Robert Dodson

Current

Chief Architect - Technology at Cognizant Technology Solutions
Instructor at ASPE Technology
Director at Virtual Technology Group Inc.

Creative Director /Bassist /Guitarist /Songwriter /Producer at topbop! Records

see less...

1 more...

Past

Chief Architect at BrookEdge Technologies
Enterprise Architect at Lincoln Financial Group
Architect at Allstate Insurance

OOA/OOD Architect at Andersen Consulting
Associated Consulting Resource at Microsoft
Application Architect at First Union National Bank
Application Architect/Deployment Manager at Sprint
Senior Consultant - OLTP Resource Center at Digital Equipment Corporation
Senior Consultant at CNA Insurance
Corporate Officer/Director Telecommunications Strategic Planning at First Chicago
Software Development Manager at Illinois Bell Telephone

see less...

8 more...

Recommended

24 people have recommended Robert

Connections

433 connections

Industry

Information Technology and Services

Websites

Robert Dodson’s Summary

Robert has over 30 years of experience in professional, business-benefit focused, cost effective IT consulting engagements. Seeking Engagements and Opportunities, Seasoned Thought Leader, Strategist, Visionary, IT Consultant, Instructor.

For a comprehensive review of his career, experience, and contributions of significant value to his clients and the Information Technology community, please visit http://robertdodson.com/RobertDodson_Resume.html for Résumé

Robert Dodson’s Specialties:

Enterprise Architecture, Domain Architecture, Solution Architecture, Requirements Analysis, Strategy Formulation, Solution Design, Implementation Methodology and Best Practices, Testing and QA, Infrastructure Guidance, Design and Application of Governance. UML, MDA, BPM and SOA practitioner. Applicable Practical Experience.

Robert Dodson’s Experience

Chief Architect - Technology

Cognizant Technology Solutions

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

June 2008 — Present (7 months)

Cognizant, a leading provider of information technology, consulting and business process outsourcing services. Cognizant's single-minded passion is to dedicate global technology and innovation know-how, industry expertise and worldwide resources to working together with clients to make their businesses stronger. With more than 40 global delivery centers and 58,000 employees as of March 31, 2008, Cognizant combines a unique onsite/offshore delivery model infused by a distinct culture of customer satisfaction. Cognizant is a Forbes Global 2000 company, a member of the Fortune 1000 and is ranked among the top information technology companies in BusinessWeek's Info Tech 100, Hot Growth and Top 50 Performers listings. Visit online at http://www.cognizant.com.
Instructor

ASPE Technology

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Education Management industry)

December 2007 — Present (1 year 1 month)

ASPE Technology is an IT training and consulting firm dedicated to providing the tools, techniques, skills, and knowledge that enable professionals to successfully harness IT and transform it from a complex challenge into a strategic resource.

Robert provides strategic guidance concerning industry perspective, develops proprietary courses, and delivers training experiences, seminars and formal classes. Generate new training program ideas.

Currently teaching "Roadmap to SOA", "Defining Business Systems with UML" and "Business Analyst Fundamentals" and other courses. Conducting research & development on related major courses for delivery in the 2008 training season.
Director

Virtual Technology Group Inc.

(Information Technology and Services industry)

January 1999 — Present (10 years)

Client engagements with a broad range of Fortune 1000 & Fortune 100 companies.
Creative Director /Bassist /Guitarist /Songwriter /Producer

topbop! Records

(Entertainment industry)

November 1998 — Present (10 years 2 months)

Musical Performing Arts; Music and Event Entertainment; Video Game, Animated Film, and On-Line Entertainment Creation. Personalized, Exclusive Songs written and performed/recorded on commission basis to mark your significant life events, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, engagements, etc., or as an "anthem" for your next corporate event!

topbop!
http://topbop.com
http://myspace.com/topbop
Chief Architect

BrookEdge Technologies

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

2008 — June 2008 (less than a year)

BrookEdge Technologies is the premier consulting and solutions company in the IT Governance and Compliance space. We deliver professional services, solutions, and training in the areas of Internal IT Audit, IT Assessment, IT Governance and IT Compliance.

http://www.brookedge.com/
Enterprise Architect

Lincoln Financial Group

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

May 2006 — December 2007 (1 year 8 months)

Robert held the position of Consulting Senior Enterprise Architect within the Technology Strategy & Planning area of Lincoln Financial Group’s Enterprise Architecture organization, with responsibilities for advising and guiding technology strategy and supporting the delivery of common technology components to enable adoption of shared reuse and strategic technology capabilities.

Prior to this position, Robert held the position of Consulting Senior Architect within the Lincoln Financial Group's Lincoln Employer Markets business unit, advising and guiding technology strategy and application buy/leverage/build activities for business-driven project initiatives.
Architect

Allstate Insurance

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

1995 — May 2006 (11 years)

This was a multi-year, multi-department engagement encompassing numerous project and domain-level roles. Some representative examples include:

Senior Architect/Consultant

Served as Lead Security Architect on mission critical large-scale IBM WebSphere J2EE project for insurance POS transaction processing.

Served as Member of Technical Architecture Staff developing large-scale (over 300 Visual Basic components, 312,000+ lines of code) mission-critical Microsoft DNA web application to deliver complete customer service via the Internet including quote, bind and customer support functions.

As Architect/Technical Lead, architected, designed and implemented comprehensive COM and CORBA object oriented architecture platform for multiple Call Center applications.
OOA/OOD Architect

Andersen Consulting

(Information Technology and Services industry)

1994 — 2001 (7 years)
Associated Consulting Resource

Microsoft

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

1999 — 2001 (2 years)

Participated with Microsoft on technical infrastructure architecture consulting in service to common client.
Application Architect

First Union National Bank

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

February 1994 — July 1995 (1 year 6 months)

In this consulting engagement, Robert defined and developed application architecture and frameworks, based on object-oriented design principles leveraging the Smalltalk platform.
Application Architect/Deployment Manager

Sprint

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

1991 — 1994 (3 years)

* Object-Oriented Software Development
* Managed all aspects of $37M system deployment in 23 sites nationwide.
* Managed technical aspects of competitive vendor selection process.
Senior Consultant - OLTP Resource Center

Digital Equipment Corporation

(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; DEC; Computer Hardware industry)

1989 — 1990 (1 year)

As DEC employee, Robert held the position of in-house senior consultant responsible for sales support for hardware, software and overall technology application for OLTP sales. This engagement required in-depth knowledge of all aspects of vendor's OLTP product line, both hardware and software. Position involved ad hoc development of innovative solutions to complex customer business requirements.
Senior Consultant

CNA Insurance

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

1988 — 1989 (1 year)

In this consulting engagement, Robert managed a team of contractors performing a mission critical DOS - OS/2 EE platform conversion. In this role, he also served as vendor relationship coordinator with IBM on behalf of the client.
Corporate Officer/Director Telecommunications Strategic Planning

First Chicago

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

1986 — 1988 (2 years)

As First Chicago employee/corporate officer, Robert innovated solutions to technical issues resulting in $4.5M savings within the first weeks of his hiring. His responsibilities included managing nationwide integration of data and voice communication strategies. He also conceived and implemented Private Network Initiatives yielding $11M in annual cost reductions. In the course of dispatching these duties, he managed several RFP lifecycles and numerous vendor and service provider interfaces.
Software Development Manager

Illinois Bell Telephone

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

1974 — 1986 (12 years)

As a Bell System employee, Robert was a member of teams involved in several significant innovative projects at this major telecommunications provider, including the ground-breaking BISCOM message switching system, introduction of the first 911 emergency call handling system, and the first commercial deployment of a UNIX-based call-center support system. Robert also participated on several national-level standards initiatives within the Bell System and supported deployments of Bell Laboratories systems at several operating companies across the nation.

Additional Information

Robert Dodson’s Websites:

Robert Dodson’s Interests:

music, technology, philosophy, humanity, politics, civilization, literature, bicycles, motor sport, scuba, pulchritude, etc...

Robert Dodson’s Groups:

International Association of Software Architects, Association of Information Technology Professionals - Windy City Chapter 147, ACM, ACORD SOA-EBIG, HR-XML Consortium, Forbes Entrepreneur, Execunet, Executive Suite, Lead21, TechSoup NetSquared, TakingITGlobal, xing, LInked Business Strategists, The Enterprise Architecture Network, Service Oriented Architecture Special Interest Group, plaxo, LinkedIn Chicago, Chicagoland HR Network member, Wright Hand Power Forum, Obama for America, eOffice