Ben Gidley – Senior Technical Architect
Key Strengths
Ben is a creative problem solver who leads projects throughout the lifecycle to deliver business focused solutions. He is an expert building complete solutions including websites, commerce and data warehousing. His skills cover both management and technical areas allowing him to bridge the gap between technologies and the business. He is quick to learn new skills and acquire expertise on the relevant business area when necessary to develop a solution.
Personal Experience
|
Technical |
Business Experience |
|
System Design ¤ OO
Analysis
and Design ¤ Distributed
Systems – J2EE, JMS, DCOM and SOAP ¤ Enterprise Systems – J2EE, IoC, RDBMS, JMS Data Technologies ¤ Relational
Database Design and use – Oracle 8/9/10, SQL Server 7/2000, Postgresql
and MySQL ¤ Data
Warehousing including OLAP ¤ Data Access
– JPA, Hibernate 2 and 3, Torque, JDBC, ADO, ADO.NET, OLE DB, ODBC ¤ Message Queuing – JMS using Active MQ, Open
JMS, Joram and Sun ONE JMS. Main Programming Languages ¤ Java –
Tapestry, Turbine, Axis , EJB, JMS, JSP, Servlets, Struts, Tiles, Spring Web
Flow ¤ C# within Visual Studio .NET ¤ UML –
Rational Rose/Borland Together Other Programming Languages ¤ C++ with ATL
COM and MFC ¤ Visual Basic
6 – including COM and DCOM ¤ Perl/Python Software Experience ¤ Windows 9x,
NT, 2000, XP,VISTA, 2003, Linux,
Solaris, Citrix ¤ Hightide
(Jetty), Weblogic, JBOSS, Tomcat Apache, Turbine, Tapestry 4, Tapestry 5,
Jetty ¤ IntelliJ, Eclipse,
Netbeans, Oracle Jdeveloper ¤ Visual
Studio.NET ¤ IoC
Containers – Spring, Avalon, Hivemind, Tapestry IOC |
Video on Demand Systems ¤ Video Advertising ¤ Download/Streaming ¤ Payment methods ¤ DRM (Flash/WMV) Workflow Systems ¤ Process Analysis ¤ Task Routing SCRUM ¤ Certified Scrum Master ¤ User Requirements via User Stores ¤ Burn down tracking Dynamic Systems Development Method ¤ Joint Application Development Workshops ¤ User led testing ¤ User led prioritisation Extreme Programming (XP) ¤ User Requirements via User Stories ¤ User Prioritisation ¤ User Testing Pre and Post Sales requirements workshops Bid Production Pre-Sales engagement, estimation and presentations Governmental Web Site Guidelines ¤ EGIF ¤ E-Envoy Handbook ¤ Web Accessibility Initiative SC Security Cleared
until 23/08/2011 |
|
Personal Attributes |
Management |
|
¤ Well Motivated ¤ Broad IT Knowledge ¤ Fast Learner ¤ Dedicated ¤ Good Team Player ¤ Able to solve problems in innovative logical ways |
¤ Technical
Architect for Project Kangaroo ¤ Project
Manager for The Pensions Regulator Web Workflow project ¤ Project
Manager for The Pensions Regulator Web Data Collection project ¤ Lead Project
Engineer for FeBS project ¤ Lead Project
Engineer for CTMS Project ¤ Lead Project
Engineer for Marigold Project ¤ Lead Project
Engineer for ISAS project ¤ Team Leader
for i-bio Project ¤ Team Leader for Trace Project |
Core Skills
|
J2EE |
9+ Years |
Project Management |
4+ Years |
|
Databases |
9+ Years |
Team Leading |
9+ Years |
|
Requirements Analysis |
9+ Years |
.NET |
2+ Years |
Qualifications / Awards
|
Bsc 2:1 |
Mathematics and Philosophy |
University of York |
|
2004 |
Medallist |
BCS Developer of the year – Applications |
|
2005 |
MBCS |
British Computer Society |
Positions Held
|
June 2007 - Present |
Ioko |
Senior Technical Architect |
|
August 2006 –
June 2007 |
Macrovision UK |
Technical Architect |
|
March 2000 –
August 2006 |
Anite – Secure Information Solutions (Police, MoD, Central Government) |
Junior Programmer, Programmer, Senior Programmer, Analyst, Project Engineer, Senior Technical Architect |
Major Assignments
|
Customer: |
SeeSaw.com (Arqiva) |
|
Title: |
SeeSaw.com |
|
Project: |
Senior Architect for the development of SeeSaw.com leading a team of 35 developers, testers and analysts. This project continued from where Project Kangaroo left off, building a Video on Demand solution. The initial phase of work involved a user interface redesign and integrating the system with content suppliers to prepare for a launch. BenÕs role is overall supervision of the development of the platform which includes a website, content management system (Vignette), metadata database (bespoke based on Oracle), data warehouse (SQL Server) and content protection systems (Flash based RTMPE). This role touches all aspects of the project and includes liaising with key client stakeholders at senior and operational levels. The project was operated using the SCRUM methodology. This allowed the development team to react flexibly to the business and to provide strong control over cost and timescales. |
|
Position: |
Senior Technical Architect |
|
Key Skills: |
J2EE, Java, Macrovision eRights, Spring, Flash, WMV DRM, SCRUM, Tapestry 5 |
|
Duration: |
July 2008 - Present |
|
Customer: |
UKVOD LLP (BBC, ITV, Channel 4) |
|
Title: |
Project Kangaroo |
|
Project: |
Technical Architect for the Ôfront officeÕ systems for a major new Video on Demand platform. Ben worked as lead TA for the customer facing web site and supporting systems for this major new platform. This role involved being the primary interface between the business and the technical team. The customer was a consortium and this has lead to a number of challenges regarding requirements. In addition to requirements management Ben designed the structure of the front office solution to meeting highly demanding non-functional requirements. The solution has been designed to allow the business to deliver a cutting edge and highly performant solution (in order to maximise the user experience). It is built around Java, Tapestry, Spring and runs on the Jetty web application container. The system has been designed to scale horizontally to meet enormous demand utilising Jetty and Zeus ZXTM load balancers. The system during its lifecycle has supported both WMV video and Flash video both using advanced DRM/Content protection technologies. In the latter stages of the project Ben was instrumental in a conversion to an agile SCRUM approach in order to reduce risk and allow the development team to respond to an extremely challenging business environment. The project was terminated in Feburary 2008 as it was declared anti-competitive by the Competition commission. Ben support the process of selling the assets of the project to its new owners – Arqiva. |
|
Position: |
Senior Technical Architect |
|
Key Skills: |
J2EE, Java, Macrovision eRights, Spring, Flash, WMV DRM, SCRUM, Tapestry 5, Struts |
|
Duration: |
June 2007 – July 2008 |
|
Customer: |
Channel 4 |
|
Title: |
4 on Demand/channel4.com |
|
Project: |
Channel 4 purchased Macrovision Right Access and Right Commerce middleware products to assist them in implementing their video on demand solution. Ben worked with the systems integrator (IOKO) and the Channel 4 team to integrate the Rights products into the solution. |
|
Position: |
Technical Architect |
|
Key Skills: |
J2EE, Java, Macrovision eRights, Spring |
|
Duration: |
August 2006 – June 2007 |
|
Customer: |
The Pensions Regulator |
|
Title: |
Data Collection – Web Workflow Project |
|
Project: |
The Pensions Regulator web site project required a replacement workflow solution to aid in processing the data collected by the scheme return web site (similar to a tax return but for pension schemes). This web based workflow solution supports a call centre, printing operation and the scheme return web site. Ben was responsible for developing the workflow software for delivery to the operations team who delivered the return processing service. In this role Ben was heavily involved in both the technical and management aspects of the solution. |
|
Position: |
Project Manager/Technical Architect |
|
Key Skills: |
J2EE, Java, Jetty, Hibernate, Together, Tapestry, Hivemind, SOAP, Postgresql, Linux, Caliber RM |
|
Duration: |
September 2005 – August 2006 |
|
Customer: |
The Pensions Regulator |
|
Title: |
Data Collection – Web Project |
|
Project: |
The Pensions Regulator required a managed service to collect data on pensions schemes via both paper and electronic method. Ben project managed the web collection solution which provides a J2EE web application based on Tapestry and Hivemind and utilised XML to integrate into the back end paper workflow solution. Ben was responsible for leading the effort from business analysis through to initial service delivery, this included managing a development team of up to 12 developers, managing client expectations and change control, being responsible for the costs of the project and being involved in the technical system design. |
|
Position: |
Project Manager/Technical Architect |
|
Key Skills: |
J2EE, Java, Jetty, Hibernate, Together, Tapestry, Hivemind, SOAP, Postgresql, Linux, Caliber RM |
|
Duration: |
February 2005 – September 2005 |
|
Customer: |
Department for Transport and Forum of Mobility Centres |
|
Title: |
Forum eBusiness Systems – FeBS |
|
Project: |
The Department for Transport in conjunction with the Forum of Mobility centres applied for ISB money to acquire a single centre management system for the Forum. The centres (all of whom are separate entities funded via grants) provide mobility (driving, wheelchairs and passengers) assessment and advice for persons who are having difficulty. The system based on a J2EE Turbine and the Open Source Zebra workflow framework provides an appointment booking and management system for all their activities. The key challenges were providing a generic enough system to support 17 centres each with a different business process – while adding sufficient value to each centre to warrant the system. |
|
Position: |
Project Engineer |
|
Key Skills: |
J2EE, Java, Tomcat, Hibernate, Together, Turbine, Zebra Workflow, SOAP, DSDM, Oracle, Jasper Reports, Linux, Rational Requisite Pro, Open JMS |
|
Duration: |
June 2004 – February 2005 |
|
Customer: |
Independent Police Complaints Commission – IPCC |
|
Title: |
Case Tracking and Management System – CTMS |
|
Project: |
Anite were selected to be the managed services provider responsible for the entire IT systems of the new created Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The key application of this outsourcing contract was the CTMS application - a complaints management system to support their still to be developed business process. Ben led a team of 8-12 developers for the effort to develop this system utilising a workflow solution. The solution was a J2EE Turbine web application based around both commercial and open source technology. These components were integrated to provide a solution that closely mirrored the business process. This project was a milestone for Anite – being the largest contract they had won. The solution was delivered on time and on budget allowing the IPCC to launch successfully. Ben was a medallist in the BCS Developer of the year – Applications category for this project. The technology architecture selected by Ben for this project has become the default technology base for a number of Anite projects. |
|
Position: |
Project Engineer |
|
Key Skills: |
J2EE, Java, Tomcat, Hibernate, Together, Turbine, Zebra Workflow, SOAP, DSDM, Oracle, TRIM, Windows, Rational Requisite Pro, Sun JMS, Brio, Active Directory |
|
Duration: |
June 2003 – June 2004 |
|
Customer: |
Police IT Organisation - PITO |
|
Title: |
Corporate Data model Website |
|
Project: |
PITO required a web publishing framework for their
Corporate Data Model. Ben designed this framework to convert Rational Rose to
a web site utilising PHP, MySQL and Microsoft Access. The framework included a Model-View-Controller system and templating engine to allow easy modification of the site by PITO staff. |
|
Position: |
Project Engineer |
|
Key Skills: |
UML, Rational Rose, Rational Clear Case, Rational Requisite Pro, PHP, Smarty, MySQL |
|
Duration: |
March 2003 – July 2003 |
|
Customer: |
Various Police Forces |
|
Title: |
Spectrum – Starburst Layer |
|
Project: |
Project Spectrum required a instant messaging layer to allow users at various police forces to communicate urgent alerts to each other. Ben designed and implemented such a instant messaging system based around the open source Jabber XML messaging server. |
|
Position: |
Development, Analysis and Design. |
|
Key Skills: |
Java, JMS, SOAP, J2EE, Oracle |
|
Duration: |
March 2003 |
|
Customer: |
National Identification Service – Subject Access Office |
|
Title: |
Integrated Subject Access System (ISAS) |
|
Project: |
Project: The
Subject Access Office rapidly required a system to assist them in responding
to data access requests (under the data protection act) from the public, for
data held on the PNC. They required a system to replace their current system
as it was no longer maintained and was becoming unreliable. As Project Engineer Ben was responsible for most aspects of this project from the early analysis through to deployment. This included leading a team of eight developers to develop a complex solution that provides an automatic interface to the PNC from a Windows .NET application. The system was specified using an SSADM specification as a baseline with DSDM workshops and iterations being used to enhance the system to more closely meet the business requirements. |
|
Position: |
Project Engineer, Development, Analysis and Design. |
|
Key Skills: |
C#, Java, Windows, Active Directory, Solaris, Microsoft SQL Server, DSDM |
|
Duration: |
August 2002 – March 2003 |
|
Customer: |
Department of Trade and Industry |
|
Title: |
I-Bio |
|
Project: |
The DTI was awarded money from the Invest to Save budget to produce a central portal to UK Biotechnology information. The portal is based around AniteÕs customised implementation of the Autonomy. Ben was responsible for leading the development team for this project. Ben led the DSDM process within a PRINCE 2 framework. This involved running user workshops to define, refine and prioritise requirements. The DTI contracted external graphic designers to brand the portal, Ben was responsible for liaising with the graphics designers and ensuring the site complied to the governmental website guidelines. The project was based about the Java Turbine web application framework. This facilitates rapid and well structured java web application development. Ben was responsible for selecting the framework and designing the system. |
|
Position |
Team Leader, Development, Analysis and Design and Workshop Facilitator |
|
Key Skills: |
J2EE, Java, Tomcat, Torque, Rational Rose, Turbine, DSDM, MySQL, Websphere, Rational Requisite Pro, Autonomy |
|
Duration: |
April 2002 – September 2002 |
|
Customer: |
HM Customs and Excise |
|
Title: |
OLAP Study |
|
Project: |
HM Customs and Excise required an analysis of the possible uses of OLAP for their data warehouse. Full details of the project are not available due to security restrictions. Ben was solely responsible for this project. The project included user workshops to ascertain requirements and to demonstrate the benefits of OLAP technology. |
|
Position: |
Workshop Facilitation and Analysis. |
|
Key Skills: |
Microsoft SQL Server, DSDM, Microsoft Analysis Services, Brio |
|
Duration: |
November 2001 - December 2001 |
|
Customer: |
HM Customs and Excise |
|
Title: |
Metadata Workstream (Guide) |
|
Project: |
The aim of this project is to develop a cross-Government knowledge management and intelligence tool. Full details of the project are not available due to security restrictions. The solution will take the form of an intranet portal using Autonomy that will provide users with information on the resources available within their own and other government departments. Access control based on security classifications and a need-to-know basis will form part of the solution. Ben was responsible for designing and implementing the solution based in J2EE technologies (such as Enterprise Java Beans and Java Server Pages). |
|
Position: |
Development and Design |
|
Key Skills: |
J2EE, Java, JSP, Taglibs, EJB – BMP/CMP, J2EE Connectors, Autonomy |
|
Duration: |
September 2001 – April 2002 |
|
Customer: |
Product for First Group and Others |
|
Title: |
Transcend |
|
Project: |
Transcend involved re-designing an existing DOS system to operate in a client server environment based on SQL Server. Ben has been responsible for a large part in the database and system design for the Transcend system. He has been helping develop the process the project follows based on Extreme Programming principles. Ben was the technical authority for the Transcend project. During the development Ben programmed parts of the System in Visual Basic and C++. Much of the system was developed to run in a DCOM environment and Ben took a lead in programming this part of the system. Much of the development was spent using technologies none of the team was familiar with and Ben took a leading role in understanding and implementing these technologies. The product was implemented in a Citrix environment and Ben took responsibility for installing and configuring the software for Citrix testing at Anite. The system used a Star Schema data store in addition to a traditional relational data store. During the course of the development Ben investigated data warehousing techniques including OLAP in order to analyse the data. During the course of the development Ben learnt many new skills and demonstrated his ability to learn new skills quickly. The new technologies used include C++, ATL, OLE DB, DCOM, Cross Language COM, Citrix, SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services, Brio and Zope. |
|
Position: |
Team Leader, Development, Analysis and Design |
|
Key Skills: |
C++, Visual Basic, Microsoft SQL Server, Brio, Extreme Programming |
|
Duration: |
January 2001 - September 2001 |
|
Customer: |
Connex |
|
Title: |
TRACE – Train Recording and Cause Evaluation
System |
|
Project: |
Ben has been involved with TRACE since its beginning. He was involved in producing the prototype in Visual Basic, which was used to aid the DSDM RAD process. He took an active part in the early workshops, which formed the basis of the later development. He was responsible for producing a User Manual to describe the expected finished product from the workshops. In the later development Ben was responsible for developing the UML design into a design than could be implemented in Visual Basic. He then went on to be an essential member of the development team that built the product. He was responsible for getting data from external systems and developing large parts of the final product. In the later stages of the project Ben initiated a Refactoring effort to improve the final release and improve maintainability by adding automated unit testing to the system. He also developed a VBA application using Access that simplified the processing of Problem reports and change requests. |
|
Position: |
Team Leader, Workshop Facilitation, Development and Design |
|
Key Skills: |
Visual Basic, Microsoft SQL Server, DSDM |
|
Duration: |
September 2001 |
Training
|
Technical |
¤ Essential UML for Analysis and Design ¤ Visual Basic 6 with MS SQL Server 7 ¤ FasTrack SQL Server 7.0 10 in 5 ¤ Mastering MFC Fundamentals ¤ Brio Query Explorer ¤ Brio Query Designer ¤ Brio Enterprise Server Windows NT |
|
Business |
¤ DSDM Practitioner – Version 4 ¤ Certified SCRUM Master |
Contact Details
To contact Ben please email cvcontact@gidley.co.uk. References are available on request.