Donald Larson

Current

• President at Tek Ark Consulting, Inc

Past

• Director - IT Program Consulting at CNA Insurance
• Infrastructure Program Director at CNA Insurance
• Director, Infrastructure Engineering and Operations at CNA Insurance

• Enterprise Senior Architect and Director - Information Architecture at CNA Insurance
• AVP - Infrastructure and Decision Support Systems at CNA Insurance
• Director - Integrated System Services at Kraft Foods
• Director - Information Technology Architecture & Planning at Kraft Foods
• Director, Client/Server Architecture at Kraft Foods
• Director, Telecommunications Services at Kraft Foods
• Manager - Telecommunications at Northrop Defense Systems Division
• National Network Manager at ADP
• Midwest Area Telecommunications Consultant at ADP
• Account Executive/CSR at AT&T - Illinois Bell
• Account Executive at Illinois Bell

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Education

• DePaul University
• DePaul University - Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business

Recommended

14 people have recommended Donald

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Information Technology and Services

Websites

• Tek Ark Consulting (my firm)
• Taxpayer Assistance Program

Donald Larson’s Summary

IT executive and consultant with more than 25 years of leadership experience driving successful delivery of IT solutions to multibillion-dollar global organizations and small businesses alike. Professionally focused on architecture, technology infrastructure and program management as well as organizational development.

Noted Accomplishments

Trusted partner of small and moderate sized businesses, as well as the Fortune 500, who seek advice and leadership in creating reliable and cost effective infrastructures to support their plans and strategies.

Member of the IT leadership team that led CNA through the consolidation of IT resources and technology which resulted in savings of over $30 million in initial operating efficiency

Accountable for leading engineering teams in Europe and the US to deliver critical services to thousands of partners and employees throughout the world.

Established new information architecture function and contributed to the creation of an enterprise architecture team at CNA including policies and governance strategies, definition of technology platforms, education and communications practices, metrics and life cycle management.

Responsible for developing and delivering key technology strategies, including all areas of infrastructure, in diverse industries from financial service to consumer goods on a global basis.

Experienced in the support of consolidating and divesting information systems in support of M&A activities as well as the due diligence process. Consolidated the infrastructure of three multi-billion dollar companies into a single environment.

Donald Larson’s Specialties:

IT Infrastructure Architecture, Infrastructure Engineering, IT Operations, Enterprise Architecture and Technology Planning, IT Strategy Formulation,
SOA - Service Oriented Architecture Strategy and Implementation,
Comprehensive Solution Delivery, Program Management, IT Resource and Demand Planning, Vendor Management, Talent Development

Donald Larson’s Experience

• President

  Tek Ark Consulting, Inc

  (Information Technology and Services industry)

  2008 — Present (1 year )

  Specialized consulting firm focused on the creation, management and delivery of enterprise technology architectures and associated technology platforms.

• Director - IT Program Consulting

  CNA Insurance

  (Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; CNA; Insurance industry)

  2005 — 2007 (2 years )

  Leadership role accountable for providing IT technology support to all major business development and transformation programs within company. Line manager for multiple program directors/managers. Program sizes vary up to $100mm in investment. Full program life cycle support and relationship management with executive leadership.

• Infrastructure Program Director

  CNA Insurance

  (Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; CNA; Insurance industry)

  2004 — 2005 (1 year )

  Provide technology support to major business intitiative targeting expansion of company into new markets. Lead team of three program managers in delivering all platform and technology environments for this multi-phase, multi-track delivery effort.

• Director, Infrastructure Engineering and Operations

  CNA Insurance

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; CNA; Insurance industry)

  2002 — 2004 (2 years )

  Led multiple service engineering teams located in Europe and the United States to deliver value through improved service delivery and new capabilities. These engineering teams delivered 1,500+ servers while supporting 10,000+ users, thousands of external business partners and a majority owned subsidiary (CNA Surety).

• Enterprise Senior Architect and Director - Information Architecture

  CNA Insurance

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; CNA; Insurance industry)

  2001 — 2002 (1 year )

  Developed and deployed a 3-year strategic vision for the global information management of CNA’s newly centralized Technology Solutions Group. Developed information strategies supporting application architecture, development methodology, production infrastructure architecture, structured and unstructured information, application integration and workflow architectures.

• AVP - Infrastructure and Decision Support Systems

  CNA Insurance

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; CNA; Insurance industry)

  2000 — 2001 (1 year )

  Accountable for managing the design, development and delivery teams supporting all analysis and reporting within the Commercial Property and Casualty sector. This included data warehousing, modeling, analysis and reporting technologies and associated custom code solutions. Also responsible for driving the delivery of all technical infrastructure, whether obtained from external or internal service partners for the business unit. Team consisted of 35-50 staff members and 4 direct reports.

• Director - Integrated System Services

  Kraft Foods

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; KFT; Consumer Goods industry)

  1999 — 2000 (1 year )

  Managed delivery of data warehousing, database management systems, information management strategy and software engineering strategy/delivery to the enterprise. Team supported 700 application development professionals and directly developed applications that supported enterprise reference data

• Director - Information Technology Architecture & Planning

  Kraft Foods

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; KFT; Consumer Goods industry)

  1996 — 1999 (3 years )

  Delivered infrastructure architecture and engineering support for Kraft’s entire North American computing and networking platforms including OS/390, AS/400, Unix and NT server platforms, data and voice networking, storage technology as well as Windows and Unix workstation platforms. Full life cycle support including requirements definition, design, product selection & integration, implementation of selected products, ongoing production and customer support, documentation and training materials. Utilized principles of 6 Sigma and TQM methodology into operational improvement efforts. Integrated Kraft North America’s efforts with Philip Morris’ global strategy.

• Director, Client/Server Architecture

  Kraft Foods

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; KFT; Consumer Goods industry)

  1995 — 1996 (1 year )

  Delivered all aspects of client/server and network computing within Kraft Foods to support both enterprise and departmental strategies. Championed migration from departmental servers to centralized, consolidated servers to serve 5,000 users in three headquarter campuses

• Director, Telecommunications Services

  Kraft Foods

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; KFT; Consumer Goods industry)

  1988 — 1995 (7 years )

  Consolidated the networks of the three food businesses that were acquired by Philip Morris – Kraft, General Foods and Oscar Mayer which was honored with Philip Morris’ Chairman’s Award. Reduced operational costs by 30% and moved from SNA technologies to multi-protocol routing technology.

• Manager - Telecommunications

  Northrop Defense Systems Division

  (Defense & Space industry)

  1986 — 1988 (2 years )

  Responsible for the development and coordination of strategic and tactical plans for the design, selection, implementation, and management of all voice, data and image telecommunications, both secure and non-secured. DoD Secret clearance.

• National Network Manager

  ADP

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; ADP; Information Technology and Services industry)

  1985 — 1986 (1 year )

  Developed and delivered new national voice network based on VPN technologies which replaced shared EPSCS network. Improved quality of service and significantly lowered operating costs with minimal capital investment.

• Midwest Area Telecommunications Consultant

  ADP

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; ADP; Information Technology and Services industry)

  1982 — 1985 (3 years )

  Started a field consulting role supporting the Midwest operational and marketing locations of ADP in the area of telecommunications. Specific focus was of contact management units supporting clients as well as replacement of aging premise based equipment and unstructured wiring systems. Recruited additional staff to support the area and improved customer experience.

• Account Executive/CSR

  AT&T - Illinois Bell

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; T; Telecommunications industry)

  1980 — 1982 (2 years )

  Accountable for delivering increased revenue from assigned accounts in the IT Services and Utility market segments. Sold new networking solutions and customer premise equipment (CPE). Achieved President's Club status for sales results.

• Account Executive

  Illinois Bell

  (Information Technology and Services industry)

  1980 — 1982 (2 years )

Donald Larson’s Education

• DePaul University

  BS , Marketing, Computer Science

  Activities and Societies:

  Chapter President, Pi Sigma Epsilon

• DePaul University - Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business

  MBA , Marketing, Finance

Additional Information

Donald Larson’s Websites:

• Tek Ark Consulting (my firm)
• Taxpayer Assistance Program

Donald Larson’s Interests:

Leadership and talent development, technology strategy, photography

Donald Larson’s Groups:

Low-Income Taxpayer Assistance Program, External Committee Member - Woodland District 50 School Board,
Membership Committee Chairman - North Star District - Northeast Illinois Council - Boy Scouts of America,
Association of IT Professionals (AITP),
QBS Networking Group,
Lake County Prosperity Forum

•    Association of Information Technology Professionals - Windy City Chapter 147
•    DePaul MBA Association
•    Eagle's Nest--Eagle Scout Award Recipients
•    Technology Leaders Association
•    Boy Scouts of America Adult Volunteers
•    DePaul University Alumni Association
•    Chicago Technology Network
•    IT Consultants of Chicago
•    Shifting Gears
•    Center for Creative Leadership
•    Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE) National Headquarters
•    Lake County Prosperity Forum
•    SMB IT Leaders
•    Indgenuity Discussion Forum. (NOT our member site)
•    Central Region, BSA Eagle's Nest
•    National Eagle Scout Association (NESA), BSA Eagle's Nest

Donald Larson’s Honors:

Professional Recognition:

ITIL Foundation Certified

Employer Recognition:

FOCUS Award (Platinum, Gold) - CNA Insurance
Chairman's Award - Philip Morris
Outstanding Achievement Award - Kraft Foods
Outstanding Corporate Staff Award - ADP

Personal Recognition:

Eagle Scout

Donald Larson’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch