, profitability and timeliness. Conducted project audits and quality reviews of proposals and statements of work. Collaborated with project management staff to reorganize and ensure success of challenged projects. Delivered comprehensive training to project managers throughout North America on risk management, communication and scheduling oversight. Audited 10-15 proposals daily.
Key Achievements:
- Ensured competency of project managers, supervisors and directors in use of MS Project; delivered on-site and remote training sessions.
- Cooperated in creation of formal project management life cycle; trained and mentored staff on use of tools and templates facilitating management of scope, risk and communications.
- Oversaw Y2K assessment of application systems for Department of Education. Managed analysis of 57 application systems, 2,784 programs, 2,665 jobs, and 4 million lines of code.
ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS (EDS), Tallahassee, Florida_________March 1984-September 1997
Global management and implementation company overseeing Medicaid and student loan systems for statewide agencies, with approximately 100,000 employees worldwide.
Systems Engineer/Supervisor/Technical Manager
Oversaw implementation, optimization and ongoing management of Medicaid and Student Loan systems. Managed daily operations of 5-15 staff, Student Loan System administration for State of Florida and Buyin/Bendex and Cap/SFL Medicaid systems.
- Commanded Batch Cycle implementation for Florida Student Loan System, securing promotion to Systems Supervisor.
- Responsible for Batch Cycle and Online support in an environment including CA7, COBOL II, CICS COBOL, VSAM files and an MVS operating system.
- Served as technical lead for establishment of Ohio Student Loan System. Orchestrated over 40 technical leads throughout 5-state operating theatre.
- Spearheaded technical writing for winning proposal to assess Y2K readiness for State of Iowa. Ensured successful execution of $1.2 million project as Technical Manager.
EDUCATION
Master of Science in Project Management
University of Management and Technology, Arlington Virginia
Master of Science in Education: Motor Learning
Bachelor of Science in Education: Physical Education
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
CERTIFICATIONS
PMI – Project Management Professional (PMP) · PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt · Scrum Master · ITIL · ISO/IEC · Smartsheet · AWS Practitioner
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
AWS Solution Architect – Associate Training
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION
Project Management Institute