Project Management Essay

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Support of financial applications, primarily a budgeting application serving over 2,000 users in seven utility operating companies. Utilized C#, SQLWindows, Oracle, and Opalis. • Lead developer converting the budgeting application from SQLWindows to C# working with

a changing team of two to four developers. • Responsible for support of the budgeting application providing timely analysis and resolution

of problems. Provides back up support to team members for other general ledger financial applications.

• Implemented enhancements for the budgeting application utilizing full life cycle strategies including requirements gathering, analysis, design, development, testing, implementation and documentation. Solutions delivered according to specifications and implemented on schedule for the start of Southern Company budgeting periods.

Fun Games, XXXXXXXXX, GZ March 20XX – June 20XX Role: Software Engineer Description: Support of lottery applications related to inventory, warehousing, telemarketing, and distribution of instant tickets. Utilized Visual Basic 6.0, Visual Basic.Net, ASP, ASP.NET, Crystal Reports, and SQL Server. • Responsible for modifications to existing applications for implementation of an instant ticket

inventory and distribution system for the XXXXX State Lottery. Lottery applications must be implemented accurately and efficiently within strict requirements and deadlines as outlined by each lottery jurisdiction.

XXXXXXXXXX, Inc., XXXXXXXX, GA July 20XX – March 20XX Role: Programmer Analyst Description: Full life cycle development of applications for a full service provider including warehousing, inventory tracking, accounting, reporting, and marketing applications. Utilized Visual Basic, Oracle, Crystal Reports, ASP, HTML, Oracle Forms and Reports, ASP.NET, VB.NET, CLMA.NET. • Responsible for completion of demonstration applications for presentation to lottery officials

for the procurement of lottery contracts. Completed the applications within strict deadlines contributing to the acquisition of a contract with the XXXXXXXX lottery.

• Joined major team-work effort in Lincoln, Nebraska to convert and implement the XXXXXX State Lottery system. Contributed to the development and support of applications in a very time intensive, deadline-driven project resulting in a successful, on-time startup.

• Developed marketing analysis business intelligence application in Oracle Forms, Oracle Reports, and Oracle PL/SQL packages.

XXXXXXX, XXXXXXX, GA April 20XX – June 20XX Role: Software Engineer Description: Delivered graphical user interface solutions for audio/visual device control systems. Utilized Visual Basic, ActiveX controls, and Adobe Photoshop to provide user interfaces for demos, training classes, and end-users.

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Another Corporation, XXXXXXXXX, MS September 19XX – March 20XX Role: Programmer Analyst Description: Supported an electric and gas customer service system serving over 1.5 million customers and over 500 users. The client/server system consisted of COBOL, C++, Oracle database, UNIX platform and knowledge of several development and design tools. • Selected to join a major team-work effort with a consulting firm in XXXXXXXXXX,

Florida, to implement enhancements to the customer service system. Contributed to team effort by performing high-quality and timely analysis, design, programming, testing, and debugging skills. The effort was completed on time and within budget.

• During support of system in XXXXXXXXX, created extensive test plans and performed rigorous testing of code changes. Located errors and inefficient coding before it was implemented into production. Made recommendations on most efficient coding solutions.

Supported an investor record-keeping system serving over 100,000 stock and bondholders and 15 users. Performed installation of system updates, testing, VSAM file processing, COBOL programming, JCL creation and execution, and job scheduling in an MVS mainframe environment.

• Used initiative and creativity to develop programs to automate several manual processes, saving time and money for the end-user.

• Maintained the integrity of investor records during a company merger process by developing programs to monitor and compare records.

Implemented a document imaging system for the Investor Services Department to manage investor correspondence. Business functionality included scanning, viewing, annotating, storage and retrieval of documents; document workflow and tracking; and attachment of computer- generated files. Utilized Visual Basic, COBOL, SQL, PL/SQL, Oracle database, and Wang scanning and viewing imaging controls. • Worked independently to perform analysis, GUI interface and database design,

programming, testing, debugging, implementation, documentation, training and support. • Implemented the system within budget and time constraints. The application is successfully

in use to date, preventing the loss of sensitive stockholder correspondence which must be retained according to SEC regulations.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE OF EMPLOYMENT SETTING MyRegion.NET Users Group (http://www.xxxxxxx.org/default.aspx) July 20XX – June 20XX Meets monthly at Microsoft facilities to discuss and learn .NET technologies and related emerging technologies. Presentations and tutorials are given, as well as access to materials online. EMPLOYMENT-RELATED COMMITTEE AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Systems Advisory Committee June 20XX – December 20XX Member of committee which was responsible for advising on application enhancements and problem resolutions for an investor record-keeping system. Members contributed to the enhancement and issues content, then reviewed and prioritized items which contributed to the decision on the specific items to implement within the system.

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Development Resource Group June 20XX – Present Attend monthly meetings at my current place of employment. Presentations are given by employees in the areas of current and emerging technologies in the work place. CONTINUING EDUCATION ACTIVITIES Microsoft Tech-Ed, XXXXXXX, TN May 20XX Five day event held by Microsoft. Event included seminars, instructor-led labs, hands-on labs, and demonstrations. Content included the latest emerging technologies in the areas of system architecture, Windows OS, database development, developer tools, mobility technology, office system, security, SOA, web development and more. DotNet Code Camp, XXXXXXXX, NY May 20XX All day event featuring presentations and seminars by experts in the field of .NET technologies. ASP.NET MOC, XXXXXXX, MS July 20XX Five day instructor-led course taken at HP Microsoft Technical Education Center. Course content included the fundamentals for developing web sites using ASP.NET. SPECIAL COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS Programming Languages – C#; Visual Basic.NET; Visual Basic 6.0; SQLWindows; C++;

COBOL Web Development – ASP; ASP.NET; VB Script; JavaScript; HTML Programming Tools – Visual Studio 2003/2005/2008; Visual SourceSafe; PVCS; Reporting

Services; MKS Integrity Source Control; MVS JCL/TSO Database – SQL Server 2000/2005; Oracle; SQL; PL/SQL; SQL Loader; Stored

Procedures/Packages; Oracle Developer Suite 10G; Oracle Forms; Oracle Reports; TOAD; Relational and data warehouse database design; VSAM

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Outcome 1

Apply knowledge of computing and mathematics for problem solving in the field of information

technology.

Characteristics:

• Describe use of appropriate mathematical techniques to aid in the needs analysis, and the

selection, evaluation, and administration of computer based systems

• Identify specific abilities to identify and analyze technical needs of the user

• Demonstrate the ability to apply mathematics in application development

Learning Statements:

• I supported a budgeting application which was used to input, calculate, and forecast

budgets for several companies. I was able to demonstrate my ability to understand the

mathematical concepts within the system, and analyze and identify necessary

modifications or additional functionality based on the users’ needs. Not only did I have

to understand the mathematics from the users’ standpoint so that I could support the

application, I had to create, modify, and support several Oracle stored procedures that

contained these mathematical computations to calculate budgeted dollars. The budgeting

application was used by various operating companies under the umbrella of a holding

company. Calculations could be as simple as inputting an expense for the current year

and having the forecast years escalated by a certain percentage. Or calculations were

more complex when those dollars had to be allocated from one company out to various

operating companies according to certain allocations rules, such as percentages, head

counts, square footage, etc. Another example of a calculation involved forecasting

employees’ salaries. This calculation was done differently depending on the operating

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company. One company chose to group employees together by job classification and

headcount. Other companies would specifically calculate and forecast each individual’s

salary based on their current annual salary.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting an Oracle stored procedure that was used to

implement the employee salary calculations. The stored procedure called RecalcEmploy

was used to calculate and escalate an individual’s salary over forecast months. The

employee’s annual salary was multiplied by their usage percentage, or the percentage for

which a particular budget department is utilizing the employee to achieve a base salary.

Then their daily salary is calculated by taking that base salary divided by a predetermined

number of working days in the year. Then each monthly amount for each forecast year is

determined by multiplying the daily rate by a predetermined number of working days in

the month and by a predetermined escalation percentage. The escalation percentage is

what inflates the employee’s salary for future forecast years, accounting for raises in

salary and benefits. The calculation would look somewhat like this: January Salary =

Daily Rate * (100 + January Escalation Percentage) / 100 * Number of days in January.

The stored procedure demonstrates my ability to understand how to apply mathematical

computations within information systems. Supporting evidence for this learning

statement outcome is located in tab C-1, Budgeting Application Stored Procedure.

• I am able to demonstrate implementation of mathematics in application development

after completing IT 412 Advanced Object Oriented Programming at Excelsior College.

This course implemented programming practices in Java, including those that contained

mathematical calculations. I was able to use programming logic to implement the

appropriate calculations into my programs and test them accordingly to ensure the

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outcomes were correct. The first program, pa1prob1, calculates the values in the Pascal

Triangle and prints out a designated line of the triangle. To determine a number within

the triangle, you add the two numbers above, to the right and to the left, of that particular

number in the triangle. If a number is missing to the right or left, zero is substituted. It

begins with number one at the top most of the triangle. My program uses recursion to

calculate each subsequent row in the triangle using calculations to determine the value of

each position within that row by taking into account the values in the previous row. The

calculation is like this: lineValues[num][i] = lineValues[num - 1][i] + lineValues[num -

1][i - 1]. The second program, pa1prob2, uses math to locate specific values within a

two-dimensional array. The idea is to find all of the values of ‘B’ that are connected

together within the array (top, bottom, left, right). It uses recursion (one method calling

itself) and mathematical calculations (for example FindB(x + 1, y + 1)) for incrementing

and decrementing values to locate all the surrounding connected B’s.

As supporting evidence, I am submitting the homework assignment describing the two

programming problems mentioned above, and the two Java programs. The Pascal

Triangle program is called pa1prob1. This programming problem came from

Programming Project 10.7 in the text book, Java Software Structures. The two-

dimensional array program is called pa1prob2. This problem is described in the

homework assignment and was not in the text book. These two programs demonstrate

my ability to think logically and use mathematical programming to achieve desired

results. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-2,

Advanced Object-Oriented Programming.

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• I am able to demonstrate my ability to understand mathematics and how it can apply to

computer science after completing TECH 205 Discrete Structures/Mathematics at

Excelsior College. As noted on Wikipedia

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrete_mathematics), “Discrete mathematics has become

popular in recent decades because of its applications to computer science. Concepts and

notations from discrete mathematics are useful in studying and describing objects and

problems in computer algorithms and programming languages, and have applications in

cryptography, automated theorem proving, and software development.” I learned many

concepts from discrete mathematics that can be used in information systems. Among the

topics included were conditional statements, circuits, sequences and mathematical

induction, set theory, counting and probability, and recursion.

One concept of recursion included using recursively defined sequences to determine

mathematical outcomes. As my supporting evidence, I will be submitting an assignment

from Chapter 8, Section 1, of the text book Discrete Mathematics with Applications. I

completed this assignment by determining the appropriate mathematical sequence to

achieve an outcome. For example, question 23 uses the Fibonacci sequence to determine

the number of rabbit pairs at the end of the year based on particular criteria. The criterion

is that a single pair of rabbits is born at the beginning of the year, rabbit pairs are not

fertile during the first two months of life, and then give birth to three new male/female

pairs at the end of every month, and no rabbits die. Question 23’s answer gives the

recursive sequence and the resulting number of rabbit pairs at the end of the year.

Question 35 uses a sequence to determine interest compounded monthly at 3 percent and

to calculate what the dollar value would be at the end of the year. This last calculation is

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a real-world example of mathematics that could be applied in a computer program to

calculate compound interest over a period of time using the recursive sequence.

Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-3, Discrete

Mathematics Homework.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-1, Budgeting Application Stored Procedure

• Tab C-2, Advanced Object-Oriented Programming

• Tab C-3, Discrete Mathematics Homework

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Outcome 2 Demonstrate the ability to identify and analyze user needs to define and create appropriate

computing requirements and solutions.

Characteristics:

• Identify specific involvement and knowledge to identify and analyze user needs

• Demonstrate the ability to select, create, evaluate and administer computer based systems

• Describe use of appropriate tools to aid in the needs analysis, and the selection,

evaluation, and administration of computer based systems

Learning Statements:

• I am able to demonstrate using tools in relationship with analysis of requirements, and the

selection and evaluation of information systems after taking IT418 Software Systems

Analysis and Design at Excelsior College. This class prepares you to analyze user needs

and to create requirements and designs that satisfy the user. The course takes you

through the requirements process, discussing both the traditional approaches and object-

oriented approaches. The traditional approach makes heavy use of the data flow diagram

tool, while the object-oriented approach uses use cases and system sequence diagrams.

The course then moves you into the design phase describing the traditional versus object-

oriented design techniques. The traditional approach of design uses tools such as the

system flowchart and structure chart, while the object-oriented approach uses design class

diagrams and sequence diagrams. The course also discusses design of databases, user

interfaces, and system interfaces.

As my supporting evidence, I am submitting the written part of my final in this course

which contains applicable questions and answers regarding analyzing and identifying

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user and system needs for requirements and design. In the assignment, I used a system

flowchart, structure chart, and pseudo code to analyze the traditional approach for an

electronic gas pump control program. For the object-oriented approach, I used a system

sequence diagram, class diagram, and a communication diagram. I also developed a set

of user interface dialogs for the gas pump control program. This assignment shows my

understanding of analyzing user needs and requirements and implementing design using

tools. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-4,

Systems Analysis and Design Final.

• I am able to demonstrate identifying user needs and requirements and implementing them

into a system. I was responsible for gathering the necessary user requirements for an

upgraded version of a Customer Service Center application and implementing the new

design. The requirements were initially based on an old version, but modifications and

enhancements were required for the new version, including upgrading the software to

.NET from ASP pages. This Customer Service Center application involved viewing

retailer information, creating trouble tickets for retailer issues, and scheduling routine

maintenance checks for retailers. Issues and maintenance were handled by field

personnel, for which their information also had to be maintained. I had to understand the

older version of the application, gather requirements for enhancements and modifications

from the users, develop a new user interface and data model, and implement the design in

an upgraded .NET framework.

As supporting evidence, I am submitting a requirements document that I authored

outlining the requirements for the application upgrade. This document contains an

overview of the application and upgrade, screen shots for assisting in building the user

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interface with descriptions of each, including any enhancements or modifications,

descriptions of fields on the screens and their purpose, and the data model and data

definitions. This document demonstrates my ability to capture the needed requirements

in order to implement the new system. Supporting evidence for this learning statement

outcome is located in tab C-5, Customer Service Center Requirements.

• I am able to demonstrate my involvement in determining and analyzing user needs. In

my current position, I support a customized reporting application that reports on physical

security activity, such as personnel granted access in and out of facilities, or alarms that

have resulted from improper access. This application can track activity for entire

facilities or for individuals. I was responsible for implementing an upgrade of the

application into the production environment and making sure it met user needs. While I

did not do the majority of the upgrade programming, I inherited the application prior to

its induction into production, and I had to finalize several unfinished elements, debug the

application, and implement some missed and unforeseen user requirements. In addition, I

also implemented new functionality into the system according to user requirements,

including two new reports.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting a detail design document for one of the

newly implemented reports which outlines the requirements and design. The new report

captures usage statistics for all of the other reports to determine how many times reports

are run, and can be grouped by report, by the user that is running reports, or by various

geographical regions. The design leaves open the possibility of collecting and reporting

on other types of statistics in the future in relation to user interactions within the reporting

system. This document shows my ability to capture the requirements, design the report

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according to user needs, and implement the appropriate design into the production

environment. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab

C-6, Usage Statistics Report Design.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-4, Systems Analysis and Design Final

• Tab C-5, Customer Service Center Requirements

• Tab C-6, Usage Statistics Report Design

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Outcome 3 Demonstrate the ability to effectively select, evaluate, and integrate information technologies

based solutions in a user environment.

Characteristics:

• Describe previous and current educational or work experiences where analysis and

development of good logical design was required

• Document experiences with applications that satisfied end user requirements

• Provide examples of educational or professional activities that document the ability to

implement solutions into a user environment

Learning Statements:

• I am able to demonstrate my ability to implement solutions into a user environment that

satisfy end user requirements. I implemented Inventory Management functionality into

an Instant Ticket Gaming system for a full-service lottery vendor. An Instant Ticket

Gaming system is responsible for certain administrative tasks surrounding management

of instant ticket games, inventory, replenishment, order management, and prize payment.

The Inventory Management functionality that I implemented pertains to managing instant

ticket packaging, delivery, location and status of inventory, transferring inventory, and

returning of inventory. I followed a set of requirements in order to design the

architecture, code the user interfaces, supporting classes and libraries, test the application,

and implement the required functionality into the system according to the users’ needs.

As supporting evidence, I am submitting a functional specification that I authored

detailing the Inventory Control design and implementation. The document provides for

an extensive explanation for each type of Inventory Management function, including

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screen shots, an overview, controls definitions, restrictions and validations, screen

behavior and events, error handling, table access, and class usage. This document was

used by both users and technical people to assist in understanding the functionality of the

Inventory Management portion of the system. The Inventory Management functionality

was implemented in the system as described by this document and is evidence of my

ability to implement solutions into a user environment that satisfies the requirements.

Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-7, Inventory

Management Functional Design.

• I am able to demonstrate my ability to evaluate and integrate applications into a user

environment. In my current position, I evaluated the need for a tool to automate a manual

process. My team supports camera systems for which a central security office can

remotely connect to any site to view activity. Occasionally, cameras at a site may go

down. The routine fix is to call the on-call support person, who would typically just have

to reboot the pc that the cameras are connected to. The on-call person has to find the

application IP address from a SharePoint list, connect to the PC through remote desktop

and issue commands to reboot the PC. The combination of these tasks takes time. I

designed, coded, and implemented an application which embedded this process in a .NET

windows application where the user can select the site IP from a dropdown list, instead of

hunting for it on a SharePoint site. The user can then simply click a single button to

connect to and reboot the pc. Not only has this saved time, but a future use will be

deploying the application to the help desk users, so that on-call support will not have to

be called in the middle of the night. With the confidential user name and password

embedded in the compiled code and the fact that the help desk person will not have to

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connect to the PC through remote desktop, which would expose the PC, this safely allows

the help desk person to handle the situation. This empowers the end-user to have more

control, while relieving the on-call support from having to manually implement the

process each time there is an issue, which can happen on the average of 10 to 15 days out

of the month.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting a functional design document that I

authored describing the functionality of the application. The application was

implemented as described in this document and is evidence of my ability to evaluate the

need for the application, analyze how to accomplish the goal through a program, and

implement the application. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is

located in tab C-8, Camera Site Status Application.

• I am able to demonstrate my use of good logical design when implementing information

technology solutions in a user environment. In my current position, I support an interface

between the human resources system and the physical security application. The goal of

the physical security application is to be able to issue access badges to contractors that

specifically handle outage work at the power plants. These contractors work temporarily

at different locations and when they show up for work, if they do not already have a

badge, they are issued a new one. An unrelated time-tracking application must also track

the contractor’s time on projects, requiring an employee number. In order to issue an

employee number, an interface between the HR system and the physical security system

will create an employee number upon issuing a new badge. In addition to the contractor

badge and employee number, it is also important to track the company or vendor that they

work for as a contractor. Both the HR system and the physical security system maintain

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separate lists of vendors or companies, with little current functionality for data integrity

between the two systems. It has been cumbersome to try to sync them up and there are

multiple entries of the same vendor in both systems, but maybe spelled differently. I

evaluated, designed, and implemented new functionality into the physical security

application to assist in keeping vendor names in sync between the two systems.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting a document describing the analysis of the

situation and the design and necessary code modifications to implement a solution to

assist the badging officers in synchronizing vendors between the two systems. I had to

understand what the needs were along with the limitations of the two systems and come

up with a design to be implemented that could satisfy this need. Supporting evidence for

this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-9, Vendor Synchronization Interface.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-7, Inventory Management Functional Design

• Tab C-8, Camera Site Status Application

• Tab C-9, Vendor Synchronization Interface

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Outcome 4

Demonstrate the ability to participate effectively in groups or team projects.

Characteristics:

• Describe involvement in group projects or activities

• Interact effectively with colleagues who have critical involvement with projects

• Discuss how cultural, diversity, and interpersonal issues relate to groups in professional,

ethical, and social life

Learning Statements:

• I am able to demonstrate my involvement in group projects after taking CIS 252 Intro to

Data Communications at the local State University. Many of the classes at the college

encouraged group projects as a way to prepare the student for working in teams. For a

class project, we were divided into groups and tasked with writing a paper and presenting

the information to the class. Each group had to work together to agree on the topic and

subtopics of the paper, divide the subtopics amongst the group members, communicate

effectively to make sure a consistent flow of the paper from one subtopic to the next and

a consistency in writing style and grammar. We met as a group outside of class to

accomplish our goal. One of the team members provided a page on his personal website

where we could share information and updates regarding our progress. In addition, we

had to review and critique each others work, involving honesty, openness, trust, and

relationship-building. All members made it a point to contribute equally, and all

members were involved in the presentation to the class.

As supporting evidence, I am submitting the paper my group wrote, which includes the

names of the participants. The topic of the paper was VOIP and there were five

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participants on the team. I learned that active participation in a group project by all

members lends to the success of that project. I learned how to interact with the other

participants to achieve our common goal, despite our differing views and opinions, and to

respect the other team members and recognize the value each participant lent to the

project. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-10,

Intro to Data Communications Team Paper.

• In 2001, I joined a major team-work effort, collaborated between my company and

XXXXXXXXX Consulting in XXXXXXXXX, Florida, for a major application upgrade

to a customer service system. I learned more about team work in this nine month

experience than in any other situation. Members of the team were both local and from

different parts of the country with varying cultures, offering my first opportunity to

embrace diversity among my team members. The XXXXXXXXX culture produced an

excellent team-work environment where everyone was encouraged to be part of the team,

to be assisted by other team members and to remember to assist others. Cubicles were set

up so that you were assigned to a small team of six or seven members, all sitting together

within one large cube, which promoted communication and awareness of what was going

on. My small team was part of larger subsets of teams. They instituted a 20 minute rule

whereby if you struggled with an issue for more than 20 minutes, you went to your

immediate team members for help first. If the issue still persisted, you went to team

members at the next level, continuing on until you had a resolution. Having worked

independently in my former position, I realized the benefits team work can offer to a

project by exchanging knowledge and offering support to other members.

XXXXXXXXX also had many team building events and outings which further enhanced

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relationships both in and outside of the office. I have used this experience going forward

in all of my projects and groups that I work with.

As supporting evidence, I have an email from the Accenture project supervisor to my

company supervisor regarding my joining the team and my progress as far as interrelating

to the team. I struggled at first with the newness of working with a team, but eventually

came to embrace it, as reflected in the email. This is located in the fifth paragraph down

in the email and is shaded. This small paragraph emphasizes the importance placed on

team work in the Accenture environment and how team work played a critical role in the

success of the overall project. Each team member, including myself, was expected to

play their part, and I learned how to do that well within this culture. Supporting evidence

for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-11, XXXXXXXXX Team.

• In my current position, I work with a team of four people plus a supervisor. Our team

supports each other in the areas of troubleshooting, on call support duties, and

development activities. The team is responsible for IT support of critical physical

security applications that protect over 100 facilities in Missouri and Illinois. These

applications include access control to facilities, alarm monitoring, and camera

monitoring. If applications or equipment fails, the issue needs to be addressed with a

high priority, while maintaining the security of the facility either through backup systems

or courtesy patrols by the local police department. Our team rotates on a 24/7 on call

duty to ensure availability of the systems. Besides the primary on-call person, we also

make sure there is a secondary backup on-call. In addition, the other team members are

always willing to assist at any time if the primary or secondary persons have questions. I

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have demonstrated that I can contribute to the team by sharing the responsibilities and

supporting other members when needed.

As supporting evidence, I am submitting a narrative that includes explanations and screen

shots of the various tools we use to be an effective team. We have a team SharePoint site

which consists of troubleshooting guidelines, documentation, and other materials to assist

all team members by having knowledge at their fingertips. Team members are expected

to contribute to the site any knowledge that will benefit other members. This is also

where our on-call schedule and team calendar exist. In addition to support and on-call

situations, the team also shares responsibility for development activities, such as

modifications and enhancements to applications. We use a project management tool to

help us track outstanding tasks, resources assigned and available, statuses of tasks, and

work loads. This tool assists in sharing this work load across the team members. In

addition, team members are responsible for reviewing other team members’ work to

ensure quality and correctness across the team. Supporting evidence for this learning

statement outcome is located in tab C-12, Team Tools.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-10, Into to Data Communications Team Paper

• Tab C-11, XXXXXXXXXX Team

• Tab C-12, Team Tools

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Outcome 5

Demonstrate an ability to understand professional, ethical and social responsibilities, including

the impacts of culture, diversity, and interpersonal relations.

Characteristics:

• Identify circumstances where professional, ethical and social responsibilities were dealt

with

• Document methods used to deal with professional, ethical, and social responsibilities

• Discuss when and where cultural, diversity, and interpersonal relations affect

professional, ethical, and social responsibilities

Learning Statements:

• I completed BUS 323 Business Ethics at Excelsior College which covered many aspects

of ethics as it relates to our business and personal lives. We were assigned to write a

paper regarding individual ethical dilemmas in our work place. I was able to use the

information from the text book and other class readings and incorporate that into my

paper. For example, my paper involved security guards stealing time causing negligence

and security risks. Before taking this class, I had never thought about the different ways

that people ‘steal time’ at work, as opposed to stealing resources, and the fact that is was

an ethical issue. The information I learned from the class helped me to realize the ethical

situation, analyze it, and determine the appropriate actions.

As my supporting evidence, I am submitting the paper that I wrote titled The Ethics of

Security. This paper describes the ethical dilemma, the stakeholders that were affected

by the situation, an analysis of the dilemma, and my recommendations for solving the

issue in an ethical manner. This assignment allowed me to take a real-life ethical

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situation that occurs within my work place, which lent much more weight to my learning

as opposed to an invented situation. I was able to demonstrate my understanding of the

ethical situation and deal with it ‘on paper’ using the information I learned in the class.

Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-13, The

Ethics of Security Paper.

• I am able to demonstrate my understanding of ethics in relationship to social

responsibility and differing cultures after completing BUS 323 Business Ethics at

Excelsior College. This class discussed many of the ethical issues facing organizations as

a whole and how that affects their stakeholders. We were assigned to write a case

analysis based on a selected ethics situation that dealt with ethics from an organizational

perspective. The case analysis drew on ethical theories such as teleological,

deontological, and virtue ethics perspectives. I chose a case that addressed an

organizational ethical situation that encompassed issues of cultural differences and social

responsibility. The paper addresses the ethical dilemma presented to a pharmaceutical

company faced with the decision to possibly forgo profits in order to act in a socially

responsible manner for groups of poverty-stricken stakeholders in economically

depressed countries.

As evidence of my learning, I am submitting the case analysis titled Merck River

Blindness Case Analysis. The case analysis included describing the ethical situation, an

analysis of the affected stakeholders, an analysis of the situation based on ethical

theories, and recommendations as to if the ethical situation was resolved correctly and if

not, how it could have been. I demonstrated my ability to address the ethical situation as

it relates to social responsibility using the various theories that I learned in the course.

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Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-14, Merck

River Blindness Case Analysis.

• Upon my employment with my current company, I was required to spend an entire day in

orientation to get acquainted with the various HR policies and practices and to learn more

about my employer. Topics of the day include diversity and ethics within the work place.

Knowledgeable speakers provided valuable information and relayed real-life stories of

incidences that countered the company’s policies regarding ethics and diversity. They

provided insight into the benefits of diversity and performing our duties in an ethical

manner. Handouts were provided for further reading, which also contained links to the

company’s intranet sites for diversity and ethics. To keep employees current, they are

required to repeat ethics training annually. The company has an organization devoted to

diversity that sponsors a diversity day, and provides newsletters, training workshops,

speakers, and community outreach programs.

As evidence of my learning, I am submitting a narrative containing screenshots of the

ethics and diversity policies on the intranet site where I work. Having the intranet site

available to me as a ready reference helps to continue to reinforce what I learned in

training sessions and serves as an additional electronic version of the printed policies I

have been given. The various methods of communicating ethics and diversity have

strengthened my awareness of and my ability to deal with such topics. Supporting

evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-15, Work Place Policies.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-13, The Ethics of Security Paper

• Tab C-14, Merck River Blindness Case Analysis

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• Tab C-15, Work Place Policies

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Outcome 6 Demonstrate proficiency in communicating technical information in formal reports,

documentation, and presentations to users and information technology professionals.

Characteristics:

• Demonstrate the ability to organize and be concise in written communication

• Use effective grammar and language appropriate to the audience

• Demonstrate the ability to effectively communicate grasp of technical concepts

Learning Statements:

• I am able to demonstrate that I can effectively communicate technical concepts to an

audience. I attended a Microsoft Tech-Ed conference in Florida in 20XX. This was a

five-day conference presenting the latest Microsoft technologies in the areas of business,

architecture, database, mobility, development tools and more. Information was presented

by various methods including seminars, instructor-led labs, and hands-on labs. This was

the most comprehensive conference I have attended where I learned a great deal of

information in a short time. During my visit, I concentrated on attending developer

sessions and labs to gather information I could take back to my team members. I learned

about the latest technology surrounding Visual Studio 2008, such as LINQ, Windows

Presentation Foundation, XAML, Windows Communication Foundation, and much more.

As a follow up to my conference, I gave a presentation to my team, approximately 20

members, during our monthly staff meeting reflecting on my experiences at the

conference and what I had learned.

As supporting evidence, I am submitting my PowerPoint presentation. I was able to

effectively deliver the information to my team members in a way the entire audience

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could understand as they had varying levels of exposure to Microsoft and the

technologies I presented. By using minimal information on the PowerPoint presentation,

they were able to absorb the highlights without being overloaded with information. I

included website links in the presentation where they could access additional information.

I could identify that I was gaining the audience’s attention and interest during the

presentation, and several of the participants asked that I send out the presentation in

electronic format after the meeting so they could refer to it. Supporting evidence for this

learning statement outcome is located in tab C-16, Microsoft Tech-Ed Presentation.

• I am able to demonstrate my ability to communicate a set of instructions that must be

followed for a particular duty in a simple, understandable, organized manner that the

reader is able to follow in order to complete a task. I implemented an ETL (extraction,

transformation, and load) process for a business intelligence data warehouse. This

process was responsible for pulling information from a transactional sales database into a

data warehouse. The process was part of a list of routine jobs that a computer operator

executed on a daily basis. To assist the computer operator, I wrote a procedural

document explaining how the computer operator would execute the ETL process

manually, and how errors should be handled.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting the procedural document that assisted both

the operators and technical people on staff. The operators were able to follow the

instructions and deal with errors as they came up. The instructions had to be precise and

clear for the operator to understand and follow as I was not always available and not in

the same geographic location to assist the operator. In addition to these instructions, I

provided an ERD of the data warehouse to help assist the technical personnel which I am

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also submitting. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in

tab C-17, ETL Operator Procedures.

• I am able to demonstrate my ability to be an effective writer after taking IT 380 Overview

of Computer Security. In addition to learning the key concepts of computer security, this

class involved several writing assignments, which sharpened my written communication

skills. In fact, there were 12 one page papers for lab assignments, five papers with a

length of three to five pages, a two-part security policy consisting of two papers of three

to five pages in length, and weekly written discussions that were graded. I received an A

on each writing assignment, reflecting my ability to communicate the objectives and

purpose of the content, to properly use grammar and language, and to organize my

thoughts in a manner that was understandable and easy to follow for the reader.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting one of the assignments. This assignment

entailed reading various documents regarding security policies and the security policy life

cycle, and then summing up the information in a more concise three to five page

document. I made sure to capture the important topics and highlights of a security policy

in an understandable, easy-to-read document, demonstrating my ability to communicate

the security policy life cycle effectively. The professor praised the paper, as well as

many of my writings. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located

in tab C-18, Security Policy Lifecycle Paper.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-16 Microsoft Tech-Ed Presentation

• Tab C-17 ETL Operator Procedures

• Tab C-18 Security Policy Lifecycle Paper

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Outcome 7

Demonstrate the ability to identify and analyze the impacts of information technologies and

computing on public, organizations, and individuals.

Characteristics:

• Discuss practical identification and analysis experiences relating to public,

organizational, and individual use of informational technologies

• Document use of tools and techniques to protect organizational assets

• Identify instances or experiences where ethically responsible issues were encountered

while dealing with the impact of information technology

Learning Statements:

• In my current position, I support physical security applications that protect over 100

facilities. These facilities must be secure 24/7 to the best of the security officers’ abilities

through the use of these applications. When any of these applications are down or not

performing as expected, this impacts the officers’ abilities to perform their job and their

ability to protect not only the facilities, but also any employees that may be present, and

the surrounding public areas. If the applications are unavailable, facilities must be

protected through backup systems or courtesy police patrols. With the age of information

technology, the security personnel are now dependent on readily available information

through these applications that help them to better perform their job. I am part of a

rotational on-call support to handle issues and ensure reliability of the physical security

applications. I am able to demonstrate that I can identify the impact to the user when

there is an issue, analyze the problem and find a resulting solution in order to maintain

physically secure environments. I use tools and troubleshooting guidelines to assess the

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I am submitting three items as my supporting evidence. The first item is a copy of the

24/7 on-call schedule, which displays the primary and secondary on-call persons each

week, and telephone numbers for all available personnel that can assist in an issue should

it need to be escalated for the quickest resolution possible. The second item is a sample

help desk case that assists in the work flow for supporting the issue. The help desk case

tracks the status of the issue, who is assigned to the issue, and keeps a log of all the

activity that has occurred while capturing, diagnosing, and resolving the issue. The third

item is a screen shot of one of the troubleshooting guides that assist me in resolving

issues. These items show that I am responsible as part of a team for making sure there is

little impact to users when issues arise and that the applications are as reliable as possible.

Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-19, Physical

Security Application Impacts.

• I am able to demonstrate knowledge of tools and techniques to protect organizational

assets after taking IT 380 Overview of Computer Security at Excelsior College. This

course discussed many of these tools and techniques to protect organizational assets on

the network, such as anti-virus software, firewalls, encryption, and public key

infrastructures. The course also addressed protection from a physical security standpoint

and processes such as business continuity planning. While protection of the company

assets are important, it can have an impact on users of those assets and how users

perceive those tools as being used.

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I wrote a paper regarding some of these tools and techniques and their impact on

employees within the organization, particularly in the area of privacy rights and ethics.

This paper demonstrates my knowledge of the tools and techniques that protect company

assets, and I am also able to discuss how these security technologies impact users at

work. As my supporting evidence, I am submitting this paper. This paper discusses

topics, such as internet and email monitoring, techniques for monitoring such as packet

sniffing and keystroke loggers, and the security policies that help employees to

understand and agree to such monitoring. Supporting evidence for this learning

statement outcome is located in tab C-20, Security Technology Impacts.

• During my employment at Southern Company, there were a number of impacts to

systems that arose due to outdated software. These outdated systems potentially

impacted the users of those systems and their ability to get their job done. It also

impacted the IT department as far as lack of knowledge and funds to keep up with

changing technology. One of the major impacts was the inability to upgrade to Windows

Vista from XP because some of the in-house and vendor applications would not be

compatible, and the time and expense to upgrade applications was too great. Some

applications were not able to take advantage of enhanced functionality, such as use of

web services, because the applications were outdated. There were instances where the

expense of upgrading an application was too great to warrant the upgrade from a business

perspective. This happened to a capital module of a budgeting application suite that I

supported when money simply ran out. The company’s customer service system was so

large that upgrading the technology seemed virtually impossible from a budget

perspective, and it still runs on COBOL and C++. Then there is the case of upgrading

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one system, which leads to all the ancillary systems having to either also upgrade or make

significant changes to maintain compatibility. This was the case with a major general

ledger upgrade, which affected numerous dependent applications, such as the budgeting

application which I supported. Significant modifications were required for the budgeting

application to comply with the new general ledger system. This caused unexpected

financial impacts to the business.

One other significant component of keeping software up-to-date is knowledge expertise.

One of the ways that the company combated this issue was to create a development

consulting department. This department maintained a group of employees whose sole

purpose was to keep current with technology, develop standards and best practices, to

create core foundational architectures and code generators, and most of all to provide

their expertise and tools to all of the developers within the IT Department. Developers

were expected to collaborate with the development consulting department for

development projects, to get advice, make use of the available tools, and tap into the

wealth of resources provided by this group. There were still some gaps due to the fact

that it took time to develop standards and best practices for the latest technologies, and

then relay that information to IT developers, but the development consulting department

did their best to keep the company moving in the right direction with technology to

minimize impacts and risks to applications. They hired consultants that had

qualifications in the areas of current and emerging technologies. The IT departments

were also encouraged to set aside a portion of their budget for training full-time

employees. This was significantly important as the IT staff could quickly grow out-of-

date and out-of-touch with current technology, as a big portion of their time is spent

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simply trying to maintain current applications. When I was hired, I was sent to .NET

training, which helped to realize a faster turnaround when assisting with upgrading

applications to C# code. I also joined members of the development consulting

department in attending a Microsoft Tech-Ed conference, which was a five day

comprehensive event that covered all of the latest Microsoft development technologies.

This was a useful event for preparing us for future technological impacts to systems. I

was able to take this information back to my team members to educate and make them

aware of emerging technologies. For my supporting evidence, I am submitting a

PowerPoint presentation I created and presented to my team describing the conference.

Training was just one of the many ways the company showed their commitment to

reducing impacts of technology through education and exposure. Supporting evidence

for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-16, Microsoft Tech-Ed

Presentation.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-19, Physical Security Application Impacts

• Tab C-20, Security Technology Impacts

• Tab C-16, Microsoft Tech-Ed Presentation

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Outcome 8

Demonstrate the ability to identify and apply current and emerging technologies and tools for

information technologies solutions.

Characteristics:

• Document previous and current educational and professional experiences with emerging

technologies and tools within the realm of information technology

• Discuss your knowledge and experience with new information technologies such as

documenting their use within an organization

• Identify specific experiences where the role of new data communications and networking

technologies plays a large role in an educational or workplace setting

Learning Statements:

• During my employment at a lottery vendor, most applications were written in Visual

Basic 6.0. When we began the process of learning about .NET technologies and

converting applications from VB 6 into .NET, several decisions had to be made regarding

choice of language and architecture. I was able to assist in investigating, learning, and

adopting this technology. I did this by purchasing books, doing internet research, and

downloading case studies and tutorials. An architecture was selected by a senior

developer. This architecture is called CLSB.NET and was created by XXXXXX

XXXXXXX (http://www.xxxxx.net/cslanet/). This architecture was chosen as a natural

move from the visual basic environment that existed into a .NET environment based on

the structure and language. I was able to assist in initially preparing for and

implementing this architecture into our development environment.

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For my supporting evidence, I am submitting a summary I composed regarding the

framework and design goals of the selected architecture. This document shows my

understanding of what was, at that time, emerging technologies, including the key

technologies and design goals. Also included in my supporting evidence is a code file

with comments stating that I converted the code to .NET indicating my ability to embrace

and implement new technologies. Supporting evidence for this learning statement

outcome is located in tab C-21, Dotnet Architecture and Standards.

• I attended a Microsoft Tech-Ed conference in Florida in 20XX, which was a five-day

conference presenting the latest Microsoft technologies in various areas, such as

development, architecture, Windows, Office, mobility, and much more. Information was

presented by various methods including seminars, instructor-led labs, hands-on labs and

demonstrations. The conference took place within a convention center of 7 million

square feet with 14,000 attendees, and the amount of information presented was

overwhelming. During that week, I focused on the developer track, attending sessions

and completing hands-on labs that were related to the latest tools and languages for

software developers. The hands-on labs were a great self-teaching mechanism for putting

into practice the concepts that were learned during sessions.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting a PowerPoint presentation that I delivered

to my work group summarizing the event and the technologies that I learned. We had not

used many of these technologies in our work environment, so the information was

insightful. Some of these technologies are as follows: LINQ, or Language Integrated

Query, extends .NET languages with the capability to query objects similar to querying a

database. WPF, or Windows Presentation Foundation, is the next-generation UI layer

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that offers a true separation of presentation from code, making use of XAML, or

Extensible Application Markup Language. WCF, or Windows Communication

Foundation, is a unified model for communication between distributed applications. WF,

or Windows Workflow, is a tool for managing processes through workflows. Windows

PowerShell is the latest in command line scripting. AJAX, or Asynchronous JavaScript

and XML allows for a better web experience by allowing asynchronous callbacks to the

server without having to reload web pages. I also provided links in the presentation for

more information, including downloads for sample applications, such as DinnerNow and

Acropolis. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-

16, Microsoft Tech-Ed Presentation.

• In my current position as a software developer supporting physical security applications,

I am part of a 24/7 rotational on-call support team. Our applications must have high

availability and be reliable in order to ensure protection of over 100 facilities. There are

only four people on this team, requiring an on-call shift every fourth week. In order to

make it easier to perform our duties while still maintaining a personal life outside of

work, the company seeks to make us as mobile as possible with the needed tools to

perform our duties. I am provided with a wireless laptop and a Verizon

BroadbandAccess card with additional NationalAccess, with 3G capabilities through

1xEVDO digital wireless standard. This technology gives us mobility, along with using a

Blackberry for phone calls and email messages. After establishing an internet connection

using my lap top, I am able to access the network through an intranet website. The

intranet site has available limited applications for use; however, it does provide remote

desktop whereby you can log into your work pc to have everything available to you as if

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you were at work. Unfortunately for us, our laptop was also our computer that we used at

work. The server operations team created virtual desktops for our support team on a

server. These virtual desktops contain all of the tools and applications that we use when

at work, including drive mappings to the network. This technology allows us full

capabilities to perform our duties on the move and at any time when on-call, without

missing social activities, such as family functions. It is relatively easy to take a call on

your blackberry, connect to the wireless internet, log into the intranet, access your virtual

desktop and resolve an issue in tennis shoes and shorts while eating barbeque, and not

having to be tied to a desk.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting an essay on my understanding of desktop

virtualization, and the reasons my company is expanding its implementation of virtual

desktops due to its advantages. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome

is located in tab C-22, Desktop Virtualization.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-21, .Dotnet Architecture and Standards

• Tab C-16, Microsoft Tech-Ed Presentation

• Tab C-22, Desktop Virtualization

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Outcome 9

Demonstrate expertise in the core information technologies such as data base management,

information management and security, object oriented programming, computer architecture,

systems architecture, operating systems, and networking.

Characteristics:

• Document experiences with database applications that satisfied end user requirements

• Provide documented Java or C++ code to illustrate objected oriented programming

experience

• Document how modern network operating systems are used to accomplish common tasks

Learning Statements:

• In my career as a software developer, I have written various applications from an object

oriented approach. The primary language I have used is VB.NET and C#. My programs

encompassed the concepts of interfaces, inheritance, abstraction, and encapsulation in a

layered architecture, sometimes in a distributed architecture. In addition to my work

experience, I took IT 412 Advanced Object Oriented Programming at Excelsior College,

which reinforced the concepts of object oriented programming using Java.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting the Java program called pa3prob1 which

was a class assignment. We had to write the main driver class, and complete some of the

unfinished methods in the classes used by our driver class. The main file, pa3prob1, is

the driver class that calls other classes to construct a tree, display the number of children,

and then find the leaves, internal nodes, and the depth of each node in the tree. It uses a

simple NodeObject class to create objects to add to the tree. The NodeObjects are added

to the tree collection using the LinkedBinaryTree class, which uses an object-oriented

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concept called generics. A generic class contains a placeholder for any type of object that

the class can operate on, yielding more versatility to the class. The LinkedBinaryTree

class implements the BinaryTreeADT interface, another OO concept. The interface is an

abstraction that defines what operations must be included in the class, but does not define

how those operations are implemented. The implementation is defined in the class that

implements the interface. The LinkedBinaryTree class also makes use of the

ArrayUnorderedList class to traverse the binary tree. The ArrayUnorderedList class

inherits or extends the ArrayList class, which is another OO concept. Inheritance allows

the derived class to use the base class’s methods and variables. Inheritance can be used

for categorization of objects. For example, if you are dealing with different kinds of

animals, the base class can be an animal, and the derived classes can be a cat, dog, and

giraffe. This Java program shows separation of functionality into individual classes or

objects, each one having their implementations encapsulated within the objects and

available to other objects for use. Supporting evidence for this learning statement

outcome is located in tab C-23, Java OO Programs.

• I am able to demonstrate my ability to implement database applications. I implemented a

business intelligence data warehouse for a state lottery. The first step taken was to gather

requirements for the reporting needs and develop a data model. I worked as part of a

team to develop the data model, using data warehousing concepts, such as

denormalization, and different type of tables then used in a transactional database, such

as dimension, fact, and aggregate tables. A dimension table typically describes an entity,

such as a customer, that has attributes that describes it. Fact tables contain some type of

measurement of the dimension, such as customer orders. Aggregate tables combine data

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from the fact tables into summaries for the purpose of making querying faster in the

corresponding business intelligence application that is accessing the data. Once the

database was in place, I created the extraction, transformation, and load (ETL) process

using staging tables and Oracle stored procedures. The data was pulled daily from the

transactional tables into staging tables, and the stored procedures manipulated and moved

the data into the data warehouse in an appropriate format for fast querying based on

reporting needs. Finally, I worked with another developer to create the end-user

application using Oracle Forms and Reports to pull the information out of the data

warehouse and present it to the user in predefined formats and reports.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting the ERD which contains the dimension,

fact, and aggregate tables; a screen shot of the ETL application written in Visual Basic

6.0 which called the Oracle stored procedures to populate the data warehouse; and finally

sample screen shots of the end-user application that was used to view the data warehouse

information. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-

24, BI Data Warehouse.

• I took IT 360 Operating Systems at Excelsior College. In this course, I learned about the

architecture and functions of operating systems. It discussed how processes are

scheduled, created and executed; threading concepts; synchronization of processes

including issues with deadlock; and many other concepts including memory, paging, file

and directory structures, performance, and security. This course taught me the many

common tasks that operating systems accomplish that we take for granted, such as

handling files, scheduling the processes running on our computers, and handling

contention. One chapter was dedicated to the Linux operating system including the

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design, process management, scheduling, memory management, file systems, I/O,

security and other concepts. I found this chapter interesting as I was only familiar with

the Windows operating system.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting a paper I wrote for this course about the

Linux operating system, showing my ability to research and learn about the tasks that

operating systems perform. The paper gave an overview of Linux, the design of the

kernel, process management through the use of a System Call Interface, paging and

swapping concepts, the file system, scheduling techniques, and the advantages of Linux

over other choices. Through the research I did to write the paper and the many concepts I

learned from the course, I am able to identify and be aware of the common tasks that

operating systems perform. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is

located in tab C-25, Linux Operating System.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-23, Java OO Programs

• Tab C-24, BI Data Warehouse

• Tab C-25, Linux Operating System

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Outcome 10

Demonstrate the ability to analyze computing and information security requirements and risks,

and apply the appropriate tools and techniques to protect organizational data assets in an

ethically responsible manner.

Characteristics:

• Discuss practical analysis experiences relating to computer and information security

• Document use of tools and techniques to protect organizational data assets

• Identify instances or experiences where ethically responsible issues were encountered

Learning Statements:

• I am able to demonstrate my knowledge of tools and techniques to protect organizational

assets after completing IT 380 Overview of Computer Security at Excelsior College.

This course discussed many of the tools and techniques to protect organizational assets

on the network, such as anti-virus software, firewalls, access control, encryption, email

security, and public key infrastructures. I was assigned to write a two-part security

policy. The first paper included identifying three assets within your work place and

analyzing the threats to those assets. The second paper involved determining appropriate

tools and techniques to protect the assets.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting the two-part security policy. In the first

paper, the assets I selected were a database server, web server, and desktop pc, which

were assets within my work place. By using this ‘real-world’ scenario, it lent more

practicality to the assignment. I listed and discussed the threats to these assets, drawing

on the information I learned from the text book and course materials. In the second

paper, I list and discuss preventative measures for the assets against the listed threats.

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Again, I drew upon the course information and research on the internet. I was able to

demonstrate my ability to identify the applicable tools and techniques to protect these

assets. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-26,

Security Lifecycle Policy.

• In my current position, I have implemented a new tool that will assist in protecting

company assets on the network. The company hires long-term consultants that need

access to network assets, and those consultants are given employee numbers and limited

rights for their needs. However, there are another group of consultants that do not

necessarily need access to the company network, but may need internet access to get to

their own company email and resources. The company had been allowing them access

on the network and it was a cumbersome process to set up their access. In order to limit

the access rights of these consultants and to ease the process of provisioning, a developer

within our group developed an active directory provisioning tool which would give the

consultants access to a ‘Guest’ domain on the network. As a member of this domain,

they are limited to internet access only through the company network and have no other

privileges. This tool is beneficial in securing the network from the many outside

resources.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting a narrative of the application with screen

shots. The developer who was mainly responsible for developing the application is no

longer with the company, so I am responsible for supporting, bug fixing, coding missed

requirements, and implementing the application into the production environment,

working closely with the Data Security department. The application was thoroughly

tested by the users with my assistance, and I implemented some fixes and enhancements

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for the go live date on June 1, 20XX. This tool makes use of Active Directory, so I had

to understand Active Directory concepts and structures and how to implement that within

a .NET environment. Active Directory is one method of using access control to protect

company assets. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in

tab C-27, Network Access Control.

• In my current position, I support physical security applications. These applications

include access control to facilities, alarm monitoring and also monitoring sites through

remote camera systems and motion detection. There are certain areas that are deemed to

be ‘protected’ according to NERC standards. Any information regarding a protected area

is confidential information, and any written communication regarding these areas must be

encrypted. When I took my position, the importance of this confidential information was

explained to me, and that I must act in an ethical manner to ensure that I do not

communicate any information related to these protected sites in clear text.

Communication is likely in the form of email, and for email encryption, we use PGP

(Pretty Good Privacy) which was installed on my computer. Any participant that I send

encrypted emails to regarding this information must also have PGP installed.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting a paper I wrote when taking the course IT

380 Overview of Computer Security at Excelsior College. The paper summarizes secure

email technologies, and the research I completed to write this paper helped me to

understand the differing technologies behind securing email. This paper includes PGP

which was selected by our company as the standard for email encryption. Since this tool

is relatively easy to use with little additional effort between sending an encrypted email

versus an unencrypted one, this helps us to ensure we make the ethically responsible

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decision to encrypt any emails that contain confidential data or are even questionable as

to whether they contain confidential information. Supporting evidence for this learning

statement outcome is located in tab C-28, Email Security.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-26, Security Lifecycle Policy

• Tab C-27, Network Access Control

• Tab C-28, Email Security

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Outcome 11

Demonstrate the ability to apply best practices and standards for information technology

applications.

Characteristics:

• Identify specific experiences where the role of data communications and networking

plays a large role

• Elaborate on the specific details in relation to the function or operation of user

interfacing, program design, or

• Describe experiences with common carriers, regulatory bodies and relevant standards

Learning Statements:

• During my employment at a lottery vendor, most applications were written in Visual

Basic 6.0. When the decision was made to move to .NET technologies and convert the

applications, decisions had to be made regarding choice of an architectural standard. The

CLMA.NET architecture was selected by a senior developer, which is an architecture

created by XXXX XXXXX (http://www.xxxxxx.net/cnet/). I was able to assist in

investigating, learning, and adopting this standard, and I completed a prototype

application that implemented the architecture. I was able to assist in preparing for and

implementing this architecture into our development environment.

As supporting evidence, I am submitting a summary I composed regarding the

framework and design goals of the selected architecture. This document shows my

understanding of the standard we adopted and the elements of that architecture that we

were to follow when converting existing applications and implementing new

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applications. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab

C-21, Dotnet Architecture and Standards.

• At my current place of employment, I am expected to apply best practices and standards

towards the development life cycle. I have available to me various best practices and

standards through SharePoint sites. For example, the Project Management Office

provides various templates for all stages of the development lifecycle, including such

documents as high level and detail designs. By using these standards, I contribute to

consistency within the IT department whereby documents have the same ‘look and feel’

when read by different parties so they are recognizable and readable. These templates

also provide placeholders for collecting information which otherwise may get left out

when starting from a blank piece of paper. The templates also help to be more efficient

and faster at composing a document because the formatting and relevant topic headings

are included.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting a document containing screen shots of the

SharePoint site for the PMO, including the available templates and samples of templates.

Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-29,

Development Standards.

• In my current position, I support physical security applications. These applications

include access control to facilities through card readers and alarm monitoring and also

monitoring sites through remote camera systems and motion detection. There are certain

areas within facilities that are deemed to be ‘protected’ according to NERC standards.

NERC stands for North American Electric Reliability Corporation and has come about to

ensure the reliability of the power grid. Reliability includes physical protection of areas

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and equipment that are vital to the health of the transmission system. There are certain

standards and protocols to follow for determining what a NERC site is, securing that site,

and monitoring these protected sites.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting an essay regarding NERC standards,

including how we define and monitor these areas within our applications, report

incidences, and the standards that are available to us to help us outline these procedures.

This document demonstrates my ability to understand and follow regulatory standards

and rules. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-

30, Regulatory Standards.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-21, Dotnet Architecture and Standards

• Tab C-29, Development Standards

• Tab C-30, Regulatory Standards

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Outcome 12

Demonstrate the ability to assist in the creation and execution of an effective project plan.

Characteristics:

• Describe experiences with project life cycle issues

• Discuss the importance of management planning

• Elaborate on issues relating to risk analysis, task scheduling, and resource scheduling

Learning Statements:

• I took IT 390 Project Management at Excelsior College. This course described the

project life cycle and the tools used to assist in project management. Concepts discussed

were defining the project scope and priorities, the work breakdown structure, estimating

project time and cost, constructing a project plan, identifying and managing the risks, and

scheduling necessary resources. The course also discussed how to be an effective project

manager, managing project teams, evaluating and measuring project performance, and

oversight. The many topics I learned in this course gave me a comprehensive overview

of the project life cycle and how each function is important to the process.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting a complete project proposal that was my

final assignment for the course. The complete proposal is comprised of subprojects that

were completed throughout the course. This proposal contains many of the project

management components learned throughout the course, which reinforced these concepts

via a practical learning method. I took a real-world proposed idea from work and

implemented the idea into my project proposal. The idea was to have a centralized

‘security dashboard’ for managing the various physical security applications into one

central portal where information is readily available in a highly observable user interface.

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The concepts from the course that were incorporated into the proposal included a project

proposal (including problem, goal, and objective definition), the project scope (including

deliverables, milestones, technical requirements, limits and exclusions), a high-level

project plan using Microsoft Project, risk analysis (including definition and mitigation

strategies), a communication plan, and a project recommendation. Supporting evidence

for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-31, Project Proposal.

• In my current job, we have several ongoing projects, or projects that are cued up but not

yet being worked on. Our team was using a SharePoint site to try to manage the various

projects, but SharePoint was lacking as far as keeping track of statuses, estimating,

retaining related documentation, knowing resource availability and general tracking of

the projects. Last year, the company implemented a project tracking and workflow tool

which we now use that helps to capture all of the relevant information for all of the

ongoing projects. I have been using this tool which has increased my efficiency as a

developer by helping me to see exactly what is outstanding and what the status and

priorities are for those outstanding items. It also allows me to attach all of my relevant

documents to each task and project in one area so they are readily available, and I am not

searching for them on a shared drive or SharePoint site. The tool also allows me to

follow a pre-determined workflow for the project or tasks. In addition, this tool allows

for time entries and does comparisons between estimated hours and actual hours.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting a narrative of the tool that describes how

this project workflow tool assists us in our day-to-day tasks. This tool has shown me

how the importance of planning and scheduling relates to successful and on-time

implementations. This tool also provides all the steps related to the project life cycle or

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development life cycle within a workflow. Supporting evidence for this learning

statement outcome is located in tab C-32, Project Management Tool.

• At my current place of employment, I was involved in a major project that included

several IT departments and multiple applications used throughout the company.

Historically, employees were issued a 5 digit employee number. This year, the 5 digit

numbers will run out, so there was an IT wide initiative to make any modifications

necessary to accommodate a 6 digit employee number. Many applications had

constraints surrounding the 5 digit limitation within applications or in interfaces between

applications. And whether or not there were constraints, all applications dealing with

employee numbers needed to perform testing with a 6 digit employee number. I

participated in this project, which had a project plan and project meetings. By sitting in

on the meetings and being able to view the related project management documents, this

exposed me to the project management process, from identifying the affected

applications, to ensuring resources were scheduled and a timeline was constructed and

met to meet the changing requirement. I also was exposed to the importance of the time

limitation, given that 5 digit employee numbers would soon come to an end, and the

identified risks involved should applications not be tested or modified to accommodate

the new 6 digit number.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting the overall project plan that was written by

the project manager. This plan contains responsible parties, goals, requirements,

objectives, the stakeholders, and the scope, including the affected applications, cost

estimate, schedule, risks, and other items. I am also submitting a detail design that I

wrote which outlines the modifications to applications, stored procedures, and database

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tables for my group’s affected applications. I also implemented these changes into

production. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-

33, Employee Number Project.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-31, Project Proposal

• Tab C-32, Project Management Tool

• Tab C-33, Employee Number Project

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Outcome 13

Demonstrate a commitment to professional development and to continue to engage in lifelong

learning.

Characteristics:

• Describe prior lifelong learning activities

• Describe current lifelong learning activities

• Describe how you plan to continue lifelong learning

Learning Statements:

• To continue lifelong learning, I plan to start attending the XXXXXXXX DotNet User

Group meetings which are held monthly. I have participated in dotnet user groups in

XXXXX and found them to be very helpful in my career. Each meeting features

knowledgeable speakers that present relevant, current topics in the area of .NET

development and related technologies. In addition to meetings, the group hosts a web site

that contains additional information, downloads, links, contacts, job openings, and

discussions. The web site is a great way to get connected into other events, groups, and

information to help me stay current with the developer technologies I use on my job. The

meetings are a great way to network among fellow developers to share information and

support each other.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting my registration to join the user group, along

with screen shots of the web site with explanations of the benefits of membership and

how that relates to lifelong learning. My previous association to the Atlanta dotnet group

helped me to stay current with technologies, and I expect my new membership to the St.

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Louis group will do the same. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome

is located in tab C-34, DotNet User Group.

• In my current position, I attend quarterly meetings of our Developer Collaboration Users

Group. This group initially started as a .NET users group, but now the intent is to include

all levels of discussion and technologies. The meetings include speakers and discussions

on emerging technology in the workplace and what we can do to stay current and to

better understand our jobs. The idea is to share information to enable all of IT to be more

effective in their jobs. In addition to the meetings, a technology SharePoint website has

been set up for information sharing and developer tips.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting the Developer Collaboration Users Group

last meeting agenda and screen shots of our SharePoint site that is used to share technical

tips and information. Attending these meetings and reading the information on the

SharePoint site helps me to grow my knowledge and to learn new concepts related to

application development. The SharePoint site includes best practices, sample code

snippets, FAQ’s, shared documents that can be searched on using key words, links to

helpful resources, and discussion forums for topics like .NET and SOA. Developers are

encouraged to contribute to the site any information that could be helpful to other

developers. Supporting evidence for this learning statement outcome is located in tab C-

35, Developer Collaboration Users Group.

• In my current position, we are required to develop an annual individual development

plan. In this plan, we are required to set at least one goal and two activities that strive to

meet that goal. The goal is something that would improve your knowledge or

effectiveness on your job and help to make you a better worker. The activities must be

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tangible measurements towards meeting that goal. By implementing yearly individual

development plans to strive for a goal, the company realizes the benefit of lifelong

learning and self-improvement. I benefit from the plan by having input on the goals and

activities that I think will best assist me in doing my job.

For my supporting evidence, I am submitting my individual development plan. My goal

this year is to increase my knowledge of application architectures in .NET. My activities

include reading two architecture books and attending a three-day, instructor-led .NET

architecture course at a local university. I have also recently been selected from my work

area as a solution architect. Solution architects were selected from each of the major IT

areas to work closely with the technical architecture department to research and decide

upon standards and technologies, and to communicate that back to all developers in IT.

As a solution architect, I will be receiving additional training to get up-to-speed in the

areas of software architecture and engineering. Supporting evidence for this learning

statement outcome is located in tab C-36, Individual Development Plan.

Evidence Used to Support Learning Statements:

• Tab C-34, DotNet User Group

• Tab C-35, Developer Collaboration Users Group

• Tab C-36, Individual Development Plan