Banu Singh

Summary of Qualifications

• Over 20 years of software product development experience in large and small organizations, covering a broad range of technologies.
• Executive management and leadership experience involving geographically dispersed and cross-functional product teams.
• Skilled in building high-performing software product development teams integrating business requirements with software process.
• Experience in Linux, Windows, J2EE and various Open Source and proprietary platforms, including recent hands-on experience
• SaaS, on-demand, Web 2.0 and emerging technology experience.

Professional Experience

Senior Engineering Consultant -Independent                                                                               2004 - Present

Provide clients with superior senior engineering, management and product development services utilizing emerging and established technologies.  Hired by clients based on reputation in the field and quality of work performed on time and on budget.

Client Highlights:

Vivotech, Inc. – Santa Clara, CA – 2009 (contract ended)

Firmware Development / Consultant

·         Developed modules in C and C++ to support internationalization of contactless payment systems

·         Developed firmware in C for secure communication between a terminal and a reader using asymmetric and symmetric key algorithms.

·         Developed Visual Basic scripts for the Docklight test tool in order to perform unit and system testing.

·         Migrated the firmware code base from CVS to Subversion.

Computer Associates/Wily Technology/Timestock, Palo Alto, CA                                          2006  (division was consolidated)

Vice President of Engineering – Customer Experience Appliance

• Developed product requirements for the Customer Experience Manager (CEM) Appliance, a J2EE/Linux based appliance that captures transactions, analyzes web traffic and performs statistical aggregation and analysis of the data (analytics).
• Delivered a release of the CEM Appliance on a 3-month product cycle and planned a second release
• Fully staffed the development and QA functions, doubling the staff in 4 months; developed a comprehensive internship program.
• Developed a lightweight product development process; implemented infrastructure for code reproducibility, automated backups, etc.

Eternal Systems, Corporation, San Jose, California                                                                      2005

Vice President of Engineering – Linux High Availability Solutions -- consultant

• Delivered 4 releases on time, including application check-pointing, a new installer, Oracle support.
• Developed product roadmaps and authored requirements documents (PRDs).
• Developed a lightweight PDLC using Agile methodology for faster release cycles and built LAMP-based tools to track artifacts.
• Increased staff by 100%; developed and implemented an objectives-based performance management program.

Ceridian Corporation, Minneapolis, Minnesota                                                                           2004

Sr. Vice President, Product Development – HR Solutions -- consultant

·      Led product management and development, including payroll, benefits, tax, and Lifeworks products, delivered in a SaaS model.

·      Managed a $35M budget with 400+ people in fifteen locations.   

o        Reorganized the departments to align better with product responsibilities and geographical distribution.

o        Developed product roadmaps and aligned technology strategy with business strategy. 

·      Built ROI models, based on existing service models with improvements from applying emerging technologies.

Other Clients:

• Marketing Mechanics, Santa Clara, CA – product management in the streaming media area.
• ViVOtech Inc., Santa Clara, CA - contactless payment systems and NFC devices.
• Network Appliance, Sunnyvale, CA - Storage cataloging, metadata and content indexing.
• Sun Microsystems, Menlo Park, CA - Linux and Windows running on Opteron based systems.
• Linux Networx, Inc., Salt Lake City Utah - Linux HPC Cluster Solutions

Technologies:

• Linux and Open Source technologies, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, PHP, Python, Perl, and various MPI and math libraries.
• High Performance Computing, cluster management, and cluster operating environments.
• High availability, application check-pointing and migration, Grid and Utility Computing.
• Storage and cataloging technologies, metadata and content indexing.
• Contactless payment systems, Near Field Communications (NFC) and backend provisioning using J2EE platforms on Windows.

Key Contributions:

• Market research, requirements, product strategy and product roadmaps, use cases and functional specification, technology evaluation,
• Facilitation of product development process, business process and partner management process.
• Performed organizational assessment and coached development executives.

Scale8 Corporation, San Francisco, CA      (company shut down)                                             2002-2003

Vice President, Engineering

• Delivered a NAS product with a distributed volume manager and dual RAID protection on a Linux platform with ATA drives.
• Recruited key management and technical staff for development of distributed volume manager and distributed file system products.
• Developed product requirements and product roadmaps; implemented processes for release management, support and bug resolution.

E-Stamp Corp., Mountain View, CA / Learn2 Corporation, Golden, CO   (Estamp shut down, Learn2 acquired)         

2000-2002

Vice President, Product Development

·         Managed software development, QA, documentation and product management for the E-Stamp Internet Postage product line.

·         Hired and developed key players to assume leadership roles in product development, product management and QA.

·         Led technical staff, bridging the business/technology gap to define product requirements for postage and logistics businesses.

·         Provided business analysis and strategy presentations to the board, including a recommendation to discontinue postage operations and transition the business to the logistics products and acquire the Learn2 e-Learning business.

• Led product development and product management for the learning business, including the StreamMakerä multimedia authoring tool, Learn2 University Learning Management System, and course content development
• Responsible for operations, including the IT functions, operation of Learn2universityä portal, and courseware fulfillment.
• Led multimedia tool development, enabling visual timing of audio and visual content, improving course production times by 50%.
• Developed key processes for product management, business planning, software development, course development and fulfillment.

Compuware Corporation, Campbell, California    (division consolidated)                                 1997 - 2000

Director, EcoTOOLS Product Center

·         Responsible for P&L associated with the EcoTOOLS product line, including direction of a product center/small business unit of 90+ people, including engineering, product management and marketing functions for the EcoTOOLS system management product line (UNIX and NT platforms).  Immediate staff included two directors of engineering and one director of product management.

·         Directed development efforts for seven new product rollouts, including a release based on Windows 2000/WBEM infrastructure.

·         Developed a marketing plan and sales tools, including sales guide, brochures, training, online demos, etc.

·         Led product management to define key product requirements and a product roadmap, working closely with the field.

Director, EcoTOOLS Development

·         Directed 70+ software engineers in the development of the EcoTOOLS product line for system and application management, including support for SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Baan and Lotus Notes.

·         Introduced a process for bugs and maintenance releases; stabilized the code base resolving approximately 700 bugs in four months.

·         Released three EcoTOOLS products within six months, including the first EcoTOOLS NT release.

Novell, Inc., San Jose, California          (division shut down)                                                        1992 - 1997

Director of Engineering, Novell Directory Event Services, Novell Web Server

·         Led a group of engineers in Provo, Utah, and San Jose, CA in the design of a globalized event service for Directory Services.

·         Directed a group of 35 people in the delivery of Novell’s Web Server product, including extensions and utilities.

·         Recruited a management team, including managers for development and test.

·         Delivered the Novell Web Server product on time, receiving a PC Magazine Editor’s Choice Award (May 1997).

Director of Project Management

·         Recruited project managers and built a small, highly skilled group of leaders to deliver communications products.

·         Led product and project management in Novell Internet Access Server 4.1 and Border Services (firewall and VPN) projects.

Director of System Test

·         Directed a system test and configuration management group of 38 people responsible for remote connectivity and routing products.

·         Recruited test management and restructured test organization for greater efficiency.

Senior Project Manager/ Development Manager (concurrent)

·         Led cross-functional teams of 60-100 people to deliver NetWare for SAA and NetWare Multi-Protocol Router products

·         Led a cross-functional task force to develop and document a Product Life Cycle, using Rummler and Brache methodology.

·         Delivered a communications platform based on AT&T Streams under NetWare, including installation and configuration.

·         Delivered internationalized versions of NetWare for SAA and other networking products.

FileNet Corporation, Costa Mesa, California -                                                                               1988 - 1992

Software Development Manager

·         Delivered communication software (networking platform) for UNIX and PC platforms, including XNS, Courier, TCP/IP and SNA.

·         Delivered document retrieval, document entry, COLD, and forms management applications and internationalized versions of each.

·         Delivered a port of AT&T Streams to a proprietary UNIX kernel.

Education

·         MS Computer Science, California State University, Fullerton, Phi Kappa Phi

·         BS Mathematics/Computer Science, University of California, Riverside, Phi Beta Kappa

·         Continuing education: Windows Programming, C++, MFC, Java, QA and Testing, project management and leadership courses.

Technology Skills

IEEE 802 Local Area Network, StarLAN, Ethernet, 802.4, 802.5, X.25 and LAPD LSI products, UNIX, J2EE, Linux, open source, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle,  PHP, Python, Perl, Java, Web 2.0, .ASP, .NET, MPI, High Availability,  payroll systems, HRIS, SaaS, LAMP, Enterprise systems, Systems Management, Networking, Microsoft Access, VBA, Visual Basic, Crystal Reports, Framemaker.

Awards:  Novell Employee of the Year, 1993                                                                                                    

References: available on request