• About Me

    I am a senior IT and Operations executive with over 30 years’ experience in project and programme management, global operations management, enterprise systems implementations, product management, supply chain & logistics, team building, corporate troubleshooting, business consultancy and software re-engineering; all involving the leadership of large, multinational, cross-functional teams and underpinned by an extremely strong technical background covering the full software development lifecycle

    Deeply experienced in Global Operations management and Outsourcing; building onshore and offshore Engineering and Professional Services teams in India, Sri Lanka, USA and the UK, with P&L responsibility for budget, recruitment, team leadership and staff mentoring.

    I bring extensive knowledge in the area of Product Management, overseeing products from initial concept through to customer delivery, determining product release schedules, support policies and future roadmap developments. I have contributed to the growth of the bottom line through improved sales support and increased global expansion via reseller partnerships third-party integrations and joint ventures. I am also a prolific technical writer and experienced product evangelist.

    With a track-record of lateral thinking, calm and pragmatic problem-solving, board-level communication and pitching skills, I also have an extensive management consulting portfolio that includes RFP generation, feasibility studies, lost-revenue recovery, cost-saving projects and post-implementation reviews.

    Experienced in Agile Scrum, Kanban, and Waterfall methodologies, with an implementation portfolio that includes ERP solutions, warehouse management systems, inventory transition projects, third-party logistics, B2B/B2C e-commerce, data warehouses, CRM systems, application re-engineering and data transformation programs.

  • Consultancy Services

    Global Outsourced Operations
    Vendor selection, Global delivery of large-scale offshore operations (including both IT and Business Process outsourcing), market penetration strategies, outsourcing ROI modeling, and onshore reversion projects

    Product Management
    Roadmap definition, release planning, integration planning, competitor analysis, and change control oversight

    Business Consultancy / Corporate Troubleshooting
    From cost/benefit analyses, through post-implementation reviews, change management and cost-saving projects, to global expansion white papers

    Project Management
    Significant project management experience from the mid-sized through to enterprise-level ERP implementations. Board-level reportage and presentation, risk management, team building and pragmatic problem-solving

    Enterprise Application Re-Engineering
    From the initial scoping activities, through architecture planning, application and data migration, revenue / release planning and associated project management

    Contract Negotiation and Creation
    Significant experience in the creation of a wide variety of legal contracts including Reseller/Partnership agreements, Joint-Venture agreements and Master Services agrements

    ROI Modelling
    Financial return-on-investment analysis of software implementations, policy transitions, global expansion activities and outsourcing go/no-go decisions

    Partner / Vendor Management
    Support in the process of partner / vendor shortlist and selection, contract creation, engagement planning and ongoing partner management

    PA-DSS / PCI-DSS Consultancy
    Payment application certification management, PCI-DSS scope definition, PA-QSA selection and management, project management, production of all customer documentation

    Company Car Scheme Migrations
    Scheme exit planning, salary alternative modeling, staff transition support, lease company selection, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) modelling

  • Consultancy Projects: Case Histories

    PA-DSS CertificationA project to manage the PA-DSS certification process from start to finish

    Global OutsourcingA project to deliver outsourced development services in Asia

    Car Fleet TransitionsA project to research car fleet options, salary alternatives and rewrite the car policy

    Corporate TroubleshootingCost-saving reviews, market penetration analysis and project post-mortems

    ROI ModellingThe analysis of 'as is' and 'will be' scenarios and the creation of ROI modelling tools

    Project ManagementAn overview of previous project management roles undertaken

  • Client Portfolio

    Turpin DistributionFulfilment and distribution services for the academic, scholarly and professional publishing industry

    IngentaTechnology and related services for the Publishing industry



    The Carrot GroupConsultancy, digital project management, classroom and online training.

    Book Industry CommunicationThe Book industry's supply chain organisation



    UIDA full range of distribution services for academic, trade
    and journal publishers

    Maverick Publishing SpecialistsMaverick provides strategic consulting and operational outsource services for the publishing industry

  • Multimedia Projects

    Due to the ongoing, work-in-progress nature of some projects, a username and password is currently required in order to gain access to the Multimedia Projects section of the site. Please log in with your username and password, or email or contact to request login details

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  • Multimedia Projects: Case Histories

    Website Design
    A mixture of website designs, from simple, static pages, through small-footprint Javascript sites, up to full database-driven dynamic sites using extensive CSS and PHP

    Videography and Editing
    A showcase of video projects, including pure 'editing' jobs where footage was supplied, up to full-service, multi-camera videography plus editing and compositing

    Desktop Publishing
    A mixture of Desktop Publishing projects, mostly for local and small businesses. Print-ready proofs, optimised for CMYK printing, were generated in each case

  • Website Projects

    CSL Engineering

    HTML5 project for a Midlands engineering services company. Very lightweight. Layered stylesheets and some animated content

    DC Automotive

    Website project for a local car trader. Dynamic HTML with PHP, CSS and a MySQL database back-end, allowing easy addition of new content by customer

    Solutions in Accounting

    Website project for a local accountant. PHP, CSS and Javascript.

    Picture This

    PHP code, with Zen Cart e-commerce backend, PayPal Order Basket integration and content management by the customer

    Rob McPherson.net

    If you're reading this, you've already visited it!. A very lightweight website, with a crisp, clean corporate look. Extensive use of Javascript effects and layered CSS stylesheets

  • Video Projects

    Chris & Laura's Wedding

    Actually a wedding present for a friend. Footage from myself, plus a variety of guest cameras, with a nice intro, soundtrack, and visual effects. Short showreel here only


    BIC New Trends 2012 - Corporate Seminar

    HD Corporate video, involving capture of seminar footage plus editing, soundtrack and video overlays to deliver a slick, finished product

  • Desktop Publishing Projects

    Common Leys - Event Flyer

    A simple project for a local customer, with a design brief to convey the key facts in a rural yet contemporary style. Produced as a hi-res, CMYK print-ready proof. Flyers were printed in A4 and A5.

  • Contact Details

    Rob McPherson
    Gaythorn Cottage
    Aston Road
    Ducklington
    Oxfordshire
    OX29 7QY


    +44 (0)7775 723948
    rob@robmcpherson.net
    Connect on LinkedIn

  • Download Resumé

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  • Project Background

    PA-DSS / PCI-DSS Consultancy
    This project concerned the end-to-end project management and production of documentation that resulted in the successful PA-DSS certification of Ingenta's author2reader enterprise software suite, and included:

    The selection of a PA-QSA. NGS Secure (now NCC Group) were selected after a short selection and due diligence process
    Creation of a test lab. This involved dedicated network infrastructure, database servers, application servers, PSP interfaces and test data
    Production of comprehensive documentation, including implementation guide, installation guide, payment flow diagrams, network diagrams and cryptographic key management procedures
    Forensic penetration testing, undertaken by NGS Secure
    Application, documentation and infrastructure remediation

  • Project Background

    Global Outsourced Operations
    This role was initially concerned with the outsourced re-engineering of the customers' legacy software to the .net framework, with the subsequent benefical by-product being the creation of a revenue-earning offshore Professional Services and Support team. Principal responsibilities and activities included:

    Production of the partner ITT document
    Selection of an offshore partner. Virtusa (located in Colombo, Sri Lanka) were selected as the re-engineering partner, complementing the Support relationship with Impelsys (in Bangalore, India)
    Creation and management of a 30+ man re-engineering team, 5-man Professional Services team at Virtusa, and a 7-man Professional Services team at Impelsys
    Relocation, with partner, to Sri Lanka for two years to provide training and subject matter expertise for the Re-Engineering and Professional Services teams
    P&L responsibility and Executive oversight for global outsourced operations

  • Project Details

    Project Management
    Experience in this area has ranged from the small (30-40 day mini-projects and software development cycles) through to large, enterprise-level, comprehensive end-to-end management processes. Key activities undertaken have included:

    Systems Suitability studies and Requirements Definition workshops. Understanding the 'as-is' and 'will-be' scenarios, capturing user requirements and quantifying 'gap' and development requirements
    Project Planning. Identification and definition of project phases and milestones. Creation, load-balancing and socialisation of project plans with all parties
    Project Management. Including burn-rate analysis, risk management, stakeholder communication and steering committee management
    Phase / Milestone Signoff. Ensuring customer is aware of milestone completion and securing stage payments if required / agreed
    Post Go Live. Including the handover of the project to support personnel, and finally, the execution of a post-implementation review

  • Project Background

    Product Management
    A popular area of attention for all forward-thinking organizations developing software solutions. Competitive advantage requires focus in each of the following areas:

    Product Roadmap Definition and Release Planning. Breaking down the product development and defect backlog into manageable groups for the development team, and grouping planned developments into release cycles
    Definition of functionality matrices. Breaking down the application functionality into discrete business processes for easy comparison of features and functions
    Internal and External feedback. Regular and continuous engagement with staff and clients in order to identify application shortfalls and/or opportunities
    Training and Support of business development teams. Providing assistance with business proposals, customer queries and application demonstrations
    Best-of-breed integration opportunities. Identification of application integration opportunities with third-party solutions or organizations

  • Project Background

    Car Fleet Transition
    The customer wished to update its aging car fleet policy, and investigate a number of contemporary alternatives, including green fleet, salary alternatives, withdrawal of fuel cards and also a potential lease company transition. The project included:

    Modelling of salary alternative packages for current fleet drivers, including TCO (total cost of ownership) elements
    Identification of new baseline vehicles for each salary band
    Staff communication sessions
    Lease company review and selection process
    Negotiation of new Master Hire Agreement (MHA) with new lease company
    Rewrite of corporate fleet policy including duty-of-care, new HMRC regulations and 'green' car policy
    Subsequent renegotiation of individual vehicle leases and poolfleet agreement once new policy had been implemented and matured for approximately 18+ months

  • Project Background

    Corporate Troubleshooting
    This area has encompassed an eclectic mix of issues over the years; some challenging and some relatively straightforward. Highlights have included:

    New Market expansion studies. These were undertaken for a customer in order to qualify and quantify the opportunities and challenges of expanding operations into Australia and China. Both involved significant research and communication with external consultants. Deliverables in both cases were a report presented to the Board detailing opportunities, costs, and recommendations
    Post-implementation project reviews and analysis. These analysed a variety of issues, including such elements as project time overruns, root underlying causes of defects, project profitability and also 'phase 2' activities - such as technology migration options - following a successful project implementation
    Cost-Saving analyses. Focussing primarily on areas of high expenditure or overspend, these were typically approached by reviewing the expected / desired level of expenditure, negotiating with vendors / suppliers if necessary and then implementing (or proposing) revised solutions or processes in order to achieve desired cost levels

  • Project Details

    Enterprise Application Re-Engineering
    The client wished to migrate their proprietary-technology Enterprise Systems to a cutting-edge, extensible, open technology that would allow them to maintain their position within the industry. This was a significant undertaking, with many people playing a part in the project. Key activities undertaken in this project included:

    Technology selection. After reviewing the pros and cons of both Java and .net technologies, .net and SQLServer were selected as the core framework elements
    Re-Engineering partner selection. Due to the amount of work required, the vast majority of the project resource was provided by an offshore partner (Virtusa), who delivered a blended onshore and offshore resource model
    Project Management. This initially involved day-to-day oversight of the re-engineering strategy definition, followed by oversight of offshore project progress and delivery of onshore engineering responsibilities

  • Project Details

    Contract Creation & Negotiation
    Covering a number of different scenarios over the years, the key engagements of note were as follows, with each being either created from scratch, or based upon a heads-of-agreement:

    Foreign Market reseller agreement. This particular agreement allowed an overseas partner (reseller) to sell the customers' product in the resellers' territory. Careful attention was paid to reseller financial targets and resellers' end-user agreements, such that the customer was fairly represented, yet also appropriately protected
    Overseas Partner Integration agreements. This agreement dealt with the day-to-day rules of engagement, intercompany resource management, ongoing phased integration and ultimate 'option to purchase' for an overseas agent
    Application Integration Reseller Agreement. This agreement provided the customer with the right to resell (bundle) a 3rd-party product with their own. A painstaking process yielded a contract that provided a well-defined and robust framework that defined respective support responsibilities, product prices and deployment models

  • Project Details

    ROI Modelling
    This included feasiblity studies to qualify the potential revenue, costs and ROI on various speculative expansion projects. It also resulted in the generation of sales tools that allowed Business Development staff to provide ROI illustrations to their customers. Projects included:

    Product ROI Tool: Allowing end-users to understand the financial benefits of implementing the customers' software. Included modelling for elements such as head-count savings and efficiency ⁄ productivity gains
    Global IT and Business Process Outsourcing: Allowing the business to see the fully-loaded cost of using outsourced resource, the most efficient onshore ⁄ offshore resource mix, and the potential margin from outsourced business process activities
    New Market Expansion: Modelling the potential new market revenues against the costs of recruitment, new premises and international travel; illustrating when the break-even ⁄ profitability tipping point would occur, and allowing an informed go/no-go decision on the new market

  • Project Details

    Partner ⁄ Vendor Management
    Liaison and Management of third-party application vendors, product resellers and strategic partners. Primary responsibilities included:

    Third-Party Integration Vendors: From initial interactions at ITT shortlist stage, through due diligence, contract negotiation, payment scheduling and agreement of ongoing business engagement model
    Strategic Partners: From initial ITT, through contract negotiation, monthly resource management, issue resolution, new business management and finally exit/transition
    Product Resellers: Taken from initial heads of agreement, through application training, collaboration on co-branded marketing collateral, review of reseller royalty reports and ongoing partner liaison



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