Resume
GREGG YOWS, PMP®
4901 Travis County Cr. 512.431.4024
Austin, TX 78735 gregg@yows.net
www.yowsbrain.com www.linkedin.com/in/greggyows
Twitter: Yows
PROFILE
• Experienced Quality Assurance, Software Development, and Information Technology leader with a demonstrated track record of creating departmental infrastructure, policies, and procedures. Skilled at recruiting and leading high performing teams of technical professionals recognized as some of the best in the industry.
EXPERIENCE
TEXAS WINDSTORM INSURANCE ASSOCIATION (TWIA), Austin, TX (2003 – Present)
TWIA was established by legislative mandate to provide wind and hail insurance for Texas Gulf Coast property owners in the event of catastrophic loss. TWIA provides coverage to consumers who might otherwise be uninsured. www.twia.org
Software Quality Assurance (QA) Manager, Information Technology Department
Recruited to report to the Vice President of IT with responsibility for building a QA department where none had previously existed. Created and currently manage configuration management functions and test automation. Manage a QA team of 8 full time software testers and an annual budget of approximately $250,000.
Lead team to test multiple software programs for both internal and external stakeholders. QA team is accountable for overall quality of systems that manage operations for all groups including Underwriting, Finance, Claims, Operations, Agents, and Policy Holders. Support Java applications that have web based and rich GUI front ends. Release 1-2 major software solutions or upgrades to existing solutions per year while managing changes in production code base as a result of legislative action and end-user feature requests. Team supports product suites that are developed under both Agile and Waterfall software development life cycle methodologies.
Notable contributions:
• Recruited, developed, and retained a high performing team of QA testing professionals.
• Created Software QA best practices, processes, and standards which have been adopted by the IT team.
• Increased the percentage of automated tests from 0% – 40% which increased tester efficiency and reduced both costs and time-to-market.
• Designed and built test case management infrastructure to manage and track test cases, test case execution, and reporting using QATraq; the system is integrated with internal defect management system, Bugzilla.
• Led a key project with a budget of $100,000 to virtualize 100% of user acceptance testing lab.
• Developed and deployed automated build and test solutions using Hudson to facilitate continuous integration for TWIA’s agile development teams.
DIGITAL DEFENSE®, INC., San Antonio, TX (2001-2003)
DDI provides a comprehensive set of cloud-based security governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) solutions used to ensure network security. The Frontline™ Client Portal is the company’s flagship service. Clients include: San Antonio Credit Union, USAA, and Velocity Credit Union. www.ddifrontline.com
Director, Software Quality Assurance
Recruited to create a QA department where none had previously existed; introduced turnkey QA to the organization. Conducted a comprehensive analysis of the organization, development team, and development lifecycle; implemented customized solutions and best practices that enhanced and streamlined existing processes.
Notable contributions:
• Created and implemented new QA plans that identified more than 500 software defects during the short development cycle of the DDI flagship product, Frontline™ Client Portal. Product was successfully released.
• Reduced new product time-to-market 20%.
• Introduced several profitable new products that meshed multiple markets and technologies.
• Simultaneously managed 3 critical path software development projects to successful deployment with limited budgets ($50 – $150,000) and timeframes (6 months – 18 months).
• Introduced and managed a cross-functional PMO team of 5 responsible for driving and ensuring on-time delivery of multiple concurrent internal and external software releases, marketing, and IT solutions.
• Implemented a new process for communicating product development status updates to senior management so that they could effectively manage customer expectations.
TANTAU SOFTWARE, INC., Austin, TX (2000-2001)
Tantau was a leading Swiss provider of software and services for mobile ecommerce (m-commerce) which was acquired by 7-24 Solutions in 2001. 7-24 Solutions is now owned by Mobixell Networks.
Software Quality Assurance Manager
Hired to recruit, develop, and retain a high performing a QA and software test team of 7 professionals within 6 months. Collaborated with a global development team and traveled to Europe several times per year to contribute to development projects. Built and managed a $2 million test lab which supported testing on all versions of Unix, Windows, and DEC Systems.
Notable contributions:
• Led a new QA and software test team to test 2 major software releases within 6 months.
• Recognized by 7-24 Solutions’ senior leadership team for outstanding performance and for increasing software quality.
• Increased overall product quality and reduced bug re-tread count 20% by architecting and designing internal processes for multi-platform regression testing on high-availability platforms.
GLOBESET, INC., Austin, TX (1998 – 2000)
Globeset was a privately held supplier of secure ePayment infrastructure services and products for buyers, sellers, and financial services providers. It was acquired by Innovant, a Visa® Company, in 2000.
Lead Software Test Engineer
Managed a team of 5 responsible for critical path software testing for Globeset’s premier online fraud detection system which was launched under the American Express Blue Card™ brand. Managed an outsourced team of 20 individuals during the final regression phases of each project. Maintained lab facilities, product builds, and multi-platform configuration.
Notable contributions:
• Successfully led QA effort for an $8 million American Express project and $8 million Visa® project.
• Developed a Web-based test case tracking system which enabled the successful testing and delivery of Globeset’s e-wallet product for Citibank and American Express.
TRILOGY SOFTWARE, INC., Austin, TX (1995 – 1998)
Trilogy is a privately held software company which specializes in software services to Global 1000 companies, especially automotive, consumer electronics, and insurance agencies. www.trilogy.com
Professional Services Engineer
Reported to the VP of Project Management with responsibility for managing large-scale projects. Led deployment of $2 million – $25 million web-based products for IBM, Hewlett Packard, Compaq, and MCI. Performed custom development, integration, and deployment of Trilogy/pcOrder products for BestpricePC, IBM, Compaq, and MCI. Managed a data validation and configuration team. Modeled customer pricebooks using proprietary component modeling language (CML).
EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, Austin, TX
M.S. Engineering Management 2002
B.S. Speech Communication 1993
AFFILIATIONS
American Society for Quality (ASQ), Member; Software Quality Institute (SQI), Member; Project Management Institute (PMI), Member
