NOWELL ASHFORD BCS, MBA,  (CFA*)
Strategic. Visionary.  Driven to Succeed.

An Individual with a Track Record of Business Success and Vision.
Leveraged leadership and cutting-edge strategies to achieve business goals.
Weighed risk versus reward when analyzing new ventures and projects. Managed,
trained and worked efficiently with cohesive, world class teams in globally
diverse environments. Implemented innovative solutions to challenging problems
expeditiously. Reliable, motivated and highly perceptive.

~ Orchestrated project planning and management, managing on average five to ten
critical projects annually. ~

Executive Summary

Spearheaded numerous initiatives and projects to achieve strategic business
goals. Hands-on leadership experience in developing streamlined, cost-efficient
organizations. Lead all aspects of organizational information management,
strategic and tactical planning, business continuity, IT governance and
administration. Collaborated with senior management to define strategic goals and
set appropriate project budgets. Spearheaded million plus dollar projects;
managed critical changes. Valuable experience in Sarbanes Oxley compliance,
change & project management methodologies compliant with PMI/PMBOK, service level
agreements, root cause analysis, internal time and cost tracking methods,
structured HR systems etc. Exposure to highly organized methods of business ,
technology management and strict ITIL concepts and practices. 12 years plus of
cumulative experience in Microsoft/Cisco administration, design and operations.
Vast expertise in the areas of Sharepoint, Windows Server, SQL Server, Symantec
Enterprise Products, AD (Manipulation, design, implementation, scripting and
more), Citrix: Presentation Server ,Access Gateways & Netscalers, VMWARE, RMS,
AIR, EQE, MS Exchange 2007, RIM Blackberry Server, IPSWITCH monitoring, SCOM
Monitoring, HP Insight Monitoring, HP Servers, Cisco Switches, routers, firewall
and VoIP (AVAYA & Cisco), Storage concerns (SAN & Fabric), System Monitoring,
PKI, and many more enterprise level solutions.

Management Experience
INFRASTRUCTURE IT MANAGER , Endurance Specialty Insurance (NYSE: ENH)  
2007-Present
Collaborate with senior management to identify and report strategic areas of
improvement, cost efficiency and to evaluate cutting-edge strategies. Key
resource responsible for problem solving and technology oversight. Create
efficient and cost optimized network methodologies. Ensure compliance with in
house SLA and PLA levels - working under pressure daily; create Root Cause
Analysis (RCA) documentation per regulatory SOX compliance. Tracking of true
project and infrastructure cost calculations to determine a more accurate cost &
ROI. Accountable for various analytical reporting, process flow identification
and documentation, controls methods and performance metrics.
 * Leveraged training in structured project management methodology to provide
hands-on leadership for large-scale, global projects fostering organizational
growth, productivity, and efficiency while communicating and all aspects of a
project succinctly to upper management.
 * Delivery of strategy and vision for a globally diverse IT infrastructure.
 * Oversight and Implementation for global virtualization project. Ensure
compliance with strict timelines and budgets; risk mitigation. Leverage
technology expertise to create cost-effective and "greener" server rooms, saving
vast amounts of money on maintenance, extended warrantees, and power and cooling
costs via decreasing the physical technological footprint.
 * Management of a major DR project to overhaul, expand and replace all DR
infrastructure inclusive of the Design of a more resource efficient and
innovative DR isolation strategy for annual SOX compliance testing purposes.
 * Information Lifecycle Management design and implementation concerns for all
company file systems and email systems.
 * Key resource for Web Application Infrastructure; IBM Webspere, IIS, Tomcat,
in-house solutions and others.
 * Primary Resource for all Mail Related Concerns inclusive of long term
capacity planning, archive, clustering, dedicated Netapp SAN storage, Disaster
Recovery etc.
 * For all implemented and managed systems, Design, implementation and
maintenance of IT security policy, procedures and best practice methodology.
 * Managing external consultants and a team of highly skilled and technically
diverse professionals
 * Be on point with licensing concerns and related vendor management relations.
 * Tasked with Strategic growth planning, scalable solution designs and more.
 * Coordinated large-scale global security project for global RSA deployment.
 * Facilitate global meetings on varying concerns, projects, product choice
determination and more often aimed at proving & steering opinions as to why a
given product or solution is or is not a best fit for the company.
 * The maintenance, design and assurance of 'High Availability ' solutions for
all infrastructure concerns.
 * Provided critical support to Underwriting, Analysis and Actuarial
departments' workbenches.
 * Tasked with planning and Implementation for globally integrated telephony for
one of the major branches in order to increase cost efficiency and productivity.
 * Key resource for various Data Management and Warehousing concerns as a SQL
administrator.
 * Primary resource for all Enterprise storage solutions; SAN and Fibre network
topologies.
 * Revamping technological reporting infrastructure for enhanced proactive
reporting globally.
 * Responsible for Risk Modeling Systems inclusive of RMS, AIR and EQE.
 * Oversaw technical documentation for administration, security, and emergency
management.
 * Operating in a large and global production environment.
 *  Maintained strict change control procedures.
 * Maintained complete compliance with regulations (SOX, etc.) and in-house
checks.

IT MANAGER, BHS - Bermuda                                              
2001-2007
Spearheaded IT management, budgeting, future requirements analysis and staff
management (including recruitment and termination). Led various expansion efforts
and related planning, including layout, RFPs, and cost oversight. Redesigned IT
to better serve increased capacity requirements. Conducted long and short term
proactive planning.
 * Served for many months after leaving as an expert resource and consultant to
oversee large projects, such as cost streamlining virtualization efforts,
productivity increasing remote access and a full review of disaster recovery
strategy to ensure business continuity.
 * Orchestrated project planning and management Managing on average five to ten
critical projects annually-budgets exceeding hundreds of thousands of dollars.
 * Single-handedly steered departmental vision and direction and raised
awareness of its mission.
 * Successfully researched and designed a new infrastructure-serving over 800+
users.
 * Catapulted the business from a low technology footprint in 2001 to a
cutting-edge and cost-efficient infrastructure.
 * Researched industry best practices and implemented them accordingly.
 * Improved in-house capabilities and talent while eliminating heavy reliance on
external vendors to cut costs.
 * Successfully streamlined company telephony making use of existing systems and
merging them for greatly increased productivity and cost savings.
 * Strategically planned related concerns during business expansion; two large
buildings in 2002 and 2006; ensuring strict deadlines and cost control during the
expansion.
 * Hands-on leadership for initiatives, improving departmental efficiency often
via the analysis of cumbersome procedures and related intelligent solutions.
 * Recommended to management and implemented the use of new web technologies and
appropriate budgets to increase PR efforts and external communication.
 * Deployed secure and accountable Internet usage to uphold the company's public
image at all times.
 * Designed a secure wireless infrastructure to increase user mobility and
efficiency.
 * Established strict departmental documentation policies to ensure business
continuity via knowledge transfer.

CHAIRMAN, SMITHS REGIONAL/NORTH - DISTRICT # 10, United Bermuda Party  
2006-2008
Provided highly effective leadership and planned and conducted both Smiths North
and Smiths regional meetings. Orchestrated all regional functions, including meet
and greets, legal workshops, canvassing preparation, technology concerns and
finance procurement. Oversaw election planning, organization, and preparation for
all three districts. Ran regional and district AGM's; invited general public to
events for input. Accountable for data manipulation and parliamentary registrar
reconciliation. Oversaw door-to-door canvassing on behalf of party. Senior board
member of Central Executive Committee and Tech Committee. Delivered presentations
to members of parliament and the Campaign and Central Executive committees.

PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT HISTORY	2001& Previous
 * Zurich Insurance Bermuda Branch (1997 - 2001) - Accomplishments available
upon Request

Educational Qualifications & Affiliations
*CFA Institute (CFA), In Progress
Certifications: CCNA & MCSE, Both in Progress- I am considered Expert level in
both topics regardless
Masters of Business Administration in Technology Management (MBA/TM), University
of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, 2006
Bachelors of Computer Science (BCS), Acadia University, Wolfville, Canada, 2001
Boarding School, Kings-Edgehill School, Windsor, NS, Canada, 1994
Saltus Grammar School, Pembroke, Bermuda

Proficiencies
Financial: Budgeting, Cost efficiency, formula/algorithm design, investment and
ROI calculations
Math: Adept at analyzing mathematical problems
Analysis: I am very strong at analyzing, determining areas of improvement and
problem solving
Education: Capable of learning new skills and talents very quickly and pride