Michael G. Sica

michaelsica@gmail.com

OBJECTIVE: To lead and collaborate with talented people, creating amazing software.

QUALIFICATIONS

Experienced in leading cross-departmental teams on web development projects. Responsibilities have included; managing, recruiting, and training people, managing project scope, iteration planning, requirements gathering and writing, creating and tracking timelines, producing software designs and implementing programming code.

Software tools and programming experience: Microsoft Project, Visio, Excel, and Word, Rational Software Modeler, Rational RequisitePro, and Adalon. Java, Ruby on Rails, ColdFusion, Oracle DBMS, SQL, JavaScript, XHTML, and CSS.

Notable literature read: Rapid Application Development, Professional Software Development, Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering, Code Complete 2^nd Edition, JoelOnSoftware.com Archive, Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art, and currently reading Peopleware: Productive Project and Teams.

EDUCATION

1997-2001 Bachelor’s Degree in Management Information Systems,

University of Central Florida, Overall/M.I.S. GPA: 3.14/3.5

EMPLOYMENT

01/06 - Present Development Manager, Web, CFI/Westgate Resorts

· Work with the management of several business units to direct the development of the strategic corporate web sites. Including, HotelsCorp.com, which grossed over $80 million in 2007, a customer account management web site that transacts several million dollars per month, and the primary corporate web site.

· Determine project priority and resource allocation across the project portfolio of the department based on the goals of the business.

· Manage web development projects.

· Identify and create iteration plans for development efforts.

· Train project managers/analysts on functional requirements writing, project estimation and planning techniques.

· Review written requirements to ensure the quality of the documentation is maintained, and to identify opportunities for additional training needs.

· Transitioned the department to the iterative, Rational Unified Process.

· Established and performed quarterly “1 on 1” meetings with employees. Used to gauge and track job satisfaction, and discuss career direction.

· Understanding that programmers enjoy and thrive in an academic environment, established quarterly presentations on programming topics created and delivered by the department’s programmers.

09/05 – Present Founder, Ataraxis Software

· Identified a market for a design collaboration tool after working closely with CFI/Westgate Resorts’ Creative Design department.

· Founded Ataraxis Software, and created the web service, Pudding.

· Created pricing structure after performing a competitive analysis of various collaboration tools.

· Continuously enhancing and developing new features based on communications with customers, monitoring competitors and the web 2.0 movement, and using the service myself to identify holes in the feature set and user pain points.

· Designed and implemented Pudding’s user interface, backend systems, and marketing web site, ProjectPudding.com.

· Maintain a blog related to Ataraxis Software and Pudding.

02/04 – 12/05 Project Manager, CFI/Westgate Resorts

· Managed web development and interactive kiosk projects.

o Met with project stakeholders to identify project scope and end-user needs, identified and prioritized system features, planned web site information architecture, and gathered business rules.

o Wrote project scope documentation and functional requirements.

o Created, assigned, and tracked the tasks and timelines of the department’s web designers and web developers.

o Identified internal system dependencies, and coordinated resource usage with other internal software teams.

o Coordinated designer resources and material needs with the corporate Creative Design department.

o Presented and provided status updates to upper management and “C” level executives.

· Project highlight: Owner Account Management web site

o Established and led the Owner Account Management web site committee. Worked with directors from six business units. The committee identified and prioritized the direction and feature set.

o Performed project management duties.

o Architected back-end Java classes and front-end ColdFusion.

o Programmed using ColdFusion, Java, and Oracle.

· Helped create and participated in the interview process for business analysts and programmers.

· Wrote the job description for the department’s business analyst position.

03/02 – 02/04 Programmer/Analyst, CFI/Westgate Resorts

· Identified severe deficiencies in the department’s System Development Lifecycle. Proposed and received approval from management to revamp the department’s workflow using an SDLC with a heavy emphasis on end-user analysis, wireframing, prototyping, and detailed business requirement gathering.

· Programmed transactional web sites in ColdFusion, Java, and Oracle.