Frank Braski

Current

• Senior Enterprise Architect at TSYS
• Volunteer LEGO Partner - Area Coordinator at FIRST! LEGO League

Past

• Enterprise2.0 Architect at Cox Enterprises, Inc.
• Manager, High Performance Workplace at Aflac
• IBM Executive Consultant at A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc.

• IBM Executive Consultant at The St. Joseph Company
• IBM Consulting Architect at IBM Global Services
• IBM Engagement Manager at Delta Technologies
• Principal at IBM Global Services
• IBM Executive Consultant at Microsoft
• IBM Consulting Architect at Unum Provident
• IBM Consulting Architect at Royal Carribean Cruise Lines
• IBM Consulting Architect at American Express
• IBM Executive Consultant at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Tennessee
• IBM Consulting Architect at Saab Cars USA
• IBM Consulting Architect at Florida Power and Light
• IBM Consulting Architect at Interval International
• Senior IT Specialist at IBM Global Services (ISSC)
• IBM Senior IT Specialist at AT&T
• IT Research & Development Manager at Ciba Vision Corporation
• Retail Technology Sales & Service at Mostly Software, Inc.
• I/T Technician, Retail Sales Representative at Entre Computer Center

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17 more...

Education

• Columbus State University
• Columbus State University

Recommended

25 people have recommended Frank

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Information Technology and Services

Websites

• What's an ENTP, anyway?
• FIRST! Columbus Lego League

Frank Braski’s Summary

Frank 1.0 - 8 years as an entrepreneur and all around globe trotting renaissance man. I was pre-geek-shiek before the internet was cool, I just lived in the wrong part of the country. :-)

Frank 2.0 - I spent 10 years as an IBMer making up for my lack of degree with one of my favorite companies in all the world, IBM Global Services. I spent my days being highly utilized and exceeding sales, revenue and delivery quotas innovating, consulting, creating, presenting, speaking, writing, and doing things "differently"... Building culture, sharing vision, collaborating, understanding users and creating value for business through better user experiences.

Frank 3.0 - I'm working on making my "3rd career" focusing on building a high performance culture of sharing and innovation with an organization worthy of my talents, and a brand that will become more and more well known, TSYS. For those that know me, I decided not to join Microsoft, Google, HP, Oracle or IBM because I want to be home and see my talents put to consistently good use at the same "client"... I'd like to be here for a while... I figure I've got 14-20 years until my littlest one is out of school, so I might as well make the most of it -- be a loving husband, a present father, inspiring coach and team mentor, excellent team player, creative and innovative technical resource and trusted business adviser for my employer and our customers. I hope to make a few friends, have some fun, do little traveling and implement a few insanely great ideas along the way!

Not too much to ask for an ADH/OC overachiever like me, I don't think! ;-)

Frank Braski’s Specialties:

• Innovation, Process & Product Ideation, Strategic Thinking
• Creativity, Collaboration, Communication & Persuasion
• R&D, Experimentation, RCA & Troubleshooting
• Systems Architecture, Organizational Modeling & Optimization
• Directing Business & Technical Resources
• Executive, Media, Customer, Partner and Developer Relationship Management
• Team-building, Influencing Culture, Community & Competency Development
• Deep and Broad Distributed Computing Technical Background

Frank Braski’s Experience

• Senior Enterprise Architect

  TSYS

  (Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; Financial Services industry)

  April 2008 — Present (1 year 4 months)

  My goal is to ensure that the TSYS n>gen Client Portal is the industry's finest, befitting the world class customers we serve.
  
  As enterprise architect, I'm responsible for building and maintaining the Enterprise Architecture strategy and plan in alignment with the business strategy. I gather and maintain current knowledge of the business drivers and ensure the technology strategy outlined in the Enterprise Architecture Plan efficiently supports the success of the business.
  
  EAs are responsible for the design of effective, efficient, computing solutions that align with the Enterprise Architecture Plan. We work at the enterprise level, with knowledge of all aspects of a computing solution, from user experiences to application design and technology infrastructure. EAs understand the basic strengths and weaknesses of available computing technology platforms (i.e. desktop, midrange, mainframe, web) and ensure the most appropriate technology is selected in the design process.

• Volunteer LEGO Partner - Area Coordinator

  FIRST! LEGO League

  (Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Civic & Social Organization industry)

  December 2005 — Present (3 years 8 months)

  FIRST! designs accessible, innovative programs that build science & technology skills and also self-confidence, leadership, and life skills.
  
  FIRST! LEGO League (FLL) is a fun & exciting international robotics program that ignites an enthusiasm for discovery in kids ages 9 to 14.
  
  Junior FIRST! LEGO League (JFLL) is geared to children aged 6 to 9 years old and uses an age-appropriate FLL framework. Teams of up to 6 children and an adult mentor receive a mini challenge, based on the annual FLL research project. Using an open-ended LEGO building set, they will design a model depicting an aspect of this year’s "Power Puzzle". We spend about a month exploring, investigating, designing and building a LEGO model then create a "Show Me" tri-board poster that depicts the teams’ experience through pictures and words.
  
  Sponsor a team or get involved today!
  
  See our flickr Slideshow at http://www.flickr.com/photos/firstcolumbuslego/tags/poster/show

• Enterprise2.0 Architect

  Cox Enterprises, Inc.

  (Privately Held; 10,001 or more employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)

  July 2007 — March 2008 (9 months)

  At Cox, I worked on helping the distinct business entities from several industries (from Automotive to Interactive Media) with a variety of technoloigies and platforms ranging from traditional broadcast, newspaper, daily and periodic media to narrowcasting, collaborative and social ecosystems based on brands, trust, social awareness and the new sociodemographics of Millenials, Echo Boomers and Digital Natives.
  
  As part of that, I worked to help Cox Enterprises understand and implement web2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, RSS, social bookimarking and networking in the enterprise. Solutions and Tools being considered in the Arhcitectural Assessment pipeline included BEA AquaLogic User Interaction Pages, Pathways and Ensemble, Oracle Stellent ECM, FAST, Autonomy, Enedca, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and the ramifications of the Oracle BEA and Microsoft FAST & Yahoo bids. I also worked with IBM Lotus, Microsoft, Google and ConnectBeam on their enterprise search offerings.

• Manager, High Performance Workplace

  Aflac

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

  February 2006 — July 2007 (1 year 6 months)

  At Aflac, I was passionate about the myAflac user experience, and was technically responsible for all of Aflac .com sites, including over 115 custom account specific sites, the 5,000 person employee intranet portal and 140,000 user extranet portal which serves 69,000+ independent sales associates and 70,000+ and growing payroll accounts. With a staff of 12 direct reports including developers, a business analyst, two project managers and a variety of contractors and consultants, I delivered multiple new technologies simultaneously and converted the risk adverse insurer from the “n-2” versioning strategy which was difficult to find support for to an “n-0” versioning strategy working with each of the firms vendors and their product development teams on the latest code streams to implement the newest and most innovative production ready systems possible.

• IBM Executive Consultant

  A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc.

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; AGE; Financial Services industry)

  February 2005 — November 2005 (10 months)

  While at IBM, I was the engagement manager and lead consultant at A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. responsible for overseeing a team of over 45 technical resources on a 43,000 workstation and 900 server upgrade and consolidation of Windows NT applications to Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. This project included application inventory, compatibility triage, packaging, testing and in some cases full-blown application remediation or conversion. Involved multiple 3rd parties and many subs, including local contracting talent, the customer's own IT and commensurate office politics. It also involved working across many IBM divisions including Strategic Outsourcing, Application Services and our off-shore capabilities.

• IBM Executive Consultant

  The St. Joseph Company

  (Public Company; 201-500 employees; JOE; Real Estate industry)

  April 2004 — October 2005 (1 year 7 months)

  At JOE, I worked on several engagements, from their strategic internet and website assessment culminating in the JOE.com redesign to the visioning and planning for myJOE and mapping out the “Buld Your Own Home” business processes, performing the “As Is” state capture, the “To Be” and gap analysis to modeling the BYOH "Welcome to Warranty!" future state. I got a chance to work with some of the most creative and talented folks at JOE and in the IBM Innovation Centre while serving as the Lead System Architect working on their Internet/Intranet Portal re-design. I fell in love with the JOE "Placemaking" concept... extraordinary places coupled with imagination, creativity and storytelling make great ingredients for a creative innovator like me!

• IBM Consulting Architect

  IBM Global Services

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; IBM; Internet industry)

  March 1997 — February 2005 (8 years)

  I was a Consulting Architect and e-Business Technology Advocate in IBM’s e-Business Center of Competency which concentrated on collaborative computing and the delivery of business value through Internet technologies.
  
  I practiced business strategy and planning methodologies, life-cycle solution methodologies, rapid development (RAD) methodologies, object-oriented design and development, and information delivery.
  
  I specialized in architecting solutions with Domino, technology consulting and knowledge transfer, with an emphasis on highly integrated or large scale system development and web-based electronic commerce projects.
  
  I was experienced with and helped others develop in C/C++, VB, VBScript, Lotuscript, Java, Javascript, HTML, and CGI along with Domino. I worked with many clients in the successful deployment of new business systems based on Louts Notes Domino and/or web technology, new product offerings, and new applications.

• IBM Engagement Manager

  Delta Technologies

  (Information Technology and Services industry)

  2002 — 2004 (2 years)

  At Delta a cemented what would become the IBM Application Migration and Packaging methodology that would be used throughout IBM. We assembled a great team to inventory and triage the applications that were sorely due for an upgrade that had been postponed due to 9/11. Rather than make the move from NT to 2000, we went straight from DOS and NT 4.0 servers and workstations to XP and Windows Server 2003. We worked with expert packagers from InstallShield and Vmware experts to develop a turnkey solution to rapid application packaging, testing and deployment.

• Principal

  IBM Global Services

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

  January 2000 — April 2004 (4 years 4 months)

  I worked on a wide variety of engagements around the world from business process design and consulting, application development, systems integration, massive distributed infrastructure deployments, large scale migrations, technology R&D and new business development.
  
  I led engagements for large customers upgrading to the latest Microsoft platforms, and my experience in managing multiple on-, near- and off-shore engagements helped me craft an application packaging and migration methodology that is still being used throughout IBM.

• IBM Executive Consultant

  Microsoft

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

  January 2002 — April 2003 (1 year 4 months)

  I was the first IBMer to ever be on a Microsoft-staffed and primed contract. It took the laywers 9 months to figure out the details of the 6 month engagement. It was fun, though! A .NET implementation of an old legacy OS/2 / Mainframe COBOL application. Chip Irek was the Lead Technical Architect (also from IBM).

• IBM Consulting Architect

  Unum Provident

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

  December 1999 — November 2002 (3 years)

  I worked on various engagements at this large IBM Strategic Outsourcing account from their Lotus Notes to Exchange Migration, SharePoint Implementation, .NET Development support, native DB2 UDB driver for .NET, Exchange customizations, Legal and Compliance Records Retention, Security Best Practices, Server Consolidation, Virtualization and large scale applications migrations from COBOL to C#, and from Windows NT->XP and Windows 2000 Server Migrations.

• IBM Consulting Architect

  Royal Carribean Cruise Lines

  (Privately Held; 5001-10,000 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

  February 1998 — July 1999 (1 year 6 months)

  At RCCL I was the engagement manager for one of the ship's shoreline systems that managed cruiser's shore excursions planning, scheduling and booking. This project was performed using the entire Rational Unified Process (RUP) from methodology adoption, inception, conception, ellaboration and implementation, it followed several iterations of the classic RUP Software Development Life-Cycle (SDLC).

• IBM Consulting Architect

  American Express

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; AXP; Financial Services industry)

  April 1998 — June 1999 (1 year 3 months)

  I spent a lot of time helping cultivating American Express. As the IBM Client Executive put it, I was instrumental in helping fundamentally change American Express' opinion of IBM's ability to handle non-IBM systems. Up until that point, AXP had been a very good IBM customer from and IBM perspective, but we did virtually no other work there. Through my work with AXP Financial Advisors and several other BUs I was able to increase IBM's penetration into this key account.

• IBM Executive Consultant

  Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Tennessee

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Insurance industry)

  October 1998 — April 1999 (7 months)

  At BCBST I sold and performed a Capability Maturity Model (CMM) and Application Development Effectiveness (ADE) assessment and strategy engagement. For this "typical" consulting engagement I explained the Software Engineering Institute's (SEI) CMM levels and determined that they wanted to achieve level 3. I documented the "As Is" models and KPIs and modeled the "To Be" with the client. Then I performed and presented the SWOT/Gap Analysis and proposed a high-level plan for addressing the tactical "low-hanging fruit" of easiest-to-implement and highest-value-add plus the longer-term knowledge management initiatives and process disciplines to instill a more rigorous approach to better software design. The deliverables and plans were met with very high customer satisfaction and became a model for repeatable delivery for our practice. My practice executive said these were the finest deliverables he’d seen produced from our practice to date.

• IBM Consulting Architect

  Saab Cars USA

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; GM; Automotive industry)

  May 1997 — October 1998 (1 year 6 months)

  Principal Architect/Business Strategist for Saab Cars USA new $3.4m retailer communications extranet. The IRIS system unified multiple vendor’s back-end host systems with one single web browser interface through Domino. Single Logon and security allowed Saab AB, Saab Cars USA, and independent retailers, service shops and parts suppliers to do business on the web. Main features included vehicle ordering, trading and tracking, parts and inventory ordering and tracking, warranty administration, and training administration. IRIS was a front end to the Dealer Communication System (DCS) and other backend retail store and service management systems. It ran on OS/400 and was primarily developed in Domino, Java and Seagull Software's Jwalk 5250 session emulator.
  
  This system became an IBM Insdustry solution marketed to Saturn, the rest of GM, Ford, Chrylser, Jaguar, Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Mercedes, BMW and Subaru.

• IBM Consulting Architect

  Florida Power and Light

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; FPL; Utilities industry)

  March 1998 — September 1998 (7 months)

  At FPL I was one of 2 consultants working on the strategic planning and implementation of the 12,000 user e-Business infrastructure for building their customer-focused applications in a post Y2K world. There were multiple distributed platforms involved including MS Mail, Lotus Notes/Domino and Windows NT and Unix.

• IBM Consulting Architect

  Interval International

  (Public Company; 201-500 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

  February 1998 — August 1998 (7 months)

  Travel and Leisure company primarily known for their timeshares network, I consulted with them on leveraging Java across their heterogenous IT platforms for internet enabling core business processes. At that time, they were primarily interested in leveraging the internet to reduce inventory burn for what we now know as a "Long Tail" business of the leisure accomodation/vacation market.

• Senior IT Specialist

  IBM Global Services (ISSC)

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

  August 1996 — April 1998 (1 year 9 months)

  Principal Architect/Technical Marketing for "InsureAgent" - Domino web-based CORBA and IIOP architecture and data model which encompassed IBM's Insurance Application Architecture (IAA), LifePro, LIFE70 and CIIS database for DB2.
  
  I developed the architecture and roll-out for ING SouthLand Life LYNX Agent Communications System. Delivered production and marketing information to its 24,000-member agent sales force.
  
  Conducted JAD sessions for a Internet based client/server and 3270/MVS host system. Directed development of prototype and presented to C-Level executives. $350k pilot release and rollout.
  
  Architect for ensuing $3.6 million contract. Teamed with client's IS department and outsourced vendor for the LYNX field delivery system.
  
  Designed parsing routines for translating VSAM/MQSeries messages into Notes records using agent hierarchy to maintain controlled access to each agent's data. Became intimately familiar with OS/2's CommManager and IBM SNA LU 6.2 protocols.

• IBM Senior IT Specialist

  AT&T

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

  May 1996 — August 1996 (4 months)

  At AT&T, I was the technical engagement lead, network design architect and developer assisting with Lotus Notes 3.x to Domino 4.x Notes mail and application migration for over 120 servers and 8,500 users. This was my first experience working in a “unionized” shop. I created a "Best Practices" administration guide and automated administrative tasks to allow for the most efficient administration of Application servers. I worked with Lotus NotesView, ServerAdminPlus and a BMC Patrol Knowledge Module for Lotus Notes in a 40/60 mixture of NT 4.0 and HP/UX servers. Upon my successful implementation a skeleton crew of 3 (1 per shift) could administer what other server groups did with 15-20 people.

• IT Research & Development Manager

  Ciba Vision Corporation

  (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; Pharmaceuticals industry)

  February 1991 — April 1995 (4 years 3 months)

  I was responsible for the knowledge management, collaboration and sharing of information and findings of over 200 PhDs globally, in addition to developing cutting edge imaging and clinical trials management and data collection software. I had a staff of 5 and 4 contractors and supported approximately 2,000 users worldwide with one of the first global Lotus Notes infrastructures.

• Retail Technology Sales & Service

  Mostly Software, Inc.

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Computer Hardware industry)

  May 1988 — July 1991 (3 years 3 months)

  Mostly Software - now PC Care, Inc. is a local mom & pop (now just a "pop") h/w & s/w store in Columbus, GA. At Mostly Software I did a little of everything from sales and support to outside business sales, technical sales support for all PC based hardware and software from Amigas, Apples, Commodores and IBM PCs.
  I was also a resident networking specialist for systems like Novell, LANtastic, and others and performed hardware troubleshooting and diagnostics for every make and model and brand of PC imaginable. This was the basis for most of my deep understanding of PC architecture and troubleshooting. My boss and mentor was Alan Schwartz, a former Intel engineer turned entrepreneur and Master PC Magician.

• I/T Technician, Retail Sales Representative

  Entre Computer Center

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

  April 1986 — September 1988 (2 years 6 months)

Frank Braski’s Education

• Columbus State University

  Business Management 2008 — 2011 (expected)

  An avid extropian learner, I recently also took part in the Wireless Futures program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was a member of Microsoft’s Mobility Partner Advisory Council.
  
  Heading back to school 1-2 courses a semester. First up, anthopology... :-)

  Activities and Societies:

  FIRST! Lego League Area Partner
  Working with the CQTL

• Columbus State University

  Computer Science, Philosophy 1989 — 1991

  I studied Computer Science under Dr. James Leonard at Columbus State University (Georgia). Working with Dr. Leonard, I received two grants for research in the area of object-oriented technology and it’s applications in the communications industry. I developed what was potentially one of the first visual development environments for telephony and IVR development and a development framework and classes known as TKO! (the Touch-tone Keypad Object).

  Activities and Societies:

  I represented Turkey a the Model NATO in Washington, D.C. where I got to spend the day with Turgut Ozal, the Prime Minister of Turkey.
  
  I thoroughly enjoyed Model NATO, and helped organize and execute the high-school level Model United Nations.

Additional Information

Frank Braski’s Websites:

• What's an ENTP, anyway?
• FIRST! Columbus Lego League

Frank Braski’s Interests:

Enterprise2.0, Web 2.0, FIRST! Lego League, FLL, JFLL, FLL Team 4500, Lego, Mindstorms, Lifelong Learning. Mr. Braski is passionate about user experiences, portal technologies, this notion of “enterprise2.0” (web2.0 inside the firewall), knowledge and content management, Collaboration, Business Processes, and High Performance Workplaces and Portals. In recognition of his dedication to Delivery Excellence, he has also spoken at and served as a Subject Matter Expert on Microsoft Consulting Services at the IBM e-business University and e-business Mobilizations for IBM Executives, Services Principals, Management Consultants, Architects, and Project Managers. He has also formally presented at various professional conferences on subjects ranging from Portals and Collaboration, successful migrations and the future of commerce.

Frank Braski’s Groups:

IASA, AITP, Southeastern BEA User Group, FIRST! Lego League, FLL, JFLL, FLL Team 4500

•    Enterprise Architect (Sparx Systems) User Group
•    International Association of Software Architects
•    FFP & Travel Loyalty Professionals
•    The Greater IBM Connection: IBM's alumni program for past and present IBM employees
•    Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
•    The Enterprise Architecture Network
•    Lotus Professionals (3500+ Members)
•    Google Group
•    Technology Association of Georgia (TAG)
•    Front End of Innovation
•    Google - eSearchers & Searcherlogists.
•    Prepaid Professionals
•    CIO Forum
•    Payment Systems Network
•    World Banking Forum
•    Mobile Pay
•    Mobile Payment / Billing
•    Google Enterprise Community
•    Wireless Developers
•    Payment Gateway Integration
•    Payments Strategy
•    Mobile Software
•    Credit Card Professionals
•    The Global Payments Network
•    Payment Card Industry Network
•    Green
•    Mobile Software Development Group
•    Windows Mobile
•    mobile payment portals
•    Financial Services Marketing
•    Windows Mobile Enthusiasts
•    Business Architecture Community
•    NFC Mobile payment and commerce professionals
•    Payments & Cards Network
•    LeadingLoyalty - Marketing Professionals
•    IBM Global
•    Loyalty Redefined
•    Payment and Fraud Professionals
•    Contactless payments
•    Windows Mobile Developers and Enthusiasts
•    Pin Debit and Prepaid MasterCard
•    The Prepaid Resources Network
•    Mobile Payment
•    Center for Future Banking
•    Software Design Patterns And Architecture
•    Mobile Payment Strategy
•    Card Forum & Expo (annual event) 04/20-22, 2009
•    Enterprise Search Engine Professionals
•    IBM Information FrameWork (IFW)
•    TSYS

Frank Braski’s Honors:

SharedInsights Best Customer & Business Partner Portal Finalist (2006), IBM Infrastructure Services Master (2005 - Vienna, Austria), IBM Bravo! Award (2005), IBM Professional Leadership Technical Exchange (2005 - San Diego, CA), IBM Consulting Leadership Exchange (2003 - NY, NY), IBM Golden Circle Nominee (1998), IBM Worldwide Engagement Excellence Winner (1998 - Edinburgh, Scottland, UK), Lotus Domino Team Award (1997 - Göteburg, Sweeden), IBM Top Team Performer (1996)

Frank Braski’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• new ventures
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests