Bernard Hardy
“Going Above and Beyond is My Standard” – Bernard
Bernard is a highly skilled, motivated and enthusiastic senior information technology professional. He has over 15 years of experience in Information Technology, Wide Area and Local Area Networking. His experience has covered project management and administration, strategic planning, network security, systems integration, office automation, systems design, client/server deployments, telecommunications, platform conversion and implementation, intra and internet, relational database management systems and training & development. Having exposure to a wide range of technologies and playing a key role in mission critical business processes ensures that he delivers high quality and cost-effective solutions to meet or exceed business objectives.
Bernard is a results oriented professional with a background in Fortune 500 environments with strong leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills emphasizing growth and profit objectives. He is recognized by his peers as an industry expert in multi-protocol networking environments. He also possesses the talent, skills, and expertise necessary to utilize information technology as a strategic business tool.
Work.
RECENT PROJECTS.
Isolated Security Network for Security Equipment
Isolated Security Network for Security Equipment
Work Skills.
CONTINUOUS SELF-IMPROVEMENT.
As an IT professional, he has held various positions of responsibility and authority, most recently as the Director of Infrastructure and IT Operations here at Ruwnay Computers and the Lead Infrastructure Engineer at Fidelus Technologies which is a fast-growing unified communications company in New York City. Here he created and managed the infrastructure team along with the strategic security group, which encompasses all aspects of information technology from data center design and security to user deployments. Prior to this position, he was the Global Network, Security and Telecom Infrastructure Engineer at Nice Systems and the Network Engineer for BMW North America Headquarters.
RUNWAY COMPUTERS, LLC, FORT LEE, NJ
Director of Infrastructure & IT Operations – 2018 – Present
IT Solutions provider for small to mid-sized enterprises.
- Spearhead IT solutions for small to mid-sized enterprises, enabling enhanced operational efficiency.
- Set up an entire isolated network for security devices, including AD, workstations, and remote user access.
- Successfully orchestrated a wireless infrastructure overhaul for a global manufacturer impacted by revenue loss and diminished productivity, significantly improving warehouse network performance.
- Strategically assessed requirements and devised a cost-efficient approach to bolster coverage, integrating untapped technological resources within the existing framework.
- Completed the project ahead of schedule and under budget, surpassing client expectations and garnering praise for exceptional verbal and written communication, meticulous attention to detail, and adept project management skills.
- Cultivated mentorship and guidance for both client management and IT teams, fostering strong, enduring relationships.
- Proactively identified issues and effectively managed solutions, crafting comprehensive Statements of Work (SOW), project plans, and orchestrating successful project kick-off meetings and deliverables.
- Successfully bid, won and led projects for MARS VCA Animal Hospitals and Intercos International.
FIDELUS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, NEW YORK, NY
Lead Infrastructure Engineer – 2012-2018
Managed the infrastructure team.
- Managed the infrastructure team and created the infrastructure group for a fast-growing company, increasing operational efficiencies through the implementation of a service desk, IT support process, Tier III Infrastructure Engineer Team, and a strategic security group for security compliance.
- Developed an effective communication process for informing the company of projects and events, which became the company standard based on positive feedback from users and management.
- Served as the strategic security team leader, overseeing the company’s overall security solutions and operations, including customer and vendor audits, compliance, policy management, disaster recovery, and business continuity.
- Led quarterly security reviews and annual Cisco Partner information security audits and was noted by 3rd party auditors to have better documentation and policy enforcement than larger organizations. The auditor suggested achieving ISO 27001 certification, which the company is now aligning with.
- Motivated the team to earn company awards for exceptional service and implemented quarterly testing of the BCP/DRP, created security policies, and implemented the Cisco ASA 5545X firewall.
- Implemented Mobile Device Management (MDM) and usage policies for IBM MaaS360 and migrated to Cisco Meraki MDM, Meraki Security Appliance, and Meraki Wi-Fi.
- Managed cloud migration project and completed two Office 365 migrations with Exchange 365, Box and SugarCRM.
- Managed and implemented Microsoft Exchange 2016 online upgrade, vCenter 6.5, Microsoft CRM 2011, SharePoint 2016, Veeam Backup and Recovery, Dell EqualLogic 6110 SAN and SCCM / WDS.
- Deployed and created customer solutions for the Professional Services division based on our infrastructure design.
- Managed Cisco Call Manager 11.5 and performed multiple phone deployments using DX650 and 8865 series IP Phones.
- Managed Cisco Telepresence SX80 and helped design the video conference room setup.
- Received the Team Leadership award three years in a row based on company-wide impact and performance with honors from executive committee and peers.
- Helped deploy CRM and PSA company restructure and worked with GE to map business processes for Sales & Marketing, Professional & Managed Services, Project Management, and Finance to streamline the sales process to increase revenue.
- Successfully migrated primary DR collocation facility to Telx/Digital Realty which housed the primary Managed Services’ customer operations monitoring solution. This included the design, project management, purchase, and configuration of the backbone architecture.
- Migrated the primary DR collocation facility to Telx/Digital Realty, built VPN tunnels for the Managed Services team, and helped deploy Service Now and Science Logic monitoring solutions.
NICE SYSTEMS, INC. AMERICAS HQ, RUTHERFORD, NJ
Infrastructure Specialist – 2008-2012
Level III Global Network, Security and Telecom responsible for the Americas, secondary support for EMEA and APAC.
- Successfully implemented a strategic regional data center at the Denver collocation facility including design, project management, purchase, and configuration of the backbone architecture. This project was the building block and proof of concept for the strategic global data center that will provide geographic data replication and disaster recovery.
- Designed, configured, and set up a global multihomed MPLS BGP and OSPF WAN using separate providers.
- Managed the migration from an Avaya PBX to Cisco Call Manager (CUCM) in the office headquarters, where I later upgraded from version 6 to 7 to add additional functionality after identifying a design flaw in version 6.
- Helped design and execute a successful emergency solution during a large customer support office move in Denver to replace a failing Avaya PBX and ACD system by relocating the headquarters CUCM and UCCX from NJ to Denver with no downtime.
- Successfully implemented the first South American office in Sao Paulo, Brazil, including design, project management, purchase, configuration, and deployment of equipment. Went as a one-man team to manage, coordinate and setup the entire office.
- Installed VMware ESXi 4.0 host on HP DL380 with Win2008 Server VMs, configured MPLS router as SRST voice gateway, international toll bypass and VoIP in CUCM, 2960 PoE switches, wireless and physical security systems in the Sao Paulo office.
- Helped integrate mergers and acquisitions into the NICE corporate network, relocated our Park Ave, NY office into the Broadway, NY office, re-designed the networking and replaced the old Nortel PBX with CUCM.
- Managed the initial SIP VoIP consolidation project to centralize voice infrastructure and minimize PRIs from all sites.
- Planned and designed both WAN acceleration using Cisco WAAS and created a Checkpoint corporate firewall cluster for the strategic regional data center.
- Coordinated site requirements, designed, and supported 2000+ customer product showcases in the Americas (Puerto Rico, Mexico, Dallas, Houston, Nashville and Las Vegas).
- Setup global video conferencing and provided Level III support using Polycom RMX and CMA management suite for executives.
- Additional responsibilities included project planning, new technology research and equipment purchasing, training, support tickets via Remedy, ongoing daily maintenance/support and interview/screen candidates for various technical positions.
BMW HQ, WOODCLIFF LAKES, NJ – (GE IT SOLUTIONS – COMPUCOM)
Network Support Engineer – 2003-2007
Level II Network Support for all BMW America sites. (Hired directly by GE IT Solutions, bought by CompuCom)
- Provided network support for North and South America from BMW Headquarters, including BMW Financial Services.
- Worked on projects presented to the Change Control Board for approval.
- Self-motivated and managed remotely from South Carolina plant, working directly with Level III network engineers on projects.
- Conducted two successful disaster recoveries for Mainframe Group and BMW Financial Services at an off-site disaster recovery company, including configuring VPN concentrators, routers, switches, firewall and moving all network traffic to recovery facility.
- Configured wireless access points and switches in the HQ building and new South Campus building.
- Implemented PEAP wireless conversion from LEAP across BMW which included the design and configuration of Cisco 1200 series wireless access points.
- I was a member of the telecom group and was instrumental in the Siemens VoIP project success working directly with Siemens engineers.
- Designed, diagramed, documented and executed network solutions such as the DMZ consolidation from (18)2950s to (2)4500s.
- Provided Level III support for video conferencing equipment (PRI, ISDN, and H.323 issues)
- Developed a modular application to assist in organizing network changes.
Skills.
RESULTS DRIVEN PROFESSIONAL.
I am recognized by my peers as an industry expert and possess the talent, skills, and expertise necessary to utilize information technology as a strategic business tool.
DELIVER EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE VIA ACTIVE LISTENING
Created and lead an infrastructure group for a fast-growing company and increased the operational efficiencies. This included the implementation of our service desk, IT support process, Tier III Infrastructure Engineer Team and the strategic security group.
CLIENTS
MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
“I wholeheartedly recommend Runway Computers for any business seeking a reliable and professional IT solutions provider. Our company recently encountered significant challenges with Wi-Fi connectivity and application issues within our warehouse, specifically impacting handheld scanners used for order picking. These disruptions caused data loss, hampered productivity, and ultimately resulted in wasted time and increased costs.
Runway Computers distinguished themselves through their exceptional service and expertise. Their team, led by the highly knowledgeable Bernard, adopted a comprehensive approach to diagnose the problem. They meticulously analyzed potential causes for the connectivity issues and developed a clear plan to address them. This plan included thorough testing of access points, firmware upgrades, installation of new server hardware and communication software, and reconfiguration of the handheld devices.
The results of Runway Computers’ efforts were transformative. Our warehouse operation now benefits from a stable Wi-Fi network and seamless application functionality. Beyond the technical expertise, Bernard impressed us with his exceptional communication skills. He kept us informed of progress daily, providing clear and detailed explanations throughout the process. He also interacted professionally with both executives and warehouse staff, demonstrating courtesy and respect at every step.
Perhaps the most valuable aspect of our experience with Runway Computers was the peace of mind they provided. The project was completed efficiently, professionally, and within budget. In today’s business environment, it’s refreshing to work with a company that delivers on its promises.
Without reservation, I recommend Runway Computers to any business seeking a trusted IT partner. Their friendly, efficient, and professional approach, coupled with their deep technical expertise, makes them an ideal choice for any organization seeking a reliable IT solution.”
PAUL MORALES: IT Manager, Intercos America, Inc.
“I have had the pleasure of working with Bernard in two of my previous places of employment, NICE Systems and Fidelus. He is a force to be reckoned with: extremely reliable, always espousing a positive attitude and extremely knowledgeable. He will always get the job done, sometimes before you get around to asking for it. I admire Bernard for his ability to balance formality of process with personal attention and genuine interest in personal well being. He is a true asset.”
GEOFFREY TURNER: Technical Program manager
“I had the pleasure of managing Bernard early in his career, from the onset he showed great potential and easily exceeded the expectations required at that time. Over the years I have seen his career fulfill those early expectations as we have stayed in touch. I would highly recommend him for any IT position he is being considered for. ”
HAROLD WHITE, MBA, PMP: IT Manager, United Parcel Services
“I have known and worked with Bernard for about 3 years at NICE Systems. Bernard has an impressive work ethic and those who have worked with him know him to be hard-working, dependable, reliable and trustworthy. Bernard gets along extremely well with NICE colleagues at every level. As Infrastructure Specialist, Bernard works very closely with other teams within US and overseas. I have always known Bernard to go above and beyond to get the job done and it is not an uncommon sight to see Bernard working on Projects in the office long after everyone else has left for the evening. It has been my pleasure to work with someone as professional and dedicated as Bernard..”
BHAVISH RAJ: Network Administrator, 4S Technologies, LLC
“As The Director of IT/MIS, I have witnessed Bernard’s excellent technical abilities and outstanding personal skills come into play during his work as an IT Infrastructure engineer for the Americas IT department. Bernard’s superb inter-personal and communication skills proved to be a highly valuable tool during his work with executives, engineers as well as the general population of the company. Bernard is highly technical and has an excellent grasp of technology. This ability along with his attention to technical details made him an exceptional infrastructure engineer, leading him to over achieve his role and job description. Bernard is a soul player and has a rare ability to connect to his internal customers. This ability allows him to defuse stressed situations and generate a strong sense of buy-in for his actions. Given the opportunity, I will be glad to have him work for me in the future.”
LIOR ITAI: Head of Channels, Sisense
“Bernard supported my learning and development group at BMW of North America. Bernard is knowledgeable, easy to work with and quite reliable. He really put me at ease because he demonstrated a high level of expertise in setting up, up-dating and ensuring the right functionality for my computing software. I considered Bernard to be a vital business and professional support partner.”
DENISE SAWYER-JOHNSON, D.M.: Empowerment and Career Transition Coach, Intentional Momentum, LLC
“I worked with Bernard Hardy at NICE Systems for just over 6 months and I can’t say enough about the time spent working with him on various projects. Bernard showed extreme dedication to his job and was very easy to get along with when working on the same team. There have been times our group were given impossible deadlines and with his help we made every project a success. In order to be successful in the fast paced environment at NICE systems, it takes an intelligent and well organized individual in order to meet the requirements of our customers. Bernard always had these qualities and constantly produced quality work and showed professionalism throughout our time together. This made a challenging job not only easier but a pleasure to work on. I would not only like to recommend him but look forward to working with Bernard Hardy in the future.”
ADAM BURHANI: Systems Engineer and Architect
“Bernard is an awesome IT professional. I always received high accolades from my clients in regard to his work. He is very technical and always stays abreast on the latest technology. I have hired him for several contracts. He will never disappoint or misrepresent his employer.”
RICHARD GARDNER: Director of Career Services / Career Planning and job readiness Coach
“A very professional and dedicated expert in his field.”
MAXIM SORIN: System Engineer, Traiana
Contact.
LET’S TALK.
I feel that my diverse experience in infrastructure engineering will be of great benefit to the team and make a substantial contribution to the company.
Not only am I highly technical in nature, I am also a team player that takes responsibility while being highly dedicated in providing excellent service to the team and our customers. As you see above in my professional history and references, I am highly dependable and can lead large, complex projects to successful completion on time and under budget.
I consider myself an adaptive out-of-the-box thinker who works well in high pressure and fast paced environments. I am a proponent of communications, both written and spoken, as I feel it is a vital part of infrastructure where miscommunications can lead to major issues.
I look forward to meeting you and the team. Thank you for your time and attention.
Below are actual user experiences written by the user. {Information in brackets has been redacted for anonymity}
Foster a fun environment:
Bernard came up with the idea to have {company} host fight/movie nights. It was really fun to be able to come in on a Saturday and hang at the HQ!
Foster teamwork and friendships through open and honest communication:
I’d like to recognize Bernard for being an AWESOME teammate! I work the 3rd shift and about 25 minutes into my shift on Monday April 11th, my laptop froze and after shutting it down, it would not boot back up. I ended up calling Bernard to see if he could assist me remotely and he spent a half hour troubleshooting before coming to the conclusion that the hard drive crashed. I work remotely (Raleigh) and knew that it would be a few days before getting a new laptop. Bernard shipped a new laptop to me and I got the laptop around 5pm on Wednesday. I called him to make sure I was going to be able to start working that night. He ended up spending about 2 hours with me on the phone ensuring everything was the same as it was on my old laptop and I had the access to everything I needed. I really appreciate Bernard and his willingness to help me with this issue at all hours of the day. He is an incredible part of team at {company} and someone who I have a great deal of respect for. Thank You Bernard!
Be passionate & make it happen:
Thanks Bernard – for always being there and having a smile on your face
Wow with exceptional service:
Thanks for the quick turn-around on me being able to email Team {company}!
Be passionate & make it happen:
Bernard was able to help me troubleshoot a weird situation with my phone where it would get kicked out of WebEx meeting calls after a few seconds. After helping me troubleshoot it to specifically my device, we were able to fix the issue quickly. Thanks for making the troubleshooting process so easy Bernard!
Wow with exceptional service:
On Monday & Wednesday Bernard spent a majority of the day helping me figure out how to make labels to put on the holiday cards. Every time there was a problem with printing them, he was right there to help. He also spent time helping David, Jon & I find duplicates and put address labels on all the cards. THANK YOU!!!
Be passionate & make it happen:
I noticed that we had a lot of former employees still coming up in the list of teammates that we could nominate for core values. I submitted a ticket and both Vish and Bernard responded. I think we are all smart enough to not select a former employee to nominate, and they could have told me that, but they listened to my points and created a plan of action to remove the names from our drop-down.
Foster teamwork and friendships through open and honest communication:
We are working on new project for our {company}office and Bernard stayed till late evening in order to assist. Much appreciated. Great teamwork
Foster teamwork and friendships through open and honest communication:
Bernard is an excellent and knowledgeable resource here at {company}. While we were trying to troubleshoot an issue, he was able to diffuse frustration that the team was encountering and clearly discuss the solution to be carried out. His poise and effective communication for the issue was able to keep the team on track to isolate the root cause of the issue. Thanks Bernard for sticking to your guns!
Be inclusive & leverage diversity:
it was just a casual conversation when Bernard found that I was interested in the Oculus…..and he and David …hooked it up and helped me try it out….it was a fantastic experience….thanks.. you guys !!
Foster a fun environment:
I cannot remember of a time when I did not end up smiling after having met Bernard. Thanks man!!
Be passionate & make it happen:
Bernard expedited our request for Josh and I to procure 2 laptops as well as enhance the Lync 2013 VMs in order to prepare us for an important demo for one of our clients. This provided Josh and I ample time to test out our demo successfully.
Strive for excellence:
Bernard has been more than accommodating to resolve problems and requests of different types in an extremely fast way and with the best attitude. He helps us even when we don’t have a ticket set up for help request.
Wow with exceptional service:
Always willing to help, Bernard took time to help solve the problems we were experiencing with {company} website display on IE. Bernard called me a few times, read all emails, tested the site and provided helpful feedback all while on his DAY OFF. That’s truly WOW!
Wow with exceptional service:
Bernard helped Finance with QuickBooks. Even with all the work he has to do, he always finds time to help others. You are awesome sir. Thanks!
Be adventurous, creative and open-minded:
Thanks to Bernard for helping out on some customer engagements! Much appreciated!
Wow with exceptional service:
Bernard and David worked together to help me fix some office drawers. They didn’t have to help me but they jumped right in and go the job done! Talk about great service. I really appreciate it.
Wow with exceptional service:
Bernard provided me with support during vacation and after business hours
Be inclusive & leverage diversity:
Bernard helped out within seconds when I asked him to help set up a computer for a co-worker’s daughter who was spending the day with us. Thank you very much!
Foster a fun environment:
Thank you for encouraging me to run after work on Tuesday. Thanks to you I ran my fastest two miles ever!
Be adventurous, creative and open-minded:
Jenga. Mind. Blown.
Embrace & drive change:
ITS is the BEST! Thanks for the help with PSA!
Wow with exceptional service:
Bernard went above and beyond to make sure everything was correct with my new equipment. Much appreciated!
Be passionate & make it happen:
Thank you to Bernard for helping me resolve a critical customer issue at 9pm on a Friday. Without his help the customer wouldn’t have been able to meet their deadline!
Wow with exceptional service:
I needed a new POE switch for my home office. On a Saturday, Bernard put aside his time to help me out and made sure I got the right one. He went as far as getting on the phone with the Tech at the store to ensure all was taken care of. One Dream One Team. THANK YOU BH!
Be passionate & make it happen:
Last minute help in HD to get our switch up for the sales call center!
Wow with exceptional service:
Bernard has been a tremendous help to me in past week with any and all of requests, especially with the All Hands documents. I would have been completely lost without him!
Be passionate & make it happen:
Thanks for all that you did to help the DJ setup and pull down and all your support making the launch event awesome!
Wow with exceptional service:
Bernard helped us fixing a problem with the ASA while we were about to shoot a video for our {Company Product} in Florida just before the shooting. Thank you Bernard.
Wow with exceptional service:
Mr. Bernard Hardy was busy performing his day to day, which normally consists of consuming weird and trendy “health” drinks when SE had an urgent request to help support a deployment of an ASA and two DX650 devices at 4what. He dropped his beverages, and everything else and worked many hours with the team to resolve a networking issue. Thanks to his hard work, he may be dehydrated, but we will be able to proceed as planned on creating a marketing video as part of our {Company Product} entry for the DX650 AppSmart contest with Cisco. Thanks Bernard. Now you may go drink some lemon water!
Be humble:
Despite working through the weekend late into both Saturday and Sunday nights – Bernard is as bubbly and friendly as he always is. He takes such pride in his job, but never lets on just how hard he works! Thanks B 🙂
Wow with exceptional service:
Thanks for coming in on Saturday to test the ASA and DX650 for a really important project we are all working on.
Wow with exceptional service:
Bernard and Bhavish have both been great in resolving some emergency IT issues for me the past two days. Thank you both for jumping in and getting me back up and running
Wow with exceptional service:
Bernard worked with me at 11 PM on a Tuesday night to ensure that my home IP phone , which was not able to register, was in working order for my next day meetings. As usual, he was a pleasure to work with, in good spirits, and made it happen.
Wow with exceptional service:
Helping the sales team with a last minute request to configure an access port for my demo switch for our customer meeting. Much thanks!
Wow with exceptional service:
My first week on the job and Bernard has been “on point” getting me setup despite a busy week for him. I ask him for something, and he finds the time to help out. Thanks B Mike
Foster teamwork and friendships through open and honest communication:
Bernard is so great. After the party tonight he walked me to my parking garage and when I asked him if his train was at Penn he responded with “no, it’s in the other direction. I just wanted to make sure you got to your car safely.” So thoughtful! I was so grateful!
Foster teamwork and friendships through open and honest communication:
He helped me in the Data Center with getting some routers hooked up to the proper switch ports and tinkering with the password recovery. THANK YOU!
Foster teamwork and friendships through open and honest communication:
Bernard upon seeing me with the sniffles presented me with immune boosting vitamins to prevent me from catching a cold.
Be passionate & make it happen:
Bernard was extremely helpful in procuring laptops in an expeditious manner to allow {company} to begin a large surveying project at New York University.
Foster a fun environment:
Besides being the default value for the Select Teammate section, I would like to recognize Bernard bringing the game “Front hand/ Back Hand” to the {company} team Great fun and laughs.
Wow with exceptional service:
Bernard is always very quick to respond to give outstanding support whenever needed in a cheerful way.
Wow with exceptional service:
Last Friday during the Nemo blizzard when I was working from home, Bernard took nearly two hours out of his day to help me setup my softphone and adjust my settings on Jabber. He was very helpful with not only the setup but also following up with me and making sure everything worked. You rock Bernard!
Foster teamwork and friendships through open and honest communication:
Bernard called me out for something that I owed him last week. He kept me accountable and I appreciate the kick in the pants!
Wow with exceptional service:
Setting up our Core Values TV
Be passionate & make it happen:
Needed to get the Core Value Screen up and running yesterday, and went above and beyond to do so!
Be adventurous, creative and open-minded
Even though I worked from home, the tale of Bernard making it happen and being creative to get the TV “mounted” has reached me. I admire that he has thought outside the box to make us one step closer to seeing the Core Values in the works and in real time. Great job!
Be adventurous, creative and open-minded:
For securing that massive television to the wall with a piece of tape 🙂
5 years in IT is a considered a long time based on technological changes and it would take me based on my experience about 2 years to learn the systems and environment at a new company inside out. I see myself making contributions and growing as a team member. I also see myself making a lot of great contributions to the team and build strong relationships in 5 years. I know that many of the new technologies will be mainstream or even different in 5 years, so the road map may be adjusted to correct the sail of the wind. Technology is making companies more nimble and adaptable and I’m ready to take that challenge on in the near and distant future.
I have many big accomplishments but if I had to chose one it would be the Brazil office as that was a major project that the director and CEO had me manage from inception to completion. This was a high profile project that was announced on major television networks during the public annual meeting.
San Francisco and New York M&A:
Another was a merger and acquisition out of San Francisco and New York that was confidential and I found out after the merger was complete and had a short amount of time to integrate the office. I was sent by myself to do the full analysis and migration plan. This worked very well even though the company initially didn’t like my presence because they felt they were going to lose their jobs. I made the team feel comfortable and reassured which allowed me to finish the M&A successfully and before the deadline.
NICE Systems Interactions 2000+ customer event in Nashville, TN:
The 2000+ user, 4 day customer event in Nashville, which I was sent to manage after an executive meeting where they called me in to verify the configuration of another engineer and when I identified many configuration issues they had me take over the project even though I was heading a large million dollar Data Center upgrade to the Nexus 7000 and new CheckPoint firewalls. I was sent alone because of the high profile nature of the event where the company showcases it’s technology to its clients and future customers. I was basically finished with the Data Center design and implementation plan when I was asked to take over the event and only had a few days to plan. These events require about 3 engineers but I was sent alone and the project was successful without issues. As I was about to board the plane to head back home the director asked me if I can go to the Denver collocation to help with the Data Center upgrade. I went and found issues with the changes the engineers made and had to modify them on the fly during the maintenance windows. We were able to finish this project as well and I was extremely exhausted as I didn’t get much sleep the entire 10 days I was working. These were extremely fast paced and highly stressful projects that I felt made me better in the end.
Saving our largest customer account and having the company and the directors of our customer believe in me enough to risk everything:
There was an issue with a modem delivering critical medical records to one of the largest university hospitals in the tri-state area (Yes, they still use modems). They just received a million dollar phone system (PBX) that ran multiple hospitals and they were the phone system company’s largest account. There have been ongoing issues with the reports not being delivered and the hospital was growing impatient. I was called in to investigate and resolve the issue and found that they moved the modem over to the new state of the art PBX. I ran test and told them that the problem was with the new PBX. This created a war between the hospital director and their telecommunications team that was adamant that I didn’t know what I was talking about and tried to explain that their system was not the problem and was state of the art and our system needed to be updated. I met with their telecommunications team and they explained that it was my problem and that I needed to figure it out. We then met with the head of IT and all off the directors of the hospital that told us that they will have to find another vendor if we are wrong because they proved to them that the issue was ours and that they didn’t have any more time to work this out. I requested a final meeting with their team and the vendor of the PBX along with their experts to try and resolve it. My manager told me that if we lose this account it will have a major impact on the revenue of the company and that he believes in me but that there are so many people disagreeing with me that he is putting his and my job on the line. I explained to him that I will not let him down and that I understand and know the brevity of the situation and that we are going to lose this account either way because if I’m right and we don’t have this meeting we lost the business regardless which makes it was a lose lose situation. He agreed and we met with the team. They did a great job proving that what I was saying didn’t make sense because they showed me how advanced the technology was and they were career PBX experts. It was not looking good and now we had an entire team of experts and the vendor saying they told me it was our issue. I said I guess there is nothing left and as I was turning to leave I saw a PRI not connected to the new PBX and asked them if this was active, which they said yes and that they were in the process of turning them down now that the new PBX is in place which freed up a lot of lines. I said can we get this connected as this is independent of the new PBX and will be a great last chance that would mean that we covered all basis. They agreed in laughter and set it up. I had the administrator in our office reprocess the reports and they all came through perfectly without any issues. The look on my managers face was priceless. He hugged me and was excited and filled with joy. The vendor had their CEO on site and he said he couldn’t believe it. He gave me his business card and said if I am ever thinking about leaving my current company to call him directly. The medical records director was rooting for us and was happy that it worked out. We celebrated and my manager said thanks! He lived in Florida and after that he said he is only coming to NYC a few time a year and had me taking the Directors out for lunch as he said he believed in me.
Same day notice to perform a full IT infrastructure Cisco Audit to maintain Cisco Master Partnership Status which normally is announced months in advanced:
I was working on a datacenter migration and office relocation and as I was coming into the office a project manager came out to talk to me and told me that Cisco’s 3rd Party auditor is here doing an audit and she didn’t realize that I was part of it because I just finished a success full Cisco audit. This was a heart break for me because to prepare for an audit they give you over a month to get all of the documentation and their requirements together which change. So now I had to figure out the requirements that was needed and she asked can I have it at the end of the day. I told her that what she is asking for is insane because there are a lot of items that they request that need to be redacted and verified and presented in the format that they are requesting. I told her I will do it to the best of my ability and will let everyone know that I’m offline until I get this done. The Cisco auditor said that he wants to spend a few hours going over my documents and asked if he can re-schedule me for the next day. Now that was an unexpected blessing and I was extremely happy about that. I stayed up all night preparing and getting the presentation together and pulling the reports and documents that he needed. I was in the process of planning the office and collocation move which was another project that was told to me at the last minute where it was serious because we would be moving and it takes time to get circuits installed and the building that they were moving into didn’t have fiber runs completed which requires permits and time to build out which may be after we have already left the building. This was poor communications at its finest and I had to try to create workarounds to make this all happen. So I lost 2 days of planning due to the unexpected audit that the other teams had over a month to prepare. I was able to get the presentation together and also impress the auditor and he said he was happy with the audit. The crazy part is if I would have failed the audit the company would have lost it’s Master Partnership status which would have been a major blow to the company, so they put the fate of the company’s status in my hands and I was able to impress the auditor with the details of my analysis.
These are just a few examples of my accomplishments.
I’ve done research on the company and found that many of the employees are long term employees along with hearing good things about the company culture. I also know that the company is looking to change direction to modernize the processes and to take the business into the future. This is an older company that needs an innovative team that can deliver the vision. I’m looking to be a part of the team that drives that vision. I have experience and expertise that can help the team reach its goals.
My last position I was bought in to turn around the IT environment and create a stable and strong infrastructure that can grow as fast and support the companies vision. I immediately made a difference in the environment and help improve the culture. As a result the CFO at the time gave me an annual bonus even though I only been there for 5 months because he said that changes were night and day and appreciated my efforts.
I’ve also received many company awards for displaying the core values of the company culture from management and my peers. Listed below are a few of the results from the feedback that I received from my peers and management in this position (users are intentionally left anonymous):
Foster teamwork and friendships through open and honest communication:
- “Bernard is an excellent and knowledgeable resource here at [redacted company]. While we were trying to troubleshoot an issue, he was able to diffuse frustration that the team was encountering and clearly discuss the solution to be carried out. His poise and effective communication for the issue was able to keep the team on track to isolate the root cause of the issue. Thanks Bernard for sticking to your guns!”
- “We are working on new project for our [redacted company] office and Bernard stayed till late evening in order to assist. Much appreciated. Great teamwork!”
- “I’d like to recognize Bernard for being an AWESOME teammate! I work the 3rd shift and about 25 minutes into my shift on Monday April 11th, my laptop froze and after shutting it down, it would not boot back up. I ended up calling Bernard to see if he could assist me remotely and he spent a half hour troubleshooting before coming to the conclusion that the hard drive crashed. I work remotely (Raleigh) and knew that it would be a few days before getting a new laptop. Bernard shipped a new laptop to me and I got the laptop around 5pm on Wednesday. I called him to make sure I was going to be able to start working that night. He ended up spending about 2 hours with me on the phone ensuring everything was the same as it was on my old laptop and I had the access to everything I needed. I really appreciate Bernard and his willingness to help me with this issue at all hours of the day. He is an incredible part of team at [redacted] and someone who I have a great deal of respect for. Thank You Bernard!”
- “Always willing to help, Bernard took time to help solve the problems we were experiencing with [redacted] website display on IE. Bernard called me a few times, read all emails, tested the site and provided helpful feedback all while on his DAY OFF. That’s truly WOW!”
- “Bernard is so great. After the company party tonight he walked me to my parking garage and when I asked him if his train was at Penn he responded with “no, it’s in the other direction. I just wanted to make sure you got to your car safely.” So thoughtful! I was so grateful!”
- “He helped me in the Data Center with getting some routers hooked up to the proper switch ports and tinkering with the password recovery. THANK YOU!”
- “Bernard upon seeing me with the sniffles presented me with immune boosting vitamins to prevent me from catching a cold.”
- “Bernard called me out for something that I owed him last week. He kept me accountable and I appreciate the kick in the pants!”
Foster a fun environment:
- “Bernard came up with the idea to have [redacted] host fight/movie nights. It was really fun to be able to come in on a Saturday and hang at the HQ!”
- “I cannot remember of a time when I did not end up smiling after having met Bernard. Thanks man!!”
- “Besides being the default value for the Select Teammate section, I would like to recognize Bernard bringing the game “Front hand/ Back Hand” to the [redacted] team Great fun and laughs.”
- “Thank you for encouraging me to run after work on Tuesday. Thanks to you I ran my fastest two miles ever!”
Wow with exceptional service:
- “Bernard helped us fixing a problem with the Cisco ASA while we were about to shoot a video for our [redacted Application] in Florida just before the shooting. Thank you Bernard.”
- “Thanks for coming in on Saturday to test the ASA and DX650 for a really important project we are all working on.”
- “Thanks for the quick turn-around on me being able to email the team!”
- “Mr. Bernard Hardy was busy performing his day to day, which normally consists of consuming weird and trendy “health” drinks when SE had an urgent request to help support a deployment of an ASA and two DX650 devices at 4what. He dropped his beverages, and everything else and worked many hours with the team to resolve a networking issue. Thanks to his hard work, he may be dehydrated, but we will be able to proceed as planned on creating a marketing video as part of our [redacted Application] entry for the DX650 AppSmart contest with Cisco. Thanks Bernard. Now you may go drink some lemon water!”
- “Always willing to help, Bernard took time to help solve the problems we were experiencing with [redacted company] website display on IE. Bernard called me a few times, read all emails, tested the site and provided helpful feedback all while on his DAY OFF. That’s truly WOW!”
- “I needed a new POE switch for my home office. On a Saturday, Bernard put aside his time to help me out and made sure I got the right one. He went as far as getting on the phone with the Tech at the store to ensure all was taken care of. One Dream One Team. THANK YOU BH!”
- “Bernard helped Finance with QuickBooks. Even with all the work he has to do, he always finds time to help others. You are awesome sir. Thanks!”
- “Bernard and David worked together to help me fix some office drawers. They didn’t have to help me but they jumped right in and go the job done! Talk about great service. I really appreciate it.”
- “Bernard is always very quick to respond to give outstanding support whenever needed in a cheerful way”
- “Bernard provided me with support during vacation and after business hours”
- “Bernard and [redacted team member] have both been great in resolving some emergency IT issues for me the past two days. Thank you both for jumping in and getting me back up and running”
- “Bernard went above and beyond to make sure everything was correct with my new equipment. Much appreciated!”
- “Bernard has been a tremendous help to me in past week with any and all of requests, especially with the All Hands documents. I would have been completely lost without him!”
- “Thanks for all that you did to help the DJ setup and pull down and all your support making the launch event awesome!”
- “Bernard worked with me at 11 PM on a Tuesday night to ensure that my home IP phone , which was not able to register, was in working order for my next day meetings. As usual, he was a pleasure to work with, in good spirits, and made it happen.”
- “Helping the sales team with a last minute request to configure an access port for my demo switch for our customer meeting. Much thanks!”
- “My first week on the job and Bernard has been “on point” getting me setup despite a busy week for him. I ask him for something, and he finds the time to help out. Thanks B Mike”
- “Last Friday during the Nemo blizzard when I was working from home, Bernard took nearly two hours out of his day to help me setup my soft-phone and adjust my settings on Jabber. He was very helpful with not only the setup but also following up with me and making sure everything worked. You rock Bernard!”
Be passionate & make it happen:
- “Thank you to Bernard for helping me resolve a critical customer issue at 9pm on a Friday. Without his help the customer wouldn’t have been able to meet their deadline!”
- “Thanks Bernard – for always being there and having a smile on your face.”
- “Last minute help in HD to get our switch up for the sales call center!”
- “Bernard was able to help me troubleshoot a weird situation with my phone where it would get kicked out of WebEx meeting calls after a few seconds. After helping me troubleshoot it to specifically my device, we were able to fix the issue quickly. Thanks for making the troubleshooting process so easy Bernard!”
- “I noticed that we had a lot of former employees still coming up in the list of teammates that we could nominate for core values. I submitted a ticket and both [redacted software director] and Bernard responded. I think we are all smart enough to not select a former employee to nominate, and they could have told me that, but they listened to my points and created a plan of action to remove the names from our drop-down.”
- “Bernard expedited our request for [redacted CTO] and I to procure 2 laptops as well as enhance the Lync 2013 VMs in order to prepare us for an important demo for one of our clients. This provided [redacted CTO] and I ample time to test out our demo successfully.”
- “Needed to get the Core Value Screen up and running yesterday, and went above and beyond to do so!”
- “Bernard was extremely helpful in procuring laptops in an expeditious manner to allow [redacted company] to begin a large surveying project at NYU”
Be inclusive & leverage diversity:
- “It was just a casual conversation when Bernard found that I was interested in the Oculus…..and he and [redacted team member]…hooked it up and helped me try it out….it was a fantastic experience….thanks.. you guys !!”
- Bernard helped out within seconds when I asked him to help set up a computer for a co-worker’s daughter who was spending the day with us. Thank you very much!
Strive for excellence:
- “Bernard has been more than accommodating to resolve problems and requests of different types in an extremely fast way and with the best attitude. He helps us even when we don’t have a ticket set up for help request.”
Be adventurous, creative and open-minded:
- “Thanks to Bernard for helping out on some customer engagements! Much appreciated!”
- “Jenga. Mind. Blown.”
- “For securing that massive television to the wall with a piece of tape :)”
- “Even though I worked from home, the tale of Bernard making it happen and being creative to get the TV “mounted” has reached me. I admire that he has thought outside the box to make us one step closer to seeing the Core Values in the works and in real time. Great job!”
Embrace & drive change:
- “ITS is the BEST! Thanks for the help with PSA!”
Be humble:
- “Despite working through the weekend late into both Saturday and Sunday nights – Bernard is as bubbly and friendly as he always is. He takes such pride in his job, but never lets on just how hard he works! Thanks B :)”
My greatest weakness was effective communications. I would not communicate properly at times during projects and learned that it was a problem because I would get caught up into getting the project done but would not give updates or properly explain concerns. I started to listen to feedback and understood that if someone says yes it doesn’t mean that they understood what I meant. So I would go back thinking I effectively communicated a process and found that the recipient received a different message. I would then proceed at full force working on a process that wasn’t in line with the recipients expectations. I later learned to asked questions to validate that we are on the same page and also follow up to make sure my progress is on track and that it meets expectations prior to completion, this way any mis-understandings can be corrected in a timely manner.
Example:
At one of my previous employers, they were growing rapidly and didn’t have a structure in place and the engineers all had admin access and would make changes and testing on production without notifying anyone which caused major outages frequently some without being resolved for weeks or more. As soon as I started there were key infrastructure components not functioning and users expectation were very low, so I explained to them that I’m here to change this and raise expectations. I immediately worked on the most pressing issues, one of which were Cisco Meeting place issues where the customer facing audio conference quality was a poor reflection on the companies ability to provide VoIP phone systems and services to their clients. I was speaking technically to users not realizing that they didn’t understand my timeline and thought that I would have it fully up and running right away. This issue was ongoing for months prior to my arrival and had been worked on by their internal voice experts without any resolution. So the next day users started to come and tell me it wasn’t working like said it would. I then explained that this is a major issue which requires more research and then explained that I made an immediate 50% improvement in quality but to get it fully resolved would take more time as it requires vendor involvement and is a known issue that is being worked on. I then got the users more involved in the process so they understood what to expect and also provided work-arounds in the event there were unexpected issues. The users began to champion the process because they now understood in more direct terms the expectation and the problems and started providing much more accurate details and together we were able to resolve the issue. This problem was a result of many different past issues:
- The users didn’t understand the product and technology because they didn’t train the users. So most of the complaints were from the users not knowing effectively use the technology.
- They didn’t train or explain technologies that were being implemented to the user and to show them how to get the most benefit from it.
- They didn’t have a process to notify the users of any changes and system upgrades
- They didn’t tell users when they had system outages, like email not working.
- They didn’t have an efficient ticketing system and process for users to report issues or suggestions
This all boiled down to open communications between users, departments and engineering.
I then implemented a communications standard that would make any issues and outages known while explaining the status of any outages in multiple different levels. Most of the company are CCIE level engineers so I had it have both levels of information in the announcements so the first part started for standards users followed by more technical details for the engineers. The communications I sent were color coded based on incident type and also listed what the expectations are, the work-arounds if any, the expected duration and updates. This eliminated a lot of confusion and made the users more involved in the process. All of the managers came to me to provide a company wide template that they could use for their departments and this created a standard that allowed all of the departments to communicate their initiatives to the users.
So my weakness in communications turned into a strength that I was able to share with the company. I’m still growing.
My greatest strength is my ability to interact with people in a positive manor that creates a pleasant, friendly environment. This creates an improved synergy between my and the team or customer because they can feel that I generally care about their needs. This creates better communication and better communications allow better support and understanding of needs. I feel that too often people share their concerns with everyone except the people who really need to hear them so they can make a positive difference; like their managers or support staff. I have been able to provide great service because users and departments felt comfortable to discuss their needs before they would present them and even have me as part of the discussion before they would try to implement it. I am a firm believer of having users, departments and teams discuss their plans or vision so we can work together to achieve that vision. This helps by using the best people for the task and eliminates redundancy of task and re-visiting bad decisions based on bad information.
To use the Brazil office setup as an example, I was doing so well communicating with the vendors in Brazil that the head of Legal asked me to assist and getting documents signed as they were having issue reaching the correct people. I was able to assist and get their needs met. The director of Finance also came to me as he too was experiencing issues getting business licenses and accounts set up and I was able to assist as well. I believe the issue that they were having was they didn’t fully understand the cultural difference between how business is conducted in the US vs Brazil. As I started to understand this it helped me understand communications and expectation differences as well and was able to speak to more effective to the culture and get results.
You should hire me for my technical expertise and my ability to create synergy between departments. I am a very dedicated, passionate and contributing team player that fosters continuous improvement and team building. I am self motivated, proactive and require little management as I’ve managed teams and projects to completion. I am always looking for ways to improve processes and help move the team towards our vision. I am very personable and based on feedback, I am a great person to work with. As an example of completing projects and requiring little management, Nice Systems which is a multi-billion dollar international company sent me to Brazil by myself to launch a new office in the Microsoft and Cisco building complex to extend their reach into the Latin American market. I successfully designed and implemented the entire technical aspects of the Sao Paulo, BR office from start to finish, including circuit deployment for voice and data on a muli-honed MPLS network, Cisco unified communications, VMware host, server rack and build, bio-metric access and security cameras, user training and support. This an example that although I worked in a multi-member and multi-department IT team where each discipline is handled by different teams, I was able to deploy an entire office by myself doing the work across team divisions. I worked with all of the teams and executives in the design process where they were confident to send me on a project that normally takes 3-4 people to perform and oversee not to mention in a different country.
I got started in technology at a very young age and it became a passion for me ever since. I enjoy providing solutions to problems even outside of IT. I’m very well rounded in regards to IT technologies as I’ve worked in all aspects of IT from help desk, application development, to senior engineering in networking, security, servers and telecommunications. I’ve managed and lead many projects from mergers and acquisitions to complete office and data center builds. My background allows me to have a holistic view and approach to solving problems. I’m a team player and also a mentor to both young and old team members, including a mentorship program at Ramapo College giving graduates career advice.
I like running and have ran multiple marathons, including the NYC Marathon in 2018, 2019 and will be running it again in 2022. I’m an outdoors person that like nature walks / hiking. I enjoy team events like the Tough Mudder and paintball. I’m a music lover and enjoy all types of music and like Salsa and Bachata dancing. Other hobbies are writing and motivating people to push past their limits.
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